Who is the Twins next manager?
By DocBauer
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I am very pro Gardenhire, overall. Though he and I do butt heads on occasion. Though I suppose he doesn't realize this on a daily basis or concern himself much with it.
At 56, Gardy is still a relatively young man. I see no relative signs of slowing down. But he has made comment in the recent past about wanting to manage the Twins, at least, until the signs of rebuilding and turnaround are apparent. In theory, the talent on the roster now, the deep talent in the minors that will hopefully explode on the scene soon, along with a little bit better luck in the health category, and the overall better competitive nature of this years team, has had some conjecturing when that step-down date for Gardy might be.
Now, he might pull a TK this season, or next, and say its time; the team and it's future is solid and it's time to move on. Or, the team might be playing well, the top prospects are healthy and playing well, and he might stick around a little longer. Who could blame him?
But since the subject has been broached, whether it be at the end of this season...next..or another season or two, who is the next Twins manager?
I think Molitor would be an excellent choice, but didn't realize until recently that he's actually a year older than Gardenhire. And while I wouldn't say he couldn't or wouldn't do/take the job, I wonder at his past few years and wonder if he wouldn't just be happier as a coach or instructor now vs being the guy.
Brunansky is 53 and a well respected hitting coach with a seeming ability to connect to his players.
Doug Mientkiewicz, 39, and Jake Mauer, 35, are a pair of young former Twins, managing in A ball, who have shown success, moxy, and baseball management/coaching skills that could have them both fast tracking.
The Twins may have missed the boat on Mike Redmond, who is already a big league manager with the Marlins at 41. Still, if things sour in Miami, as they have been known to do in the past, he may be an option.
Matthew LeCroy is another former Twin who slipped through our fingers. The former C/DH is currently the Nationals bullpen coach. I believe he could be someone to watch.
You can scoff all you want at the Twins general philosophy of staying and promoting from within, but most of the track history the past 25 years indicates that they generally surround themselves with pretty smart talent.
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