Players praise Molitor's knowledge of the game

Casey Fien spends his time in the bullpen, so he doesn't know much, he freely admits, about what Paul Molitor is like in the dugout. But the Twins righthander became convinced that Molitor would succeed as a manager by observing him someplace almost as important: The lunch room.

"Everyone on the team went to him with questions. I'd sit there in the cafeteria before games and watch guys come up to him all the time," Fien said Monday after the team confirmed Molitor's promotion to manager, just the 13th in Twins history. "I mean, if you had a baseball question, no matter what it's about, he's the guy you went to. I mean, a Hall of Famer, he's seen everything — how many teams have a guy like that?"

By that criteria, only two do now. Molitor, a St. Paul native who agreed to a three-year contract and will be introduced Tuesday as Ron Gardenhire's successor, joins Philadelphia's Ryne Sandberg as a baseball rarity: A Hall of Fame player who accepted his first major league managerial job after being inducted to Cooperstown. Interim assignments aside, only Sandberg and long-ago Senators/Rangers manager Ted Williams have stepped into such a role.

The track record for world-class players trying to replicate their success in the dugout isn't good, and the Twins took five weeks to consider and interview several other candidates before choosing a man who had long been considered the obvious replacement for Gardenhire. General Manager Terry Ryan said the lengthy process reflected a schedule overloaded with postseason meetings and obligations, and a desire to be thorough, not any hesitation about the 58-year-old Molitor.

"It's a little difficult to make sure everyone involved gets to the places, [but] it worked out fine," Ryan said. "I know there are people who wanted it sooner, and I understand that. Overall, I think it was about the right amount of time."

And, according to some of the Twins players, it was the right decision, too. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe said via Twitter: "I'll tell you this much, there won't be a team anywhere in the league with a better leader than Moli. Very excited to battle with him!"

Second baseman Brian Dozier, who got to know his new manager five years ago when Molitor was a minor league tutor, said no team will have a better mind for the game in the dugout, either.

"His knowledge of baseball is off the charts. He's got a knack for figuring out ways to get an advantage, figuring out things that put you ahead of what happens next," Dozier said. "It makes you a better player, and ultimately, it results in wins."

Joe Mauer said time spent in the batting cage was enough to convince him that his fellow Cretin-Derham Hall product is ready for the challenge.

"He sees the game differently. I've learned a lot from him, not just this year, but ever since I've been in the organization," the Twins first baseman said. "He would come down to spring training, and he just brought a whole different element to the game."

That even applies to pitchers, said Twins starter Kyle Gibson. "You just tend to soak up information when you're around him," Gibson said. "One thing you can tell is, his attention to detail is very high. He pays attention to the little things, and he's not going to be happy if you're not paying attention, too."

Dozier improved in nearly every aspect of his game last season, learning to draw more walks, increasing his power numbers and raising his stolen base total from 14 to 21 without getting caught more. He credits Molitor's coaching for much of his development.

"He helped me with my defense, with bunting, with moving guys over, with knowing when to take a shot at putting one in the seats. And he fed us so much information that we could take and use or throw away. He went over the top in trying to help us," Dozier said of Molitor, who was responsible for much of the Twins' greater reliance on defensive shifts last season as well. "Twins fans should be excited about Molly accepting this job, because all that knowledge and hard work, it really rubs off."

Whether it's enough to turn a team that has lost 92 or more games in four consecutive seasons is an open question, particularly since Molitor never has managed a team at any level. He has been in plenty of dugouts since ending his 21-year career with 3,319 regular-season hits, the ninth-most all time.

Molitor has had two coaching stints with the Twins, one year as Mariners hitting coach and a decade as a Twins minor league instructor. He was also a finalist for the position when Gardenhire was hired to succeed Tom Kelly 13 years ago. But this will be his first experience as the man in charge.

That continues a recent trend: Detroit's Brad Ausmus, St. Louis' Mike Matheny and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Don Mattingly all took teams to the playoffs this year, but none served a minor league apprenticeship before being handed their jobs.

Molitor's first task as manager will be to hire a coaching staff, in consultation with Ryan. Gardenhire's coaches have not been told yet whether they will retain their jobs under Molitor, and no announcements are expected Tuesday regarding who the Twins will hire.

Staff writer La Velle E. Neal III contributed to this report.