Two paragraphs from La Velle E. Neal's Monday update on the Twins' managerial search:
The Twins on Friday expressed interested in speaking with Joe Maddon, who opted out of his contract managing the Rays and became a free agent. According to the source, the Twins had not contacted Maddon as of Monday but are keeping that option open.
To do that, the Twins would have to extend their search into November, which isn't likely. All signs point to the club making its decision sometime this week on a new manager.
In other words: The Twins said they were interested in talking to Maddon; a weekend passed and they still haven't tried to do that. If they really want to do that, they will have to stretch out their search. But indications are they are going to name a manager this week, so why even bother trying to go after Maddon?
This line of thinking is, well, maddening (Maddoning?). We will reiterate two things we have said multiple times regarding the Twins and Maddon: 1) If the Twins really have an interest, then they should show that interest and do something about it. Call Maddon's people. If they get rebuffed, that's fine. 2) If we were running the Twins, we would essentially give Maddon a blank check. Does he want $5 million a year? Fine. How about $6 million a year? Sure. Because in modern baseball, the number of impact free agents at that price are few and far between — and far less likely to have the kind of impact a very good manager could have.
No offense to Paul Molitor or Torey Lovullo, who are said to be the front-runners for the job, but neither has even close to the track record of Maddon. If the Twins have, in fact, reached out to Maddon and been rejected but won't say so because they are worried about offending other candidates or making an eventual hire be perceived as a second choice, they shouldn't be. A lot of good coaches weren't the first choice. Two of them are leading the Gophers football and men's basketball programs right now. The public perception backlash is greater if the perception is that the Twins didn't even really try for Maddon.
This is about exploring a unique opportunity — one that probably wouldn't work, but you never know.
