Hall of Fame infielder Paul Molitor has been added to manager Ron Gardenhire's coaching staff, the Twins announced Tuesday, and will oversee bunting, base-running and infield positioning.
The St. Paul native, who had served as the team's minor-league base-running and infield coordinator since 2005, becomes the seventh full-time member of Gardenhire's coaching staff.
Molitor, 57, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004 after a 21-year career with Milwaukee, Toronto and the Twins, one of just six players ever to collect 3,000 hits and 500 stolen bases during his career. He previously served as a Twins coach under manager Tom Kelly in 2000 and 2001, but was not retained when Gardenhire succeeded Kelly, and he was the Seattle Mariners' hitting coach in 2004.
Major-league rules were changed to allow teams to add a seventh coach last season, and Rochester manager Gene Glynn had also been considered for the position.
In other Twins news:
-- Outfielder Wilkin Ramirez, whose season was spoiled by injuries, was assigned outright to Class AAA Rochester on Tuesday, the Twins announced Tuesday.
Ramirez had been on the 60-day disabled list since September, after he broke his left tibia by fouling a ball off his leg during an Aug. 29 game. Ramirez appeared in 35 games, batting .272 with six RBIs, but missed nearly three months after suffering a concussion in May.
Ramirez can decline the assignment and become a free agent. The Twins still have 36 players on the 40-man roster, and one more, pitcher Samuel Deduno, on the 60-day disabled list.
