1:24SAN DIEGO – Paul Molitor has never managed a professional baseball game, but at least he's been in the dugout as a coach.
Being at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, home of Major League Baseball's winter meetings this week, is new territory for him.
So the rookie manager spent Monday getting used to sitting with General Manager Terry Ryan as he spoke with teams and agents about players and getting an idea of how deals come together.
"Primarily for me, the first 36 hours has been spending a lot of time in the Twins suite, as we discussed what our goals were for our time here, reviewing everything from free agents, and Rule 5, to potential club fits for trades and addressing our needs," Molitor said. "We were looking at our roster, and if things happen, our space is limited right now. So there are extensive things that Terry needs to cover with our scouting team and other people that are present. But it's a bigger thing even than you can imagine once you get here."
Ryan, who spent Monday meeting with agents and teams, said the winter meetings should be beneficial to a first-timer like Molitor.
"This will be good for him," Ryan said. "It will be very enlightening and in-depth. We do get into it and certainly trade talk and visiting other clubs, sitting with other agents. I'll try to make sure I get him involved on anything that takes place so he knows exactly how it does work."
And Ryan wants Molitor to jump in if he can add to discussions.
"When a manager has an opinion and he's got the knowledge and he's got direct viewership of players and things of that nature — especially evaluation and makeup on free agents they might know about — they are very valuable."
