Twins owner Jim Pohlad and team president Dave St. Peter emailed a statement to season-ticket holders after Paul Molitor was let go as Twins manager.

Understanding your dedication to Minnesota Twins baseball, we wanted to take a moment to follow up regarding this week's announcement that Paul Molitor will not return as our manager for the 2019 season. As an important stakeholder, we cannot thank you enough for your support and passion for the Twins. With that in mind, we will always strive to ensure you are up to speed on the long-term strategic direction of the franchise.

The decision to make a managerial change was difficult, painful and far from obvious. As a Minnesota baseball legend and member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Paul's baseball acumen is unquestioned. Nor is Paul's commitment to the Twins organization and efforts to impact players and coaches throughout the system with a focus on restoring our winning tradition. His contributions to our community, our game and this organization are significant and everlasting. We are extremely grateful and hopeful that Paul will always be part of the Minnesota Twins family.

Looking to the future, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will immediately commence a search for a new manager to lead our club in 2019 and beyond. Said search will be thorough, include a focus on external as well as internal candidates, and follow the hiring guidelines as provided by Major League Baseball.

While significant work lies ahead, we continue to believe in our baseball operations leadership, staff and most importantly – our players. The adversity our team faced in 2018 will spur growth and ultimately ensure our core group is better prepared for future challenges. In the weeks and months to come we will vigorously pursue additional talent on and off the field aimed at helping us achieve our goal of making the Twins a perennial championship contender. Once again, we thank you for your incredible support of Twins baseball.