Paul Molitor Hired by Twins: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

The Minnesota Twins didn't have to look far to find their next manager.

The Twins confirmed on Monday that they have hired Paul Molitor:

The Twins welcomed Molitor via a press conference on Tuesday, according to the team's official Twitter feed:

Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reported on Molitor's deal in Minnesota:

Bollinger also provided Molitor's thoughts on joining the team as manager:

Major League Baseball's official Twitter feed adds more:

Judd Zulgad of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities was the first to report on Molitor's hiring.

Zulgad reported that former Twins first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, who was considered a strong contender, was out of the running, leaving Molitor the presumptive favorite. 

Although Molitor is a first-time manager, he has coaching experience with the Twins. He worked with the team last year and he was the baserunning and infield coordinator for Minnesota's minor league system from 2005-13, per Bollinger.

Keith Law weighed in on Molitor's hiring in Minnesota:

Molitor, a St. Paul native, spent his final three years in the league with the Twins. In 422 games, he had 23 home runs, 271 runs batted in and a slash line of .312/.362/.432. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Molitor will have big shoes to fill once he takes over in the dugout. His predecessor, Ron Gardenhire, amassed the third-most wins in franchise history (1,068) and won six American League Central titles.

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The Twins only made marginal improvement from 2013 to 2014, jumping up to 70 wins from 66 a year ago. But with young stars like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, the groundwork is there for Minnesota to be a contender again.

Hiring a first-time manager is always a bit of a risk, but Molitor could be the guy to turn the team's fortunes around and make Minnesota a contender again.