Minnesota Twins: Paul Molitor wins American League Manager of the Year
By Nate Palmer
The Minnesota Twins Paul Molitor was awarded earlier this offseason with a new contract. Tuesday night he was awarded the Manager of the Year award.
The Minnesota Twins, thanks to their amazing turn-around season, were able to add another award to their 2017 trophy case. It was announced Tuesday night that Paul Molitor is the 2017 recipient of the Baseball Writers of America Association’s American League Manager of the Year.
The rebound from a 100 loss season to American Wild Card was no small feat. And neither was winning the American League Manager of the Year for Molitor. Molitor’s competition for the award was a pair of 100 win managers in fellow finalists Cleveland Indians Terry Francona and Houston Astros A.J. Hinch. In the end, the incredible season from Molitor and the Twins that saw a 26 game improvement for 2016 won the hearts of those voting.
Molitor joins Ron Gardenhire (2010) and Tom Kelly (1991) as other Twins managers to win the award. Making it three consecutive Twins managers that have won the manager of the year award within their tenure in the position. He also becomes only the second Hall of Fame player to win the manager of the year award with the first being Frank Robinson in 1989.
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The guys who played for Molitor this year agree with the BBWAA’s choice of Molitor for Manager of the Year. Rhett Bollinger passed along these quotes from players.
"“I don’t think he gets enough credit, ” said catcher Chris Gimenez, who was recently outrighted. “He sees so much on the field and he really started to loosen up, too. As a player he was intense, but he’s showed that he’s smart and witty too.”"
And this…
"“What was so impressive with Mollie is how he was still learning about being a better manager,” second baseman Brian Dozier said. “It’s nothing negative.”"
That willingness to learn and improve paired with a successful record for the season all helped Molitor to earn his new 3-year contract at season’s end.
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Molitor will add his Manager of the Year award to his trophy case already full of awards from his time as a player. He also joins Byron Buxton and Brian Dozier as 2017 award winners after each player won their first Rawlings Gold Glove earlier this offseason.