The change in affiliations from the Dodgers to the Minnesota Twins has kept Lookouts' fans in the dark when it comes to the names of the manager and the rest of his staff.
The waiting should not be too much longer.
The Twins only recently announced that Hall of Famer Paul Molitor would take over as manager replacing Ron Gardenshire. After General Manager Terry Reynolds decides whom to hire as pitching coach, bench coach, first-base coach and bullpen coach, other actions should follow. The club has been quiet about potential candidates, but it would make sense to bring in an experienced pitching coach given that Molitor has no background working with pitchers.
Ryan has said that he expects to have the rest of the staff hired by the Winter Meetings in early December. After the Major League staff is in place, the Twins will focus upon their Minor League teams.
It is rumored that former Major Leaguer Doug Mientkiewicz may be in line for the manager of the Lookouts.
Mientkiewicz is best remembered from the 2004 World Series. He was playing first base for the Red Sox, when St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Edgar Rentería grounded back to pitcher Keith Foulke, who trotted toward first base and underhanded the ball to Mientkiewicz to complete Boston's four game sweep. Mientkiewicz kept the ball, as dictated by baseball tradition. Since Boston had not won a World Series in 86 years, the ball was of considerable interest to memorabilia collectors.
Controversy resulted when the Red Sox asked for the ball's return, and Mientkiewicz refused to give it back. Shortly after his January 27 trade to the New York Mets, Mientkiewicz and the Red Sox reached an agreement that the Red Sox would hold the ball temporarily and could display it across New England, along with the World Series trophy. The agreement called for Mientkiewicz to get the ball back at the end of 2005 unless the ultimate issue of ownership has been otherwise resolved.
On November 30, 2005, lawyers for the Red Sox filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court asking the court to place the ball in a secure location until ownership was decided. The club's legal team said that Mientkiewicz had gained possession of the ball only because he was a Red Sox employee and that the ball remained the team's property.[9] On April 23, 2006, it was announced that he had reached an agreement with the Red Sox, and the ball would go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Source: Wikipedia)