Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Twins are interviewing Doug Mientkiewicz for their managerial opening after firing Ron Gardenhire earlier this week.
Mientkiewicz played for the Twins from 1998 to mid-2004, when he was traded to the Red Sox to clear a path for Justin Morneau in Minnesota and went on to win a World Series in Boston. He’s currently managing in the Twins’ farm system at high Single-A and made headlines in 2013 for starting a brawl by tackling the opposing manager.
Mientkiewicz retired in 2009 and is just 40 years old, but as more and more teams give big-league managing gigs to recently retired players with minimal experience he’s definitely a legitimate candidate. Minnesota interviewed Hall of Famer Paul Molitor yesterday and is also expected to interview Terry Steinbach to complete their in-house candidates list.
