Minnesota Twins fire manager Paul Molitor after 78-84 finish

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins fired Paul Molitor today, one season after he won the American League Manager of the Year award.

Molitor has been offered another position within the organization.

"I fully respect that decision," Molitor said in a statement distributed by the Twins. "I will forever be grateful for the opportunity they gave me to serve in the role as manager for these past four years. I'm going to consider their genuine offer to serve in a different capacity to positively impact the Twins from a different role."

The Twins went 305-343 under the 62-year-old Molitor, with one appearance in the playoffs in 2017. They were 78-84 this year, long out of postseason contention after a series of early setbacks to several key players.

Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine inherited Molitor when they were hired two years ago, when owner Jim Pohlad said keeping him would be a prerequisite for the job. After the Twins went 85-77 and reached the wild card game, Molitor was given a new three-year contract. Falvey and Pohlad each expressed confidence Molitor would remain with the Twins.

Executives often prefer to pick their own managers, and Falvey and Levine haven now undertaken that task.