Paul Molitor New Twins Coach

The Minnesota Twins have added Hall of Famer Paul Molitor to their coaching staff on Tuesday, he will serve as a coach for the team in 2014.

Aug 29, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Paul Molitor speaks to the Minnesota Twins fans during the announcement of the 2014 all star game being held in Minneapolis at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Molitor will serve under manager Ron Gardenhire and will oversee baserunning, bunting, infield instruction and positioning. Twins officials hinted that a new coach might be hired during the press conference for Gardenhire’s two-year extension after the season, and they decided to add Molitor after years of speculation.

He will also assist with in-game strategy from the dugout. It’s his first Major League coaching job since 2004, when he was the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners.

He also served as a Major League coach for the Twins under former manager Tom Kelly in 2000-01. He then worked with the Twins as a Minor League baserunning and infield coordinator in ’03, which is a role he was named to again in ’05 and held through the 2013 season.

Molitor is well liked by those with the Twins’, many players who worked with him in Spring Training and in the Minor Leagues.

Molitor was raised locally in St. Paul, attending Cretin High School and the University of Minnesota. He went on to a 21-year career in the big leagues with the Brewers, Blue Jays and Twins.

The 57-year-old Molitor played the last three of his 21 major league seasons for the Twins. He is also a seven-time All-Star and just one of six players in baseball history with at least 3,000 this and 500 stolen bases. He also won the 1993 World Series Most Valuable Player Award with the Blue Jays and was in 2004 he was inducted to the Hall of Fame.