List of Minnesota Twins managers

{{Short description|none}}

In its 108-year history, the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise of Major League Baseball's American League has employed 31 managers.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/managers.shtml|title=Minnesota Twins Managerial Record|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=October 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012014234/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/managers.shtml|url-status=live}} The duties of the manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field.{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/manager|title=Manager: Definition | Dictionary.com|year=2006|work=Dictionary.Reference.com|publisher=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|access-date=December 29, 2008|archive-date=June 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614042935/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/MANAGER|url-status=live}} Eight of these team managers have been "player-managers", all during the Washington Senators era; specifically, they managed the team while still playing for it.{{cite book|last=Stein|first=Fred|title=And the Skipper Bats Cleanup: A History of the Baseball Player-Manager, with 42 Biographies of Men Who Filled the Dual Role|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQFPr7UyEvMC&q=And+the+Skipper+Bats+Cleanup:+A+History+of+the+Baseball+Player-Manager,+with+42+Biographies+of+Men+Who+Filled+the+Dual+Role|isbn=0-7864-1228-3|year=2002}}

The Minnesota franchise began its life as the Washington Senators in Washington, D. C., where they played from their inception in 1901 to 1960. In the early twentieth century, the Senators were managed consecutively by three future members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, bookended by Bucky Harris, who managed the team from 1924 to 1928 and again from 1935 to 1942. Walter Johnson managed the team for four seasons from 1929 to 1932, and he was followed by Joe Cronin, who led for the next two seasons (1933–1934). In 1960, the American League awarded an expansion franchise to Minneapolis, Minnesota; however, owner Calvin Griffith moved his team to Minnesota,{{cite web|url=http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/history/timeline1.jsp|title=Twins Timeline (1960–1969)|publisher=Minnesota Twins|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=October 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030002436/http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/history/timeline1.jsp|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/1020/124107.html|title=Griffith dies after developing kidney infection|date=October 20, 1999|work=ESPN|agency=Associated Press|access-date=March 5, 2009|archive-date=March 4, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304185927/http://static.espn.go.com/mlb/news/1999/1020/124107.html|url-status=live}} and Washington was awarded the expansion team instead. Thus, the Minnesota Twins began play at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota the following year, during the tenure of manager Cookie Lavagetto,{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1961.shtml|title=1961 Minnesota Twins Statistics|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=June 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612133430/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1961.shtml|url-status=live}} and played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis from 1982 to 2009. Under manager Ron Gardenhire, the team moved to Target Field beginning in the 2010 season.

Seven managers have taken the franchise to the postseason, with Gardenhire leading them to five playoff appearances, the most in their franchise history.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/|title=Minnesota Twins Team History|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=March 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302110239/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/|url-status=live}} Two managers have won World Series championships with the franchise: Bucky Harris, in the 1924 World Series against the New York Giants;{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSH/1924.shtml|title=1924 Washington Senators Statistics|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=June 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623020420/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WSH/1924.shtml|url-status=live}} and Tom Kelly, in the 1987 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1987.shtml|title=1987 Minnesota Twins Statistics|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=May 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527044307/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1987.shtml|url-status=live}} and 1991 against the Atlanta Braves.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1991.shtml|title=1991 Minnesota Twins Statistics|work=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=August 7, 2008|archive-date=August 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804054622/https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1991.shtml|url-status=live}} Harris is also the longest-tenured manager in their franchise history, with 2,776 games of service in parts of 18 seasons between 1924 and 1954; he is followed by Kelly, who managed 2,386 games over 16 seasons from 1986 to 2001. The manager with the highest winning percentage in team history is Billy Martin, who managed the team in 1969 and achieved a record of 97–65 (.599). Conversely, the manager with the lowest winning percentage is Malachi Kittridge, whose winning percentage of .059 was achieved with a record of 1–16 in the first half of 1904. Kittridge's tenure is also the shortest in team history.