MINNEAPOLIS -- In another sign that baseball's contraction plan may be in trouble, the Minnesota Twins on Thursday announced plans to name a new manager.

The team called a news conference for Friday morning and was expected to name third base coach Ron Gardenhire.

After longtime manager Tom Kelly resigned in October, Gardenhire and bench coach Paul Molitor emerged as the top candidates. But Molitor withdrew in December because of uncertainty over baseball's plan to eliminate two teams, likely including the Twins, before next season.

"The consensus is it's going to be Gardy," hitting coach Scott Ullger, who also had interviewed for the job, said Thursday. "It's a good choice and I'm really happy for him."

Twins general manager Terry Ryan refused Thursday to say who the new manager would be. Calls to Gardenhire's home in the Twin Cities were unanswered.

Ryan put the managerial search on hold after baseball's owners voted Nov. 6 to eliminate two teams. He said Thursday he couldn't wait any longer.

"We're under the assumption that we're going to play and eventually we've got to have a manager and a coaching staff to direct this team," Ryan said. The Twins announced a 2002 schedule on Dec. 21 and a spring training schedule on Wednesday.

Earlier Thursday, testifying before a state task force examining new stadium options, Ryan was asked about the odds that the Twins would be eliminated. He said Commissioner Bud Selig recently told the team, "Go about your business and assume that the season will be played, but stay flexible."

Gardenhire was a successful minor league manager for three seasons before joining the Twins' staff in 1991.

He currently is Minnesota's third-base coach. Last month, he admitted he was antsy about the wait.

"I try to get out of the house," Gardenhire said. "I'm in a bowling league with Kent Hrbek. Chasing my kids around."

Ullger said the new manager might inherit a group of players that, if the team survives to play this season, is highly motivated.

"It's a good young team, and they've played together a long time, and they're hungry," he said. "All this talk all winter long ... has been hurtful to the group."