MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire realizes he may never actually get a chance to run the team, what with contraction rumors swirling around the club, but he and his players are gearing up for great things.

	Ron Gardenhire signed a two-year contract to manage the Twins on Friday.

Named Friday to replace longtime manager Tom Kelly, Gardenhire has reason for optimism: He inherits a team that finished second in the American League Central last season, with an 85-77 regular-season record that equaled that of the 1987 squad that won the World Series.

"Our guys are going about their business pretty good," Gardenhire said. "I've been talking to (infielder) Denny Hocking and (third baseman) Corey Koskie, who lives around here. They're all going about getting ready for spring training, and that's how to go about it."

With contraction tied up in court and spring training just six weeks away, the Twins couldn't wait any longer to name a successor to Kelly, who resigned in October. Gardenhire, the 12th manager in team history, signed a two-year contract.

"We all know that contraction is out there," Gardenhire said. "But I can't do anything about that. All I can do is go and get this team ready for spring training."

About the uncertainly of the team's future, he added: "It's been pretty tough around here, folks. That's an understatement."

General manager Terry Ryan said Gardenhire -- who lives in Little Canada with his wife, Carol, and their three children -- was perfect for the job. "He has proven that he is the best person for this position because of his hard work, loyalty and familiarity with the Minnesota Twins," Ryan said.

Gardenhire and bench coach Paul Molitor emerged as the finalists, but the Twins suspended their search after baseball owners voted Nov. 6 to eliminate two teams before the 2002 season. Molitor withdrew his name from consideration last month because of the team's uncertain future.

Minnesota and Montreal are the likely teams to be picked for contraction, but the plan was stopped Nov. 16 when a Minnesota judge issued an injunction forcing the team to honor its lease this year at the Metrodome. The Twins and baseball appealed, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals -- which heard the case last week -- hasn't ruled.

Gardenhire, 44, said the team needs to prepare as if it will play.

"To have a job, be it here in my home state -- I've brought my family here to live -- is wonderful," said Gardenhire, who was born in West Germany and went to high school in Oklahoma.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has told each team to prepare for the upcoming season, Ryan said. "We want to move forward with the assumption that the team is going to play in 2002," Ryan said.

The Twins have announced a 2002 schedule and a spring training schedule.

Koskie, who attended the news conference, said he thinks Gardenhire will do a great job. He said players were anxious for a manager to be named and for spring training to start, if only to take their minds off contraction.

"You can get overwhelmed by it," he said. "You read about it in the papers everyday -- the same thing -- and it gets frustrating. But I think everything will work out."

Kent Hrbek, who played for Gardenhire and manned first base when Minnesota won its World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, said Gardenhire's experience with the team made him the logical choice.

"For the team to keep moving forward and doing well, they had to stay inside the organization," Hrbek said. "I've been talking to him all winter, and he wanted to manage this team, and that's important -- to have someone who really wants to lead."

Gardenhire was college star at Texas but an average pro player, hitting .232 in portions of five seasons with the New York Mets. He was a minor league manager for three seasons before joining the Twins' staff in 1991.

Asked who his best manager was, he joked: "I can't say T.K. He cut me after, like, two months of spring training. ... He might have been a good one, but he sent me down pretty quick."