Twins fire manager Gardenhire after 13 seasons

(Reuters) - The Minnesota Twins have fired manager Ron Gardenhire, ending a 13-season tenure that featured six division championships but concluded with four straight years of 90-plus losses, the team said on Monday. The search for a new manager would begin immediately, with the coaching staff to be determined by Gardenhire's successor and general manager Terry Ryan, the Twins said in a statement issued a day after the regular season concluded. Gardenhire, 56, had one season left on his contract. The contracts of all seven of Minnesota's coaches expired at the end of the 2014 Major League Baseball regular season on Sunday but some could be retained by the new manager. Gardenhire succeeded Tom Kelly in 2002 as the franchise's 12th manager and led the Twins to American League Central division titles in each of his first three seasons, and four of his first five. Minnesota also won back-to-back AL Central championships in 2009 and 2010 but struggled over the past four years, finishing last in the division on three occasions. Gardenhire, who was named the AL manager of the year in 2010, was sacked after the Twins finished bottom of the AL Central standings with a 70-92 record this season. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)