The Twins' front office doesn't care what the voters decide every year -- they think they employ the American League's best manager. And they intend to keep Ron Gardenhire around until he wins that elusive Manager of the Year award. Or at least give him another three chances, anyway.

One day after the fourth runner-up award finish of his career, Gardenhire was rewarded with a contract extension that keeps him in Minnesota through the 2011 season.

"We certainly want to keep him, and he wants to be here," said general manager Bill Smith, who also bestowed new contracts, two seasons apiece, on Gardenhire's six-man coaching staff. "He's always been the right man for the job, and we're happy to know that he and his coaches will be part of the transition to Target Field."

The new park opens in 2010, and Gardenhire has had significant input in the design of the baseball facilities, Smith said. But it's his work with the team's roster -- leading a young squad picked for fourth place last season to within one victory of a playoff berth -- that makes him so valuable to the Twins.

"Last season was probably his best managing job in the seven years he's been at the helm of this club," Smith said.

Gardenhire has had six winning seasons during his seven years with the Twins. He has never won the Manager of the Year award but would like to -- not because he wants the accolades, he said, but because of the achievement that it usually represents.

"Awards usually mean your team plays very well -- that's the part of it that would mean something," said Gardenhire, who also finished second in 2003, 2004 and 2006. "My goal is to win a World Series, and that's it. And we haven't done that yet."

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