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Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli Wants a F***ing Parade
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- Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli Wants a F***ing Parade
Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images
Spring Training is the time of year when every team is on even footing. Every MLB ball club is playing games that don't count and everyone's regular season record sits at 0-0. It has been more than three decades since the Minnesota Twins last won a World Series.
While the Twins are projected by some to win the American League Central, there aren't a lot of pundits out there predicting them to win it all. That won't stop manager Rocco Baldelli dreaming, though. There are multiple players on Minnesota's current roster who have a World Series ring.
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Rocco Baldelli ready to plan a Minnesota Twins parade
The last few years, the Minnesota Twins have given fans a look behind the scenes with an in-house documentary production they've dubbed " The Diamond ". Episodes for the 2025 season have already started, with Spring Training, and they'll continue throughout the year.
In the most recent episode, Rocco addressed the team with cameras rolling and delivered a very clear message. No matter what the outside world is projecting, or what collapse happened at the end of 2024, he wants a f***ing World Series, and they should too.
"There's people who are not going to be with us on Opening Day, or in April or in May, who are going to be there at the end helping us win. All the work matters. Your families are on the field. Everybody is celebrating. You've got parades. I've never had a parade. I want a f**king parade. The community will forever be indebted to you. Forever. They'll f**king love you. I want to give our community a gift like that. Let's have a year to remember guys. We're gonna work you, we're gonna hone you. We're going to challenge you so that you can be the best possible player that you can be. Good luck to all of you. Let's have a great year."
If there's any one person in Major League Baseball who understands how fleeting World Series opportunities can be, it's Rocco Baldelli. Once a sixth overall draft pick, the former top prospect saw his once-promising MLB career end after just 519 games .
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Rocco has been managing the Minnesota Twins for seven seasons, now. He's led them to the postseason three times, but it took the third try for him to win a playoff game. Finally in 2023, not only did Baldelli win his first playoff game, but he helped lead the Twins on the greatest postseason stretch in decades, all the way to the American League Championship Series.
Related: Another Year, Another Devastating Injury for Twins Pitching Prospect
2025 represents a fresh opportunity to turn the tide. There are plenty of familiar faces on this team, and once again the Twins will go as far as players like Carlos Correa , Royce Lewis , and Byron Buxton can take them. The former already has a ring, and the latter two would love to join him in that reality.
MN Twins veterans can show the way
Carlos Correa and Christian Vazquez are arguably the most decorated players in the Minnesota Twins clubhouse. Correa won a World Series ring in 2017 with the Houston Astros . He had a pair of home runs and was part of a team that knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Correa has also experienced the heartbreak of defeat. With the Astros he has lost a World Series title in both 2019 (against the Washington National) and 2021 (against the Atlanta Braves ). As a player that has experienced the pinnacle of the sport, he has not been shy about wanting to get back.
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Veteran backstop Christian Vazquez has a pair of World Series rings. He won his first with the Boston Red Sox in 2018 (against the Dodgers) and grabbed his second in 2022 with the Astros, a team Correa had just left to join the Twins.
Related: Chris Paddack in Danger of Losing Starting Job for Twins?
Minnesota has plenty of talent to make a run in October. They have leaders that understand what it takes. The manager wants to plan a parade and everything for the next handful of months will be building towards that.
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