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MN Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli Sitting on Top of Hot Seat List
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- MN Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli Sitting on Top of Hot Seat List
Denny Medley-Imagn Images Denny Medley-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Twins are off to a rough 2025 regular season start. At 5-11 , it's safe to say these first 16 games have not gone as planned. Worse yet, some of the same issues that caused last year's second-half collapse seem to have carried over through the offseason.
As is usually the case when losses pile up, there are increasing questions being asked regarding the job security of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who's led the MN Twins to three AL Central titles in seven seasons as manager (hired before the 2019 season).
Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images
Baldelli has never been the most popular clubhouse leader, among fans. While there are other areas that draw concern, it's the Twins' strategic principles surrounding starting pitcher vs bullpen usage that consistently draws the ire of old school baseball fans who follow the team.
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Those fans absolutely hate how early and often Minnesota turns to the bullpen, and those final decisions ultimately fall on the shoulders of Baldelli, even if it is an organizationally-held belief. That's only one example of why we could see Rocco get the ax, even if the Twins' biggest issues are bigger than him.
MLB Insider: Rocco Baldelli at the top of manager hot seat list
That's why MLB insider Ken Rosenthal has Rocco Baldelli at the top of his MLB manager hot seat list, which just dropped on Monday morning at The Athletic . In his piece, Rosenthal highlights the Twins' 2024 collapse and how it is still casting a shadow over the team.
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Rocco has supposedly taken "a firmer approach", which obviously has not worked. While injuries have been a problem, that excuse only carries so much weight, for so long. With the kind of talent this team has on paper, there's no excuse for how last season ended, or how this one has started. Per Rosenthal, MN Twins president Derek Falvey declined to comment on Baldelli's job security.
Falvey, like virtually everyone else interviewed for this column, declined comment, and for good reason. The Twins, fighting declining attendance and trying to sell a new direct-to-consumer streaming product, were perhaps the team most in need of a strong start. They changed hitting coaches. Baldelli took a firmer approach.
Fans are frustrated with the lack of commitment by the Pohlad ownership. Injuries to third baseman Royce Lewis, right-hander Pablo López and until Sunday, infielder Brooks Lee, are part of the Twins' problem. But for arguably the most talented team in the AL Central, the injury excuse goes only so far.
At the end of the day, it's all about winning baseball games, and right now, this team isn't doing enough of that. But we know Rocco Baldelli can win. The Minnesota Twins won 101 games in his first year as manager, 36 during the shortened 2020 season, and 87 in 2023, which included the Twins' first playoff series win in over two decades.
Could Minnesota Twins fire Rocco sooner than later?
Rosenthal also notes that with the team still up for sale, the Twins are likely trying to boost their appeal to potential buyers, and there's no better way to do that than by putting a winning product on the field, and right now that's not happening. Clearly, Falvey loves Rocco… but if they keep losing, it won't matter.
After the Twins stumbled to a 12-27 finish last season, blowing a 92 percent chance of making the playoffs, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said of Baldelli, "I believe in his process. I believe in him. I believe in the partnership I have with him."
With the franchise for sale, the Twins presumably want their on-field product to hold greater appeal. Baldelli is in his seventh season as manager. The end point in his contract is not known. Clearly, though, he needs to win, no matter how close he might be with Falvey.
With only 16 games under their belt, the team is still 4.5 games behind the AL Central lead. With 144 games remaining, there's plenty of time to turn things around. But if they don't, manager Rocco Baldelli's job is very much in jeopardy.
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If the Twins don't find their rhythm soon, I could definitely see Rocco Baldelli getting fired mid-season. There's been some talk that this is his final year on his contract, which might mean the team could just let him finish out the season. But who knows, It's definitely something to keep an eye on.
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