The Twins announced that they have fired manager Rocco Baldelli. “This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set,” said president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, per Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. “I take personal responsibility for that. After discussions with ownership, we determined this is the right moment for a change in voice and direction.”
Baldelli, now 44, was hired by the Twins seven years ago. Minnesota had a disappointing season in 2018, finishing 78-84, and bumped Paul Molitor from the skipper position. Baldelli’s first few seasons went quite well. The club went 101-61 in 2019 and followed that up with a 36-24 showing in the shortened 2020 season. They won the American League Central in both of those years, though were quickly dispatched in the playoffs on both occasions.
The club fell below .500 in the next two seasons but bounced back to win the Central again in 2023. They actually managed to win a playoff series this time as well, defeating the Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, though they were then felled by the Astros in the ALDS.
More recently, things in Minnesota have gotten quite wobbly. Despite that strong 2023 season, the club went into 2024 determined to cut payroll. Their offseason spending consisting of one-year deals for Carlos Santana, Jay Jackson and Josh Staumont worth a total of $7.7MM. They seemed to be cruising to another postseason berth for most of the year but then went 9-18 in September and missed with an 82-80 record.
Going into 2025, their regional sports network deal was not renewed. That left the club little choice but to have Major League Baseball handle their broadcasts, an arrangement that is generally believed to bring in less revenue than the previous setup. The Pohlad family began exploring a sale of the franchise about this time a year ago.
Going into 2025, the club again made almost no investments in upgrading the roster. Late in the winter, they gave one-year deals to Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe and Ty France, spending a combined $10.25MM in the process.
This year, they hovered around contention for a while but fell behind the rest of the American League pack. Their trade deadline selloff ended up being more extensive than anticipated. They flipped controllable relievers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Louis Varland. They also sent Carlos Correa back to Houston in a salary dump deal. Minnesota limped to the end of the season with a 70-92 record.
Since that selloff, the Pohlads have decided not to sell the franchise after all. Instead, they have lined up minority investors who are reportedly going to help the franchise pay down its $500MM debt load.
Taking all that into consideration, it’s hard to know how much blame to assign to Baldelli. Evaluating managers from afar is always a tough business, but that’s especially true when the club is actively trying to cut payroll, which naturally gives the manager less talent to manage.
Regardless, the Twins have decided to shake things up with a change in the dugout. Baldelli’s original deal ran from 2019 through 2022, with multiple club options. He was still around in 2023 with some uncertainty around his contract status, but it was reported in May of that year that he had been extended through at least 2025. In June of this year, it was reported that the club had exercised Baldelli’s 2026 option at some point. It’s unclear when that option was triggered but the club has decided to make a change since then.
Time will tell what the Twins have in mind for their next manager, as their general approach for 2026 remains unconfirmed. If they still need to pinch more pennies, then perhaps they will trade Pablo López this winter and go into a rebuilding phase. On the other hand, they have already moved out a lot of payroll and targeted a lot of MLB-ready players in this year’s deadline deals. Perhaps their direction will impact what sort of skipper they look for.
In the coming weeks and months, more information about the club’s general plans and their managerial search should come to light. For now, this opens another managerial vacancy. The Giants also fired Bob Melvin today. There were also some midseason managerial firings in Pittsburgh, Colorado, Baltimore and Washington. The Pirates have decided to keep Don Kelly for next year but those other situations are less clear. It’s also not certain if Ron Washington will be managing the Angels again next year, after a quadruple bypass forced him to depart the team in 2025.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images