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
Well I guess he made too many trades at the deadline. Wonder if the woman who got his old cell phone number when he was hired is getting any text messages today?
He made the mistake of keeping them too competitive at the deadline so the firesale looked even worse.
He even went the extra mile by managing the Twins AND had twins of his own. Shows how little team loyalty means these days…
“This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set. I take personal responsibility for that.”
Then why do you still have a job and Rocco Baldelli doesn’t?
Falvey is a puppet for the Pohlads to keep his job. The tandem of him and Levine in the front office once looked solid, but his recent development into the Pohlads’ puppet and his attempts to pretend this gutted team is trying to win have completely ruined his reputation. He deserved to get canned more than Rocco did.
But to a certain extent…that is the job of the GM. If the ownership says Profits over Product…..that’s the job of the GM to do just that.
Boston is currently 12th in Total Payroll Allocations for 2025. $100m behind the Yanks and $150m behind the Dodgers. Having the 9th best record in Baseball while 12th in Spending seems reasonable.
And yes…Even the Blue Jays outspend them by $55m.
Looks like both the Manager and GM did fine…..Sure you may get lucky and Win now and then w/o spending alot….but you can’t depend on it….especailly when your team gets hit hard by injuries.
POBO: I take personal responsibility for that.
That’s why I’m firing the field manager.
Of course I’m not firing myself!
That would make me personally responsible,
… Which I am not.
Any guess how long he keeps his job?
Exactly! I thought the same thing. Ummm how is firing the guy below you taking personal responsibility???
I guess he assumed keeping the manager was one of his bad decisions?
“It’s my fault. You’re fired.”
the owners spent no money and dumped at the deadline. Not sure how Rocco gets the blame
Guess this is Falvey’s pitch to the ownership. Don’t fire me, it’s Rocco’s fault!
Sell the team!
DEFUND THE POHLADS.
Please, just sell the dang team already and get them into the hands of owners that care, because the pohlads, so very clearly, DO NOT.
How much does the owner need to spend in order for the owner to care. Because I listen to the Kay show and Yankee fans say the same thing. Why do the twins owners not have the lowest payroll in the league?
Because they aren’t good at business or baseball or the business of baseball. Also there are others doing the same calculus. They are trying to be efficient though! See!?
Yeah ok.
Baldelli will be a fallback option for teams who miss on Skip Schumaker. Twins will most likely hire a first time manager with modest salary expectations, but they could possibly pivot to Paul Molitor who probably shouldn’t have been fired in the first place.
Molly was very old school, no stats or analytics, and had no idea how to communicate with the kids. Given the age of the roster they’ll be looking at over the next few years they’re going to want someone young who knows how to speak to the twenty year olds that’ll be moving from St Paul to Minneapolis next season.
And cheap.
twincities.com/2016/11/12/charley-walters-twins-pa…
He was getting his butt kicked in 2016 (59-103) so yeah, if the front office wasn’t going to send players they could at least share the blame for the loses. I believe him when he says he’d like an outside set of eyes offering a different perspective, but his style never changed. In his last year, 2018, they went 78-84, only hit 166 HR, he rode his top four SP hard, getting 116 starts and 656 innings, and they were 44-27 SB/CS, which is not great. They got a zillion HR the next year when he was gone, but that 2018 team underperformed more than the injuries to Buxton and Jason Castro would warrant.
I think Baldelli as a fallback for teams that don’t get Schumaker
Is very probable.
At least we don’t have to listen to Dave St Peter, the biggest puppet of them all. Carl and Eloise forget to show the kids how to balance the checkbook. Now they cry poor me again.
Can I dream of a Cora firing followed by a Baldelli signing?
Why do you want the Sox to fire Cora?
My Dream Too but I would give Job to Varitek or Worcester Manager and hire a Former Manager as the Bench Coach.
Are you really a Red Sox supporter? A day before the wild card series starts and you talk about firing Cora? The negativity in your timing suggests you have given up on the season already even though the Sox made it to the postseason. At this point I’m sending positive vibes to Cora and the team and hoping for the best!
There are a fair amount of damaged RS fans. If we win the WS, swanhenge will be upset that ruined any chance of firing him.
If you think I’m being sarcastic, no. RS ‘fans’ were upset that Tito and Theo were so successful.
Be careful what you hope for.
” I take personal responsibility for that”
By firing another person. seems right.
Came here to say the exact same thing!
Rocco is a solid human being, but we fans got sick of him as manager. You can’t win by platooning guys and experimenting every day. It’s almost like he used his own career as a precedent to be overly cautious with players’ playing time.
That said, Rocco was just a small part of the problem in Minnesota. He’s now the scapegoat for ownership to use for the lack of success. The Pohlads still won’t see fans in Target Field’s seats unless they hand the reins over to someone else.
It’s not like he had a roster full of studs that he could plug in every night. When you have a mediocre team and are in a competitive division, you try and take advantage of every conceivable advantage matchup.
Tough for him to trot out the same nine and then turn to management and tell them it ain’t working so go get me 30 more homers, a TOR guy and a lockdown closer ASAP and I’ll win this thing for you
Tom Kelly platooned and is beloved by Twins fans
And you don’t think the fact he won 2 WS has everything to do with that?
Tiberria – guess that means platooning is a good way to win ball games
Who should not have been a platoon?
You can’t win by platooning guys. Several teams have shown this year and in the previous decade you can win all kinds of games like that
Earl Weaver was successful at it
Not for Robinson, Blair, and Buford in the outfield or Robinson, Belanger, Johnson or Powell in the infield. so, you must mean Etchebarren and Hendricks at catcher.
They traded Robinson prior to 72 which was Bufords last year. Weaver manage till 86
Lowenstein/Roenicke
Red Sox have been doing it all year out of necessity.
It’s kind of a ridiculous idea that this is a binary choice. If you have a great lefty hitter, who is bad against righties, you platoon him.
A disciple of Kevin Cash, what do you expect?
This sucks. None of Rocco’s managing moves change the fact that pre-fire sale the roster was constructed of a bunch of very similar, slow, slump-prone hitters. And that post-fire sale he had to rely on the likes of Genesis Cabrera to get high leverage outs.
They had begun another post all-star game folding act when the trades took place. He should have been fired in the 2nd half the year before. His voice was reaching no one.
It’s silly that the Twins extended Baldelli’s contract to cover ’26 earlier this season. Now they have to pay him for next year and the Poorhouse Pohlads will cry over it.
By definition, “I take personal responsibility for that.” implies resigning …if a person’s word has any value whatsoever.
Anything less is token appeasement, like apologizing for doing something improperly or unsuccessfully without consequence otherwise.
” I take personal responsibility for that”
BUT
Baldelli:
Insisted on waiting for the long ball.
Was totally in love with platooning.
Pretty much never employed the bunt.
Pretty much never had players steal bases.
(Both improved as the season wore on).
Baserunning skills were virtually non-existent.
Pitchers were woeful at fielding their position and then making an ACCURATE throw to 1B.
Never seemed “in sinc” with the Bullpen Coach when it came down to who to have warm up and who to bring in to pitch.
Players with performance issues DID NOT IMPROVE those under performing skill areas as the season wore on.
Did he provide enough of and the right kind of feedback to the PBO and the GM?
Did he provide enough of and the right kind of feedback to his coaching staff?
BESIDES:,
Flavey needed a SCAPEGOAT to blame the team’s failure on to save his own job. (FOR THE MOMENT – He could be next)
I gotta tell you I think you;re wrong on a lot of these, but also that a lot of the analytic-driven decisions came from above.
The roster and strategy for pitching well and hitting dingers was sound when they had the right guys in 2019, but Kirrillof quitting and Larnach not developing and Wallner getting hurt and and Correa falling apart and Royce missing so much more time and then sucking and the inevitable catcher injuries exposed zero depth in the organization meant that they needed to make changes and didn’t have the resources to alter the roster. Instead of changing course tactically they threw in the towel, and that’s not on Rocco. For goodness sake they tried going with Ty France and Kody Clemons at 1B. Don’t hang this on the manager.
If he took personal responsibility, he should resign.
I take responsibility by firing someone else who suffered because I suck? What a jerk.
It is amazing to me that Falvey still has a job and that Rocco wasn’t fired after the 2024 season.
Soon to be seen = Rocco managing at BALD DELI !!
Falvey is officially on my list of worst baseball operations presidents in MLB.
While I’m not the biggest fan of Falvey, he’s obviously not atop the list of people to blame here. Ownership repeatedly put restrictions on Falvey, and Levine before him. It goes back decades to the Ryan years, too. Of course Rocco is the scapegoat (which I actually agree with), but we’re going to stutter step along for as long as the Pohlads own this team, regardless of management or operations personnel.
Haven’t they been middle-of-the-pack in terms of spending and near the top of their division for the last few years?
Yup, which made the payroll cuts after 2023 so painful. There are points in a team history where you have the pieces in place to make a run, and if mgmt can recognize them and make the right adjustments you can win it all. This team spent in 2023 and advanced, and then it pulled back and they fell back.
Baldelli will get another managerial job.
Will the new manager be required to bring a lunchbox from home?
Out with the old, in with the new ! A story as old as time.
Would like to see the Cardinals kick Marmol to the curb and hire Baldelli, considering how far back the connection with him and Chaim Bloom goes.
I’m not sure that Cardinals’ ownership can handle a manager not steeped in Cardinal history.
Yeah, that culture is bordering on the cult-like. They’d rather put Whitey Herzog’s urn in the dug out than hire from outside the family.
Why would you hire Rocco other than to fire Marmol?
If Falvey is taking personal responsibility for it, then why the @#$_ didn’t HE resign?
I’m not saying that Baldeli was a great manager, but is he really going to be better than whoever they have do it? This team might have a worse record in 2026 than the White Sox.
I feel bad for Twins fans. If the Twins had added or even stood pat at the deadline they could have gone on a run. Now the fanbase is potentially looking at a White Sox style rebuild.
They could have sold off half of what they did and only had a short walk back to relevance,but there’s no point if the owners know they aren’t going to spend any money. There were a lot of talented guys in that clubhouse that were looking at raises in the next couple years and they weren’t going to be paid in MN. Not sure how you play that 2001 Moneyball these days when everyone holds their prospects, but I guess that the play here? Blech.
They had a terrible collapse in 2024 and 2025 they were still looking pretty bad. That just wasn’t a good team.
Baldelli was not the problem. He was a very good manager. Someone will hire him.
Hello SF Giants Baldelli….I would not be surprised.
“This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set. I take personal responsibility for that… but we’re firing the manager anyway. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Mwaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Wait a second, are you typing out the ‘mwahahas’?! Don’t do that. You’re making me look like a cruel, heartless villain from an Austin Powers movie. That’s not cool.”
Scape goat. plain and simple.
Scapegoat for sure after the fire sale. If they’re going to try and “rebuild” Rick Renteria will be the hire.
“I take personal responsibility so I am firing someone else” – Falvey
The Twins. Enough said.
Bye Bye Rocco!
Baldy was Captain Clipboard with no soul for the feel of the game. Falvey is worse. And the owner even worse. Things won’t change until they all go.
Sorry. Making a comment with a phone and site is not up to it.
Long time listener, first time caller. As a Twins fan who barely remembers 87 & 91, what this organization has done lately is elite level dysfunction.
The last few years have been wrought with questionable decisions, player confusion and fan ire. The way Rocco managed the inning to inning of each game felt more like a computer program run by windows 95 than a manager with a feel for the game.
Rocco is a very likable guy in his post game pressers and candid radio interviews. That said, he lost me years back with horrendous bullpen management, platoon centered line ups that opposing managers easily countered & a lack player engagement.
If we’re being serious here, he should’ve likely been out of a job at the end of last year. That collapse was one for the books & with all that talent in the clubhouse, he was not able to muster a rally speech to get the gang over the finish line.
Truth be told, this year was not all Rocco’s fault. The moves that Falvey made at the deadline would get you kicked out of an MLB The Show money league for collusion accusations.
When the tank was opened up on those deadline moves, to me the decision on Rocco was all but official. If someone were to tell you that losing with the suboptimal roster composition after August 1st was the death nail, well, they’d be lying to you.
I honestly don’t know where this team goes, but it’s very possible they stay in house and turn things over to Jace Tingler. He’s responsible for the resurgence on the base paths, and he had some winning years in San Diego before that arrangement ran it’s course.
With the way the Twins cut payroll this year, and have clearly one of the worst owners in the game this side of the former Rays dude and Oakland A’s guy, I don’t know if whoever takes over the team is gonna have much of a real shot of doing anything substantive before the work stoppage in 2027.
If you’re a baseball fan, and you live in Minnesota, now might not be a bad time to buy some Brewers gear and advert your eyes almost completely from what’s sure to be one of the worst seasons in team history come 2026. I hope I’m wrong, but I no better.
Probably a good thing for Rocco to be jettisoned from the sinking ship. 2026 looking to be a rough season in Minn.
If the Twins didn’t hit multiple homers, Rocco did not know how to score runs. Perhaps analytics tied his hands. I never felt he had a feel for the game. For the life of me, I don’t know why guys like Lewis and Lee didn’t play every one of the last 20 games. He always had a little league mentality to play every one. Seemed like a nice guy, but I never thought of him as a good manager
They exercise his option and then fire him a few months later? This kind of stuff is why normal people don’t like “business men”
How about we blame the Poorlads. Sell the team already!
They should also fire whoever came up with their new logo and uniforms as well. They’re atrocious
Thank you, finally someone pointed them out.
David Ross is in his glide path for landing some where.
I like this idea.
Bob Melvin it is.
Fire Falvey too!
“I take personal responsibility for that. …
And by me, I mean you. You see, that was the third person ‘we’, not the first or second person ‘we’.
Toby Gardinhire.
No thank you.
Likely Baldelli voiced his displeasure and ownership didnt care for it.
Twins are actually doing him a favor by not subjecting him to an even more dreadful season and Rocco not blemishing his record in case he’s up for a hire.
The Twins have some talent. They’ll win more games next year, imo.
“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.
So he is taking personal responsibility but is firing somebody else ?
Typical corporate BS speak.
Hard to be a world-class juggler in Vegas when you’re given one m&m to work with….
The interview process for Rocco’s replacement will probably consist of Falvey setting a turnip on the desk, then asking: “how is your grip strength?”
Interesting decision for the Twins. Next Manager will probably be a “yes man” that won’t mind a nickel and dime roster.
Rocco might be a fit for the Giants
Rocco was already a “yes man”. This is a VERY
poorly written writeup, including cherry picking what was said about the firing.
You play who you have, and sometimes you play them how you’re told. I’m not sure what sort of Connie Mack fantasy you’re entertaining but things are not like that today. Top-down management and business grade double talk are the standards and have been for years. Keep up.
Yes. Giants make sense.
Should have dumped him when the team folded at the end of the 2024 season. Now the dummies will be paying him for doing NOTHING in 2026 after gifting him by picking up his option in ,mid year 2025. If the team had ANY CLUE as to their long range planning the option wouldn’t have been exercised. So the Pohlad penny-pinchers will be paying for TWO MANAGERS in 2026. That will justify trading away an established player for nothing but a whim and a prayer in return so those bucks can be recouped
Why would you preemptively exercise his option just to fire him before the option year has even started?
I would love it if the Blue Jays fire Schneider (especially if he gets wiped out of the playoffs yet again) and hire either Baldelli or Bochy. Schneider will never be a playoff caliber manager.
Hmmmmm wonder how he’d do in Baltimore?
The Twins did you a favor, Rocco. Trying to win with waiver wire trash is nearly impossible.
Rocco deserved better
Bad move by the Twins. They make the playoffs in ’23, cut the budget, then refuse to let them spend money on more players, have a fire sale this year and fire the manager over poor results.
Outside of Nutting, the ownership cannot actually be any worse…
They fired the wrong person.
I could be happy with Torri Hunter as the Manager and Justin Mourneau as the Bench Coach. Perhaps bring in Frank Viola, Glen Perkins or Brad Radke as the pitching coach. If we are going to work with a AAA baseball team as the Twins, they might as well get some former Twins who had success to help lead the Motley Crew.
You know what won those WS titles? picking up veterans to support the homegrown players, and picking up role guys at the deadline to push them over the top. Remember Chili Davis and Don Baylor? This ownership would never have added those guys.
Twins fire manager trying to extinguish burning building set ablaze by twins
He took “full responsibility” and then fired the manager.
I’m 72 and the Pohlads make me long for the (yech !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Calvin Griffith era !!(They should rehire 92-year-old ex-skipper John Goryl.Of course,Pohlad would be immediately arrested for elder abuse!!!!)
Baldelli,44,one of MLB’s best young managers,won’t be unemployed long,as a REAL team will soon snap him up for ’26 and beyond.
Baltimore may soon find out how well Baldelli will fare in the Birds’ dugout.
You can’t always spin straw into gold. Baldelli did a really good job. The Nats should take a look.
Rocco had a promising club that looked like if the GM was smart they would have a contender for several years.
But injuries and GM staffing decisions took that feature away.
Tell me what Manager would go to the Twins and do better?
I’ve listened to the new Rays owners coming in and they have come in and have addressed any question the press has and fans. It’s simply refreshing. Ownwers said what is key is they find a parcel of land that is close to 100 acres. They interviewed every club with a retractable and they all said no retactable, Huge expense with very little payback. Just build a domed stadium and IF you have the surrounding area around the stadium the hotels, bars, resturants, stores all provide an income source. These guys flat up said they will compete financially.
I think Minnesota is very close to this. Small market which means you have to be lucky to make playoffs and IF you meade to the championship series a greater round of luck is need.
Baldelli will land and I’m even hoping he replaces Cash IF Cash decides to bail which I know he won’t since they inked him to 2028.