Taking the Temperature: How Twins Fans Feel About Rocco Baldelli, the Front Office, and Ownership

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn (Pohlad), Matt Blewett (Baldelli), Kim Klement Neitzel (Falvey)-Imagn Images

One of the most unique features at Twins Daily is our daily polling tool, which allows fans to weigh in on all aspects of the organization. Whether it’s the manager’s bullpen decisions, the front office’s trade deadline moves, or ownership’s long-term commitment to winning, every fan can share an opinion with a simple click. 

Over time, these votes start to tell a bigger story. The charts below reflect the fan base's sentiments in 2025 regarding Rocco Baldelli, Derek Falvey’s front office, and the ownership group led by the Pohlad family.

Baldelli’s Approval Rating
For most of the summer, fan sentiment toward Baldelli bounced around with the team’s performance. In April and May, disapproval ran high, with fans voicing frustration during a stretch when the Twins were hovering around .500. By June and July, however, Baldelli saw a modest boost, as disapproval votes climbed more slowly than the surge in frustration aimed at other parts of the organization. 

His approval, though, never spiked in the way managers hope. Interestingly, August saw a sharp rise in disapproval, peaking at nearly 3,000 votes, which coincided directly with the MLB trade deadline. As the other graphs below show, fans were angry after the team’s selloff, and they were pointing fingers at every part of the organization. 

Things have cooled slightly in September as fans assess the roster and realize there is little the manager can do with the current roster construction. Most options he has from a lineup and pitching standpoint are bad on any given day. The data paints Baldelli as a lightning rod for criticism, but not necessarily the top target.

The Falvey-Led Front Office
If Baldelli has absorbed his share of criticism, Falvey and the Twins’ front office have been right alongside him. Approval numbers for the front office barely climbed above a few hundred votes all year, with fans struggling to find optimism in roster construction or deadline moves.

In July, I wrote about how the failures of the 2025 team are tied to the front office. Minnesota collapsed down the stretch last season and made minimal moves this winter. Instead, this team was built with the hope for internal bounce-backs and improved health. That kind of passive roster-building was always a gamble, and it landed the club squarely in a quagmire of mediocrity.

Meanwhile, fan disapproval steadily rose, peaking in mid-August alongside Baldelli’s chart and corresponding with the trade deadline. Fans appear to be connecting the dots between the on-field struggles and the decision-makers at 1 Twins Way. By September, disapproval dropped, but approval never gained much momentum. The charts suggest the fan base feels directionless when it comes to the front office, perhaps signaling that patience is wearing thin.

Ownership’s Approval (Or Lack Thereof)
If Baldelli and Falvey are catching flak, ownership is receiving almost none of the benefit of the doubt. The Twins ownership group’s approval rating is barely visible on the chart, stuck at nearly zero votes at nearly every point in the season. 

The Pohlads announced the team was for sale roughly 12 months ago before reversing course later this year. Now, they are staying on as the primary owners and selling off two chunks of the team to minority ownership groups. Fan reaction to this decision was understandably poor, and attendance at Target Field has plummeted to record-low levels.  

Meanwhile, disapproval skyrocketed through the summer, peaking above 3,500 in August, the highest number across all three polls. By September, disapproval numbers dropped sharply, but approval failed to rise significantly. The lack of faith in ownership seems tied to larger frustrations about payroll, long-term competitiveness, and the perception that the front office is hamstrung from above.

 

Real-Time Fan Barometer
What makes these polls valuable is that they track the pulse of Twins Territory in real time. A hot streak, a losing skid, or a single press conference quote can dramatically swing sentiment. Taken together, the charts from 2025 show a fan base that is growing increasingly skeptical of all three levels of leadership: manager, front office, and ownership. While Baldelli takes plenty of criticism for in-game decisions, the loudest frustration is aimed at the higher rungs of the ladder, with ownership receiving the harshest marks of all.

For Twins fans, the polls offer a daily outlet for their frustrations and hopes. For the organization, they provide a clear message: trust is running thin, and results will be the only way to turn the tide.

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How do you view these three groups as the season closes? Who is most responsible for the team missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[USAFChief]

The falloffs in votes cast later on in the season most likely reflect fewer and fewer fans visiting Twins Daily. 

Fewer and fewer people care about the Twins enough to invest time or emotional energy. 

 

[nicksaviking]

8 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

The falloffs in votes cast later on in the season most likely reflect fewer and fewer fans visiting Twins Daily. 

Fewer and fewer people care about the Twins enough to invest time or emotional energy. 

 

Any good politician will tell you that apathy counts as a vote of confidence!

[Original_JB]

I guess I never realized (nor did most people I'd guess) that this was an ongoing, reading/collecting the votes each day, rolling set of polls. I just saw the polls varied every few days, but never consistently 'voted' on a regular basis as you apparently set out for people to do. Did you receive more or less a consistent amount of votes each day?

[jmlease1]

This is a dreadful professional baseball ownership.

This is a tone-deaf front office (taking a page from ownership).

This is a manager who may be losing the locker room (losing and having the roster implode will do that).

[LastOnePicked]

Gleeman and Bonnes were reviewing the fan survey from The Athletic the other day, and nearly half of the respondents gave Baldelli a "C." And "B" was the runner-up grade. 

This is a year after an historic late-season collapse, followed by a season of abject misery from this club, on the field and in their interview comments.

This team was predicted by multiple sources to win the AL Central. They have underperformed in nearly every single facet of the game. They look like the most listless, rudderless and punchless bunch you will ever see play Major League Baseball. 

A "C." I just cannot understand it. At least the TD poll seems to offer a slightly more realistic picture.

[Patzky]

35 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

The falloffs in votes cast later on in the season most likely reflect fewer and fewer fans visiting Twins Daily. 

Fewer and fewer people care about the Twins enough to invest time or emotional energy. 

 

When disapproval turns to disinterest..

[USAFChief]

As to the polling:

Ownership isn't going anywhere, unfortunately. No point talking about it. 

Thr FO is objectively below average. How could anyone argue differently? It's been 9 years. Outside of 2019, what have they accomplished?

Baldelli is terrible. His teams routinely suck at playing the game of baseball.  Not talking talent here...playing the game. And they truly SUCK at it.

A team with little talent can still know how to play the game, and do so.  That's entirely on the manager. Start the rebuild by getting a better one.

[jkcarew]

Temperature? Very chilly. But it’s weird…I’ve started to become comfortably numb.

[Doctor Gast]

Although I don't agree with a few things that Baldelli does, he lacks the experience & too dependent on weird analytics; firing only Baldelli will not solve the problem. Falvey will hire someone worse. I don't like the stupid decisions that the Pohlads have made due to money over fans. They are totally lost about baseball. But they don't have to know how to operate a baseball team; that's what Falvey is supposed to do. Falvey has no idea or ability to do so. Any good owner should be able to evaluate Falvey's performance & make an intelligent decision to fire him. Pohlad's failure to do so while promoting him shows how lost & delusional the Pohlads are. Payroll isn't a factor for me. A good FO can work around any financial limitations. 

My sentiments are not personal. If an outside investor comes in & wakes up sleepy Joe & fires Falvey & Co., I'm fine with that. If Falvey accepts some pitching office  (not FO), I'm fine with that. If Baldelli accepts a bench coach position, I'm fine with that. The one who deserves the most blame is Falvey because he's the one who's supposed to know what he's doing & be accountable, instead of blaming everything else.

[tony&rodney]

8 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

Temperature? Very chilly. But it’s weird…I’ve started to become comfortably numb.

The child is grown, the dream is gone.

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

The falloffs in votes cast later on in the season most likely reflect fewer and fewer fans visiting Twins Daily. 

Fewer and fewer people care about the Twins enough to invest time or emotional energy. 

 

Maybe fewer and fewer people care to come to rehash the same negativity over and over again. 

[David HK]

It says so much about the complete lack of a team culture here that both Torii Hunter and Eddie Guardado are in the Angels' dugout and bullpen.   I had no idea til I caught part of the broadcast, and it made me downright angry.

Why in the hell, if those two are available for coaching slots, are they not in a Twinkie uniform?  Even the god-awful blue ones!  What a slap in the face, but somehow it fits with the clueless, cake-eating family ethos in charge of the Twins.  

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

A "C." I just cannot understand it. At least the TD poll seems to offer a slightly more realistic picture.

If this is average, what in the world does failure look like?

[Woof Bronzer]

6 minutes ago, old nurse said:

Maybe fewer and fewer people care to come to rehash the same negativity over and over again. 

Agreed, when the team is this terrible, when the system fails so totally, people run out of new words to describe it.  

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

As to the polling:

Ownership isn't going anywhere, unfortunately. No point talking about it. 

Thr FO is objectively below average. How could anyone argue differently? It's been 9 years. Outside of 2019, what have they accomplished?

Baldelli is terrible. His teams routinely suck at playing the game of baseball.  Not talking talent here...playing the game. And they truly SUCK at it.

A team with little talent can still know how to play the game, and do so.  That's entirely on the manager. Start the rebuild by getting a better one.

The defense and base running should be instilled in the players by the time they reach the major leagues. Most have been playing the game for 10 years by the time they reach the majors. Hitting is what brings the money so that is what they work on. For an almost bat only player hitting below what the average starter does, it is estimated that Larnach would get 4 million in arbitration. That is a great gig if you can get it. 

[CRF]

You have to ask how we feel about Rocco, the FO, and the Pohlads? 🤣

[old nurse]

51 minutes ago, David HK said:

It says so much about the complete lack of a team culture here that both Torii Hunter and Eddie Guardado are in the Angels' dugout and bullpen.   I had no idea til I caught part of the broadcast, and it made me downright angry.

Why in the hell, if those two are available for coaching slots, are they not in a Twinkie uniform?  Even the god-awful blue ones!  What a slap in the face, but somehow it fits with the clueless, cake-eating family ethos in charge of the Twins.  

They are probably friends with Ron Washington and their kids are or were in the Angels system 

[Doctor Gast]

45 minutes ago, David HK said:

It says so much about the complete lack of a team culture here that both Torii Hunter and Eddie Guardado are in the Angels' dugout and bullpen.   I had no idea til I caught part of the broadcast, and it made me downright angry.

Why in the hell, if those two are available for coaching slots, are they not in a Twinkie uniform?  Even the god-awful blue ones!  What a slap in the face, but somehow it fits with the clueless, cake-eating family ethos in charge of the Twins.  

What will the Twins do with these 2 very popular former players? They'll only contradict Falvey's analytics; we don't want that, do we? If you got the data, what else do you need?

Seriously, coaching has been a serious problem. Tori & Eddie would be great fits, plus Washington's influence is a plus. IMO, Falvey, especially after getting more & more control, has gone away from reaching out to former players. Which I think is a big mistake.

[P Meyer]

2 hours ago, USAFChief said:

As to the polling:

Ownership isn't going anywhere, unfortunately. No point talking about it. 

Thr FO is objectively below average. How could anyone argue differently? It's been 9 years. Outside of 2019, what have they accomplished?

Baldelli is terrible. His teams routinely suck at playing the game of baseball.  Not talking talent here...playing the game. And they truly SUCK at it.

A team with little talent can still know how to play the game, and do so.  That's entirely on the manager. Start the rebuild by getting a better one.

Agreed. The team does not do anything, as a team, well. 

[tony&rodney]

Brian Dinkelman has done very well in both Cedar Rapids and Wichita. His teams play hard and they don't quit. There are more than a few times when I'm watching the Kernels in years past and Wichita this year that I have enjoyed the hustle of these teams. Numerous times earlier in the summer I just went to the Wind Surge game because the lack of effort from the Twins was discouraging to watch. Put Dinkelman in charge of the Twins and send Falvey home with Baldelli. There must be someone who knows how to run the business side of an MLB team. Zoll and others are fine to stay. Not all of the unknown front office employees drank the cool aid.

[ashbury]

9 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

send Falvey home with Baldelli. There must be someone who knows how to run the business side of an MLB team. Zoll and others are fine to stay. Not all of the unknown front office employees drank the cool aid.

You'll get rid of Falvey but keep Zoll?  Would your opinion change if I told you that Zoll is a 2012 graduate from Haverford College, Thad Levine's alma mater?  The networking goes pretty deep with this FO, and if you fire one, you probably need to fire all. 

Cool aid?  2 executives 1 cup.  😀

[USAFChief]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

You'll get rid of Falvey but keep Zoll?  Would your opinion change if I told you that Zoll is a 2012 graduate from Haverford College, Thad Levine's alma mater?  The networking goes pretty deep with this FO, and if you fire one, you probably need to fire all.

Zoll? 

Never heard of him.

 

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Zoll? 

Never heard of him.

We certainly don't hear much from him.

[ashbury]

Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting: Tim O'Neil

Executive Vice President, General Manager: Jeremy Zoll

O'Neil before Zoll.

[JBK]

Former Twins stars Torii Hunter, Eddie Guardado enjoying their stints as L.A. Angels coaches

How are two of the most popular Twins of the last 25 years employed by LAA?  I can't honestly name a Twins coach other than Rocco.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

You'll get rid of Falvey but keep Zoll?  Would your opinion change if I told you that Zoll is a 2012 graduate from Haverford College, Thad Levine's alma mater?  The networking goes pretty deep with this FO, and if you fire one, you probably need to fire all. 

Cool aid?  2 executives 1 cup.  😀

I plead guilty. I'm fine to sweep away all who share DK's way of playing/managing baseball.

[Peter]

Unfortunately falvey/Rocco aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future-they are connected at the hip- Tons of questions for sure on who stays/goes!!!I’ll always support our twins no matter what win or lose but It’s going to be at least a 2-3 year rebuild-I just want to see competitive baseball-

[twinstalker]

Congratulations to Walker Jenkins, who, because Keaschall has exceeded rookie limits, is now the only real Twins hitting prospect.

The prospect list:

1: Jenkins

2 thru P+1: Every pitcher in the Twins system (there are P of them, and I've decided to include Raya -- hey, I'd be pitching prospect for the Twins if I could throw hard and let them teach me a pitch that would work at the MLB level for a while before it crippled me,  I'm already as good as Noah Davis.  This group and its placement here is a compliment to Twins pitching development.

P+2 thru P+4:  K. Culpepper, G. Gonzalez, Tait (these are guys who have a legit chance of contributing in MLB, Tait maybe being the only one with a chance to be above average, though the probability is low)

P+5 thru P+4+W:  the weirdos, including Eeles, EmRod, other indy players and int'l signings we know nothing about.  EmRod is included here because of tools and because they are diminishing rapidly.  Also includes a couple of catchers.

P+W+5 thru N:  everybody else, notably including first rounders Sabato, DeBarge, and Houston.  Twins continue to use early draft picks on guys who don't have a chance.  There are N players in the system eligible for prospect lists.

[Bodie]

5 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

If this is average, what in the world does failure look like?

Well, this Iowegian thinks "failure" looks a lot like a Minnesota "C"!