If the Minnesota Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli, What Can Fans Expect?

[Rod Carews Birthday]

4 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

There’s what, maybe 2 or 3 manager openings every year? If someone wants to take the next step to manager they’ll take it. Not to mention it’s a fully guaranteed contract. 

Agreed.  But there is a difference between “Will someone want the job” and “will the right person want the job”.  

[USAFChief]

2 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

I expect the same people who were unhappy before to be unhappy after. 

I expect the same people happy watching this ****** baseball will be happy watching more of the same if they retain Baldelli. 

[T.O.]

5 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

 Prospects that graduate to the ML team developing their games to a higher level once here is putrid. This is the managers ultimate responsibility if that is how the organization is setup. 

It's always been this.

[Jacksson]

EXPECT a MASSIVE outpouring of, "What the hell took you so damn long?" 

[HerbieFan]

A few thoughts. 

1) Fire Baldelli or not, Falvey and the FO have done a p*ss poor job building a roster.

2) I don't think Rocco has much of a "gut" for managing, if any kind of one at all.  The best...Francona, Bochy, Hinch, etc., know how to marry analytics with their gut instinct.  

3) I don't understand why, after the deadline, the team was suddenly running more, playing more "small ball".  Where was that before August 1?  Rocco just doesn't seem to have a plan beyond what his computer printout from Falvey's analytical nerds tells him.

4) Let's be honest.....if Rocco is fired, no one is going to line up to bring him in as a manager.  That should tell us all we need to know.  I'm not a "fire the coach/manager" guy, but........

[Vanimal46]

6 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

I expect the same people who were unhappy before to be unhappy after. 

You’re happy with how things are going since July 31?

[USAFChief]

16 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

You’re happy with how things are going since July 31?

The thing is, its not just since July 31st.

 

[David HK]

Ozzie Guillen? 🤔

[David HK]

Seriously, the #1 firing needs to be joe and the whole pohlad family.  Then things can sort out as they may.  If only...

 

[BH67]

13 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Fire Falvey and Baldelli. It’s really that simple. Anything less is prolonging the rebuild process. 

Somebody please pay the Pohlads' ransom. Then I'll care.

[D.C Twins]

"@danhayesmlb.bsky.social reports the Twins eliminated their entire four-person pro scouting department in a cost-cutting move.:

 

Nick accidentally missed this in his 'reasons to believe for next season piece 🤣

 

The unintentional comedy of unnecessarily rushing to pick up Rocco's option for next year during the season while 'right-sizing' the budget is off the charts. 

 

Keeping the front office in place while firing 80% of the scouts that they likely hired is a close second but still does not eclipse the Rocco fiasco. 

 

Unadulterated Clown Show 

[JADBP]

14 hours ago, DannySD said:

If I were the Twins, I'd fire my scouting department at this point, too. A dartboard might prove more effective. 

They just did, Danny!!! Fired 4 of 5 scouts!  

[glunn]

13 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

There’s what, maybe 2 or 3 manager openings every year? If someone wants to take the next step to manager they’ll take it. Not to mention it’s a fully guaranteed contract. 

I believe that there were many captains who would have loved captaining the Titanic right up until the moment that it was clearly doomed. I believe that the TOP candidates will pass because it makes sense for them to wait for a decent opportunity to succeed, and because the Pohlads are cheap and won't pay a top salary.

[Craig Arko]

6 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

You’re happy with how things are going since July 31?

It’s not actually my highest priority these days.

[the_brute_squad]

I'm at the point that I believe Falvey has CIA or other deep state ties and is untouchable.

[kenneth frank]

What can we expect if they fire Baldelli? More of the same.

[LastOnePicked]

21 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

Why sully a new manager with a 100 loss season in 2026. Let Rocco wear it. 

Because many young players on this club are in desperate need of better coaching. 

[LastOnePicked]

"Still, if a new manager were to get similar results ..."

No. You don't make this comparison in 2026. You make this comparison only when the new manager has been gifted everything Rocco was gifted - a top AL Central payroll, a few elite free-agent signings and a weak AL Central to compete in for much of his career. Rocco had it pretty good and still couldn't deliver.

I'm only going to judge a new manager by the style of play and the character of the club that I see developing.

[David Maro]

Keep putting this crappie product on the field and watch the profits go away. You now have 2 years in a row of 4th place in the division. Staying with the same situation next year is only going to prolong the low profits. With the White Sox playing better and having a better roster this team will be a 5th place team.

[TNtwins85]

14 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

A few thoughts. 

1) Fire Baldelli or not, Falvey and the FO have done a p*ss poor job building a roster.

2) I don't think Rocco has much of a "gut" for managing, if any kind of one at all.  The best...Francona, Bochy, Hinch, etc., know how to marry analytics with their gut instinct.  

3) I don't understand why, after the deadline, the team was suddenly running more, playing more "small ball".  Where was that before August 1?  Rocco just doesn't seem to have a plan beyond what his computer printout from Falvey's analytical nerds tells him.

4) Let's be honest.....if Rocco is fired, no one is going to line up to bring him in as a manager.  That should tell us all we need to know.  I'm not a "fire the coach/manager" guy, but........

I agree with each of your points except 4. Whatever people in minnesota think of Rocco he’s been a well respected baseball voice for quite a while. People may not line up to bring him in as a manager but much like popkins last year he’ll catch on with somebody right away and most likely thrive. It has more to do with the Twins than it does every other club. There’s something to be said about guys like gardenhire. Despite not playing the analytics he got a lot more out of way less talent and held his star players accountable to play the game the right way. 

[thelanges5]

23 hours ago, DJL44 said:

If they fire Rocco next year they will probably have Jayce Tingler finish the season 

Tingler and Rocco are too similar and that is one of the problems. 

[saviking]

Don't you have to have players to be a players manager ..

[ashbury]

11 hours ago, glunn said:

I believe that there were many captains who would have loved captaining the Titanic right up until the moment that it was clearly doomed. I believe that the TOP candidates will pass because it makes sense for them to wait for a decent opportunity to succeed, and because the Pohlads are cheap and won't pay a top salary.

Plenty of young coaches etc look to take that next step up.  They'll accept the salary they are offered and will go along with the FO's principles concerning development and game play.  They will say they're Just Happy To Be Here™, and will teach the young players to Try Real Hard™.  They'll be just Good Enough™ for the purposes.  And maybe they'll get momentary positive results with a collection of Not Ready For Prime Time™ players.

[bean5302]

The problem with survey's like the one the Athletic put out there is it just panders to fan outrage.

Pohlads are responsible for the lousy game day experience and fan apathy but not the product on the field. The Pohlads don't draft or develop or trade or sign players. If the Pohlads were good owners, the Twins could probably run a payroll maybe $30MM higher. It's not a "drop in the bucket" but it's hardly a franchise direction alteration.

Falvey hasn't produced, and Baldelli is attached to him. Falvey bears most of the weight of this issue, but I can't help but look at mediocre team like Cleveland and wonder do the Twins really not have the same talent level as them? No, the teams really are similar in talent level. One team defies analytics winning games despite analytics saying they shouldn't. The other team continuously underperforms and finds a way to put in partial efforts and melt down almost every year. 

Baldelli is a big problem. Just not the biggest, and I don't know as I trust Falvey with making too many baseball decisions given the track record related to his team building initiatives.

[dcswede]

If the Twins were to fire Baldelli, the line of other teams salivating to snatch him up would probably not be very long

[Twinkie in Deutschland]

My take: The Twins will go along the same line as the Montreal Expos before they became the Washington Nationals: They will shed their important assets and start from the ground up, then ask MLB to either buy the franchise or fold it, which by that time there will be next to no one attending the games at Target Field. Should the team survive that, it will surely be bought by someone who will move the team out of state- perhaps back to Montreal, which if true, I will never watch a baseball game ever again.

 

If there is a way to stop the Pohlads from taking the money and running at the team's expense, then pressure must be applied on them to sell the team now so that we can finally invest in the squad and make use of that promise to bring a championship to Target Field. Investors with deep pockets, the state of MN, the fans and especially Ron Manfred of MLB must join forces to wrest control away from the Pohlads and put someone in that is not a penny pincher nor think of dollar signs but think about the team and its future in the state. Firing Baldelli and keeping Falvey and Zoll are just window dressings that will not solve this problem. The problem lies with and especially starts with the Pohlads and we must solve this one now- not one year from now nor after the possible lockout, but right now.

 

Because if the Twins go, so will Target Field and with it, the millions we invested in making the Pohlads happy.