Did Pohlads' Pivot on Sale Lead to Rocco Baldelli Being Fired?

[thelanges5]

I’m not surprised by the Rocco news. He lasted longer than most would with his track record. 2019 and 2023 were fun and he’ll be remembered for those seasons. 
 

The biggest surprise is that Falvey and Zoll got promoted after the 2024 collapse. They built the rosters that Rocco was managing. Falvey as the president of both the baseball and business side? 
 

Tom Pohlad said we shouldn’t question their investment in the team but we should question their decision making. 

[Doctor Wu]

19 hours ago, 4twinsJA said:

Twins will not be very good next year.

I still think that the Twins COULD be very good next year. A few tweaks and it might be another last to first scenario. A lot of work to do sure, but not such a far-fetched idea. 

[Doctor Wu]

15 hours ago, bloomwcjkl said:

Even if they didn't win much, I did enjoy the post fire sale Twins.

Keaschal, Lee, Martin, Clemens

My expectations are low (also see MN Vikings) but it was a fun squad to watch.

I enjoyed followed the post-fire sale Twins too. But I'm not sold on the idea that watching Lee is "fun" in any way. 

[TopGunn#22]

The surprise is that the Pohlad family and Falvey decided to fire Rocco after "allegedly" extending his contract this spring.  

It would have been a shock if Rocco had been retained if a sale had been completed.  

 

[AceWrigley]

18 hours ago, USAFChief said:

No.

 

Rocco's performance as an MLB manager led to Rocco being fired.

 

Agreed, though firing Rocco now seems a little confusing. Is he being fired for this year's performance? Is this just the delayed firing from last year's collapse (not to mention the collapse of '22)? I can't think of one experienced manager who would want the job considering the current front office and projected payroll reductions. Seems to me that keeping Rocco (who is already contracted to get paid) would have been a better fit for the current "plans" unless you think winning is any part of ownership's goal here.

[NYCTK]

The surprise is not that he was fired. It's how he stayed in the job for 7 seasons, enough to become the 3rd most winning Twins manager? 

There's far too much job security in the Twins organization. Probably why they have a culture that doesn't emphasize winning. 

[Jeff K]

14 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

There's no way they fired him for the team's performance over the last two months, so the decision to let him go must've been made at the trade deadline.

The pivot on the sale happened after the trade deadline.

Ergo, the pivot did not affect Rocco's job status

I agree with this assessment.  What I don't understand is why not fire Baldelli at the same time as the fire sale?  Staying on had to be like walking across hot coals for two months.  If you plan on firing they guy, do it.  And now we read that Falvey doesn't have a plan yet for what he wants out of his new manager.  How can that be?  Leaders must always have a plan B in their back pocket.  In this case, it should mean he knew the attributes he was looking for as well as a number of candidates.  This is almost as bad as Joe Pohlad being surprised when his TV deal went south and he hadn't worked on a plan B already.   

It's been Amateur hour with the Twins leadership.  The Twins need professionals running the organization, not this bunch.  With Joe Pohlad and Derek Falvey, they are the Frankentwins.

[Jeff K]

3 hours ago, Doctor Wu said:

I still think that the Twins COULD be very good next year. A few tweaks and it might be another last to first scenario. A lot of work to do sure, but not such a far-fetched idea. 

Starting pitching could be quite good and hitting could improve with luck and tweaks.  But the relief pitching is virtually naked.  Outside of Funderburk, I'm not sure I like any of them.  Maybe Topa?  Sands was pretty bad...maybe give him another role?  Translation, the bullpen needs much more than Tweaking.

[TwinsDr2021]

21 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Listening to Falvey's press conference now. 

Darren Wolfson: "OK so why fire him?"

Falvey: "That's a good question Doogie. Uh that's a conversation that works directly with ownership uh and ultimately a collaborative conversation for the right reasons to make the change."

Dissecting that word salad says that the decision was made by ownership, not Falvey.

All the more reason Falvey should be gone as well. 

[Doctor Wu]

18 hours ago, Jeff K said:

Starting pitching could be quite good and hitting could improve with luck and tweaks.  But the relief pitching is virtually naked.  Outside of Funderburk, I'm not sure I like any of them.  Maybe Topa?  Sands was pretty bad...maybe give him another role?  Translation, the bullpen needs much more than Tweaking.

Ha! You are right. "Tweaking" was probably not the best word to use. We need a bunch of good arms and soon. Maybe some of the AAA starters can be converted to relief duty, but we will need a few veteran arms too I would think.