Derek Shelton's Hiring Shows That Rocco Baldelli Was Falvey's Fall Guy

[Eric Blonigen]

Image courtesy of © William Purnell-Imagn Images

In baseball as in business, when an executive is feeling pressure to perform after a stretch of mediocrity, they will often take an action just so they can say they did something, anything, to try to move the needle. In many cases, these actions reek of desperation. Generally, even at the time these sorts of moves are made, they either look to be too little too late, or like the wrong move entirely. Sometimes there’s a blame game, a deflection of responsibility that can buy an executive a bit more time to right the ship.

Derek Falvey firing Rocco Baldelli is one such action, and this becomes increasingly clear with his hiring of Derek Shelton. I’ll give you three points in this argument, and further, I believe Shelton was similarly a fall guy for Ben Cherington in Pittsburgh.

The first clue that both were fall guys: Shelton got another manager position almost immediately. If he were the problem in Pittsburgh, surely the Twins would have sussed that out in the interview process. Similarly, Baldelli was publicly linked to the manager vacancies in Washington DC and Anaheim prior to both teams going with other candidates. Further, per Dan Hayes, from The Athletic, “As many as 10 teams called Baldelli in the aftermath of his Sept. 29 dismissal from the Twins to express interest in hiring the 2019 American League Manager of the Year for a variety of different roles, though Baldelli didn’t specify any job titles.” If Baldelli were the problem in Minnesota, that probably wouldn’t be the case — at least not immediately. So, based on this alone, teams seem to understand clearly that he was dealt a bad hand and couldn’t do much with it..

One can look at the statements the heads of baseball made about their respective managerial firings for the second clue that Baldelli was Falvey’s sacrificial lamb, and that the manager wasn’t the root of the problem. To wit, Falvey said at the time, “We’ve collectively arrived at this being the right time for a new voice in a new direction. It’s not about Rocco. This is a collective underperformance from our group, and it starts with me.”

Well now. If it’s not about Baldelli, then why was he fired? How does removing him fix the payroll problem? Or the young hitters not hitting? How does it fix the glut of soft tissue injuries key players have suffered? If it’s time for a new voice and direction, then why did Falvey replace Rocco with someone so similar, and why did he bring in someone already familiar with the organization and its leadership? It turns out I don’t have answers to any of these questions, other than…the manager probably wasn’t the problem.

Ok. So we know what Falvey said about Baldelli. How about the Pittsburgh situation? Ben Cherington said, of Shelton’s firing: “This certainly isn’t all on Shelty. We’re all responsible. It certainly starts with me. I’m more responsible than anyone. We need to perform better. That’s the bottom line. This wasn’t about any single player, even any single day. An accumulation over the last part of last year and early part of this year. It just became clear to me that in order to move forward and get the Pirates back moving in the direction we need to move that a change was necessary to give ourselves a chance to do that.”

Sounds almost identical, and it’s pretty clear that in both cases, one can look at these firings and glean a sense of “it was him or me”. In neither case are there specific examples of what the manager got wrong, or should have done differently. In both cases, there’s a sort of word salad that could be oversimplified as follows: “our team is broken right now, and we gotta do something.”

Further, if Falvey’s goal is to drive the sort of change that will usher in winning ways, this swap, when examined closely, doesn’t pass the sniff test. There are many similarities that suggest this is just shuffling deck chairs. Both are analytically oriented. Both have received the same sorts of criticism around team fundamentals, pulling pitchers early, and having their teams not be aggressive on the basepaths. Both have similar experience managing and have held a variety of other roles to build experience.

Both also are said to have fun, warm personalities with their players. When Falvey hired Baldelli, he said of him: “He connects exceptionally well to people. His humility, his open-mindedness, but also there’s a strong sense of opinion there. He has a lot of ideas as how to help players.” Just a few days ago, Falvey said of Shelton: “We’ve seen firsthand the trust and respect he earns from players and how he helps them reach their best.” Ok, these sorts of platitudes could probably by applied to most managerial candidates in 2025, but still, the verbiage is almost identical, just separated by eight years. What Falvey is looking for is…the same dynamic he had with Baldelli.

Really, what all of this says is that in some ways, the Twins’ 14th and 15th Managers are a bit interchangeable. Shelton is unlikely to produce fundamentally different results from Baldelli when the inputs (payroll and players) are the same. This is not to say that Shelton is a bad hire — even if his win/loss record isn’t markedly better than it was with the Pirates. Shelton seems widely respected across the league, has baseball bona fides, and is really not to blame for the Pirates' ineptitude for the past, well, forever. This is also not to say that Rocco Baldelli was an amazing manager, or even that it wasn’t time for a change in the clubhouse and in the dugout.

However, if the Twins were truly interested in a fundamentally different voice, or even believed that the manager makes a significant impact on the team’s results, Falvey likely would have looked at a different group of candidates. The fact that he didn’t, and his own words, give up the game: Baldelli was a sacrifice.

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[Craig Arko]

Perhaps most managerial firings are as fall guys for higher ups.

[dxpavelka]

c'mon man.  Use a little imagination.

[EGFTShaw]

The Twins situation.

Under Rocco the First's Reign I think these 2 things fall on his shoulders.

1. Failing to continue the development of the hitters.
2. Failing to improve the defensive fundamentals

These 2 things do not fall on RtF's shoulders

1. Trading players (fire sale of 10 people at the deadline)
2. Payroll slashed after winning their first playoff series since the glaciers receded, (the last 3 were in 2023, 2002 and 1991)

Strategy I don't think many of us are really qualified to talk strategy, although base stealing, or the lack of it, is fair to lay at RtF's feet.  

Edited November 3, 2025 by EGFTShaw

[LewFordLives]

Falvey has dispatched with the GM, manager, and numerous coaches. He has no one left to blame. 

[Reptevia]

Some of us pointed out the similarities between Rocco and Shelton. Thanks Eric for taking the time to write it. It sure sounds like we will get more of Falvey’s cooking with a new but similar helper. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Good article. Well thought out arguments for your point.

[Rufus]

Oh for gosh sakes the Twins were stagnant.  Sometimes it might not be the bosses fault but the work place needs a shaking up and the best way to do that is to replace the boss.   Look what happened in Cleveland after they replaced a HOF manager.  

[Doctor Gast]

Fans & players have heard for years, don't look at the results, trust the process. Falvey absolutely didn't want to fire Baldelli because he was the face of that process. After years of no results, we have to look at the analytical process (of hitting a ton of HRs when they don't count, SOs offensively when it matters, defense, fundamentals, clutch hitting don't matter) & come to the conclusion that the process is faulty. But Falvey has resisted with all his might.

The reason that Baldelli was fired was none of that. He was fired because the Pohlads weren't selling tickets & Falvey was told to solve the problem. Through the years, Falvey has used all the excuses in the book & bloodied the field with sacrificial lambs. Instead of solving the problem by taking full responsibility & removing himself, He decided to sacrifice his most prized lamb, Baldelli. It was obvious to many that this was most likely going to happen. Again, this weak show of action will do nothing to change the sale of tickets, because, unlike the Pohlads, the fans aren't fooled. When ticket sales reach new all-time lows, will the Pohlads finally wake up? How deep will that hole get before they wake up & seek a better source of their information rather than Falvey?

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, LewFordLives said:

Falvey has dispatched with the GM, manager, and numerous coaches. He has no one left to blame. 

You underestimate Mr. Falvey.  Push comes to shove he'll find someone.

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, EGFTShaw said:

The Twins situation.

Under Rocco the First's Reign I think these 2 things fall on his shoulders.

1. Failing to continue the development of the hitters.
2. Failing to improve the defensive fundamentals

These 2 things do not fall on RtF's shoulders

1. Trading players (fire sale of 10 people at the deadline)
2. Payroll slashed after winning their first playoff series since the glaciers receded, (the last 3 were in 2023, 2002 and 1991)

Strategy I don't think many of us are really qualified to take strategy, although base stealing, or the lack of it, is fair to lay at RtF's feet.  

Base stealing has gone down for years. I guesss a few 100 managers aren’t as smart as the fans who complain about the lack of base stealing. 

[old nurse]

18 minutes ago, Rufus said:

Oh for gosh sakes the Twins were stagnant.  Sometimes it might not be the bosses fault but the work place needs a shaking up and the best way to do that is to replace the boss.   Look what happened in Cleveland after they replaced a HOF manager.  

Cleveland did as they have always done. Now if they had won a WS, you would have a point 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, LewFordLives said:

Falvey has dispatched with the GM, manager, and numerous coaches. He has no one left to blame. 

They fired Ryan for total system failure. Pretty much the same team gets into the WC round. The core of Bomba was Ryan’s system failure guys. Sometimes it wasn’t the GM. There always will be fall guys. The club under Bill Smith is an example of when it was right. 

[Rufus]

13 minutes ago, old nurse said:

Cleveland did as they have always done. Now if they had won a WS, you would have a point 

 

[old nurse]

Just now, Rufus said:

 

Left you speechless ?

[Mahoning]

Rocco couldn't rightly be blamed for pulling pitchers early. If you watched what the Twins did at AAA with, say, Festa and Zebby, they were routinely pulled after five innings of shutout or one run baseball. This, evidently, is an organizational decision: They don't WANT their young pitchers to develop stamina. You can't expect a pitcher trained to go five at AAA to go longer, or even that long, in the majors. If the Twins had a young Bob Gibson it would be the same: "Great five innings. Bob. Now go get some rest."

[Rufus]

7 minutes ago, Rufus said:

 

7 minutes ago, Rufus said:

 

Just now, Rufus said:

After Francona left following the 23 season Cleveland went from a team that was founding in the Central division to one that won it in 24 and staged a historic comeback to overpack the Tigers last season.  No they didn't win a World Series.  they don't have good enough players to do that,  but the improvement after the managerial change is undeniable.  Is Vote a better manger than Francona? I doubt it...But sometimes a change at the top and a way at looking at things helps.  People do get stagnant in their jobs.

Just now, Rufus said:

 

 

14 minutes ago, old nurse said:

Cleveland did as they have always done. Now if they had won a WS, you would have a point 

 

[spanman2]

1 hour ago, LewFordLives said:

Falvey has dispatched with the GM, manager, and numerous coaches. He has no one left to blame. 

I'd be interested in knowing what 'goals' Falvey has set for himself.  Yes, the blame game train is out of track.  

[old nurse]

6 minutes ago, Mahoning said:

Rocco couldn't rightly be blamed for pulling pitchers early. If you watched what the Twins did at AAA with, say, Festa and Zebby, they were routinely pulled after five innings of shutout or one run baseball. This, evidently, is an organizational decision: They don't WANT their young pitchers to develop stamina. You can't expect a pitcher trained to go five at AAA to go longer, or even that long, in the majors. If the Twins had a young Bob Gibson it would be the same: "Great five innings. Bob. Now go get some rest."

They generally use pitch counts, not innings. It is why there are so few CG in the majors. Since the stat boys follow such stuff, they just might have a clue about limitations. 

[nicksaviking]

People are free to not like Derek Shelton and everyone can (should?) ALSO want to see Falvey replaced, but this team stunk; there is absolutely zero reason anyone needs to be scolded for firing Rocco Baldelli.

Also, if Baldelli was a 'scapegoat' he wasn't Falvey's scapegoat. From the press conference:

Darren Wolfson: "Ok then so why fire him?"

Falvey: "Yeah, that's a fair question Doogie. That's a conversation that works directly with ownership, and uhh ultimately a collaborative conversation about what were the right reasons to make the change." 

Babble, babble, babble. Then: "I worked closely with ownership, to spend some time together [sounds romantic], they discussed their perspectives on this and it ultimately lead to an organizational decision to make that change."

This was almost certainly a Pohlad decision. Woflson's question was surprisingly aggressive and Falvey immediately threw ownership out there, then after rambling a bit, doubled down that it was ownership perspective.

And everyone should be happy about this. If the Pohlad's are telling Falvey to fire his manager, Falvey's grip on his job probably isn't terribly strong.

1:10 into the video.

 

[Doc Lenz]

If Shelton brings the infield in during the second inning down one I’ll believe he’s a Rocco clone. The in game strategy has been awful it was time for a change.

[David Maro]

We keep beating a dead horse,the more things change the more they stay the same. The only change was the face it's still the same ownership and FO. This is a last place team in a winnable division. No one knows who will be left on this roster by the time ST comes around and they blow smoke all they want.

[Jeff K]

Baldelli earned his "launching".  A great manager makes his team better than they can reasonably expect to be.  The Twins underachieved.  Falvey certainly should have been fired too; he did not, but it does not change that Baldelli had to go.  And it's pretty hard to fire the owner...if only we could!

[Riverbrian]

I have no idea if Falvey's back is against the wall or not. It probably should be but if it is... that job pressure is probably time sensitive in November 2025 and that ain't good.

The front office and manager actually needs a little time to get the club in the right direction after an abrupt change in direction. Time sensitive job justification is just going to push them down the wrong path. 

They need to time to build via youth... if they lack the time to make that happen because of job pressure. It's just going to prolong the process because they will become reluctant to do what they really need to do to do it right and sustainable.     

If my back is against the wall. I'd want a manager that I personally knew and trusted.

If I knew and trusted Shelton. I would make the same hire in similar circumstances.  

The last thing Falvey needs right now is a manager running counter to his survival.

The last thing Shelton needs his direct supervisor being replaced by someone that he doesn't know and trust and then searching for his next manager job because the replacement has a guy that he knows and trusts. Derek doesn't want to be looking for a third manager job because there is a strong chance that it ain't coming.   

I don't fault Falvey for this hire.

Shelton will get my 100% support until he starts playing one year contracts instead of getting major league experience to young players who will be part of the future. At that point... I'm looking at Falvey because he is the one who hired him.  

 

[old nurse]

3 hours ago, Rufus said:

 

 

You did not learn what Winston Churchill said about removing all doubt?

[Coach Wheels]

4 hours ago, old nurse said:

Base stealing has gone down for years. I guesss a few 100 managers aren’t as smart as the fans who complain about the lack of base stealing. 

In 2024, the most stolen bases occurred since 1915. The new rules have brought stealing a base back into the game. There's no Ricky Henderson, Lou Brock, or Vince Coleman out there but it can be part of the game again

[USAFChief]

3 minutes ago, old nurse said:

You did not learn what Winston Churchill said about removing all doubt?

Winston Churchill?

 

Talk about ironic.

[karcherd]

3 hours ago, old nurse said:

They generally use pitch counts, not innings. It is why there are so few CG in the majors. Since the stat boys follow such stuff, they just might have a clue about limitations. 

This is absolutely an organizational direction and has nothing to do with pitch counts.  Go back and look at the box scores of the minor league games.  Pitchers were routinely pulled after 3 to 5 innings with 60 or 70 pitches.  And most times it was because they had faced the lineup twice.  So if they don't go more than five innings or face the lineup a third time, they can keep their mantra of he has no track record of facing a lineup a third time and doesn't have the stamina to go longer than 5 innings so we must pull him.

[laloesch]

3 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

People are free to not like Derek Shelton and everyone can (should?) ALSO want to see Falvey replaced, but this team stunk; there is absolutely zero reason anyone needs to be scolded for firing Rocco Baldelli.

Also, if Baldelli was a 'scapegoat' he wasn't Falvey's scapegoat. From the press conference:

Darren Wolfson: "Ok then so why fire him?"

Falvey: "Yeah, that's a fair question Doogie. That's a conversation that works directly with ownership, and uhh ultimately a collaborate conversation about what were the right reasons to make the change." 

Babble, babble, babble. Then: "I worked closely with ownership, to spend some time together [sounds romantic], they discussed their perspectives on this and it ultimately lead to an organizational decision to make that change."

This was almost certainly a Pohlad decision. Woflson's question was surprisingly aggressive and Falvey immediately threw ownership out there, then after rambling a bit, doubled down that it was ownership perspective.

And everyone should be happy about this. If the Pohlad's are telling Falvey to fire his manager, Falvey's grip on his job probably isn't terribly strong.

1:10 into the video.

 

Exactly.  Baldelli's firing was not Falvey's decision.  It was almost 100% a Pohlad decision.  Falvey liked Baldelli to the point that he extended him.  

[EGFTShaw]

4 hours ago, old nurse said:

Base stealing has gone down for years. I guesss a few 100 managers aren’t as smart as the fans who complain about the lack of base stealing. 

There is a lack of base stealing and non-exist base stealing.  Twins were in the latter.

Again, I had no issue either way on it, except it can generate pressure on the other team if your team is good at it.

Funniest Twins memory when it comes to base stealing is Kent Hrbek stealing 2nd base...😁