If Twins Make a Scapegoat of Rocco Baldelli, Could Hank Conger Be Next in Line for the Job?

IMO. Most fired managers are used as scapegoats by their organization.  So thus would be nothing new.  I've never been a fan of Baldelli.  I don't think he is a very good manager.  But it's becoming more and more obvious he's only part of the problem.  The Front office must go.

Has Conger managed before?  Probably something to address in an article about managing. 

Everytime I read something like this it brings me back to when falvey and Levine cleaned house , their words not mine ( we have hired every position with the top professionals in the game ) , what they hired were a bunch of puppets that followed the direction of falvey  , yes Baldelli would be a scapegoat if fired ( and he needs to go ) , but in reality it's falvey that has constructed this fiasco of a team ....

Falvey's plan isn't working , blundering trades haven't helped , he is not the smartest person in the room as he portrays himself to be ...

Falvey hasn't made any significant trades since deadline of 2022 , either he is gun shy of those bad trades or the other 29 general managers Want nothing to do with him ...

Problem is worse with falvey and his plan ( hes been given a high payroll to spend but spends it foolishly ,  ryan had to work with small payroll budgets , had ryan been given higher payrolls would his regime have ended in a total system failure as jim pohlad said ) , maybe , maybe not ...

Falvey has failed to see the big pictures  , yes he did improve our pitching pipeline but has failed in and at the same time to recognize the failing defense and offense  ...

Falvey wouldn't be a scapegoat  , he just needs to go and hopefully a sale of the team goes through cause that's the only way we are going to keep the ship from taking on water and just about to go under  ....

Baldelli is here for 2025. Shift your worries to the weather.

This team needs a real shake up. From the manager and trainers, down to the players. Unless the Twins turn the season around, Rocco is done for, which is probably a bit overdue. This off-season needs to be a busy one. Guys like France, Bader, Vasquez and Castro will be gone already. Guys like Larnach and Miranda who haven't panned out need to go. Lots of roster shake up and replacements need to happen. Some will be filled from within probably. Keaschal, Rodriguez, Festa and Mathews. These guys will only get you so far, ownership is going to need to make some smart trades and make some real FA signings, not just last minute bargain bin guys like they're used to. 

The defense of a manager who has won a single ALDS game in his 7 years and whose team has quite clearly stopped caring is mind boggling.  "Well respected" by whom?  Certainly not his players, who cannot muster up the respect to run to first or play defense.  

Again - Baldelli has 1/6 the playoff wins as Twins Daily favorite Ron Gardenhire.  He has missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years, including 2 historic meltdowns, and is well on his way to making it 4 of the last 5.  "Scapegoat"?  lol.  

Scapegoat implies that he is performing well and they are looking for someone to blame for their mistakes. Baldelli has not done a good job of preparing his team. They don't even know what to do for their cutoff plays. If he's fired, it will be as deserved as most professional manager firings.

Make this happen... can we make it retroactive to  March 28 and take the 3 losses he has cost the team and move them to W column? Cannot happen soon enough IMO.... Although he has finally moved Wallner out of the leadoff spot and gone with the Jax/Duran role the last three games, it's too little too late for me.

As much as I can sense the flak I will get for this, I will risk it and make two points.  One, as others have so admirably stated, he is not a scapegoat.  As they say, if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem, and he is NOT part of the solution.  He has been living off of 2019 for far too long; since the beginning of the 2021 season, through yesterday, he is 326-340 if my public education arithmetic is correct; not a rousing success, and the reasons are multi fold.  I won't rehash all those reasons here.

Two, as I have argued in the past, the manager does too have influence over every aspect of the game, not just the lineup, or when to steal, when to pull a pitcher, etc.  He has the decision making duty of virtually every at bat; when to pitch to a hitter or walk him, where to position his defense, yes, who is going to pitch to him, and even the pitch sequence, if he so desires.  A decision not to do these things is, in and of itself, a decision he has made and choosing not to make these calls is every bit as much control over the game as micro managing.  It is just a personal managing style.  He does none of the things I have listed in this paragraph exceptionally well and it has shown far too often.  

Yes, the FO has to go; the whole leadership, upstairs and on the field, need to go.  But if that were to happen, would you turn it over to the bench coach?  Or would you let the new leadership pick the next manager?  

Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  😉

44 minutes ago, Mark G said:

As much as I can sense the flak I will get for this, I will risk it and make two points.  One, as others have so admirably stated, he is not a scapegoat.  As they say, if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem, and he is NOT part of the solution.  He has been living off of 2019 for far too long; since the beginning of the 2021 season, through yesterday, he is 326-340 if my public education arithmetic is correct; not a rousing success, and the reasons are multi fold.  I won't rehash all those reasons here.

Two, as I have argued in the past, the manager does too have influence over every aspect of the game, not just the lineup, or when to steal, when to pull a pitcher, etc.  He has the decision making duty of virtually every at bat; when to pitch to a hitter or walk him, where to position his defense, yes, who is going to pitch to him, and even the pitch sequence, if he so desires.  A decision not to do these things is, in and of itself, a decision he has made and choosing not to make these calls is every bit as much control over the game as micro managing.  It is just a personal managing style.  He does none of the things I have listed in this paragraph exceptionally well and it has shown far too often.  

Yes, the FO has to go; the whole leadership, upstairs and on the field, need to go.  But if that were to happen, would you turn it over to the bench coach?  Or would you let the new leadership pick the next manager?  

Anyway, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  😉

That was a very good story ...

Maybe a very short explanation .... we can't expect change until the offseason. Why? Others have already explained - $$$.

I always assumed it would be Toby that would take over when the time came. We love good stories here in Minnesota, and that would be a good story. 

Huh?  this team doesn't understand the fundamentals of the game, plays lousy defense, the pitchers can't throw to first base, they can't run the bases, watch the hitters, they don't follow through on their swings. on and on and this is a well respected manager?  By who?   The Mets announcers were laughing at the Twins Monday night, that is respect?  The whole Twins organization needs to start teaching fundamentals from Fort Meyers on up. Time for a shakeup from the bottom up

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Maybe a very short explanation .... we can't expect change until the offseason. Why? Others have already explained - $$$.

Not sure I follow this? If we still stink by June, no doubt Rocco gets canned and it costs us nothing to replace him with a current salaried employee. I'd pick Toby. It worked in late '86 with TK.  

If they're looking for a feisty, energetic contrast to Rocco, they could see if Joe Mauer is available to finish out the season for them.

1 minute ago, In My La Z boy said:

Not sure I follow this? If we still stink by June, no doubt Rocco gets canned and it costs us nothing to replace him with a current salaried employee. I'd pick Toby. It worked in late '86 with TK.  

Not much to follow. Seems evident that Falvey and Baldelli are a team. Falvey has actually stated this on several occasions. When Falvey goes, Baldelli goes. It doesn't matter to me. I'm a sicko Twins fan but not enthused with their style of play. Doubt the Pohlads make a change. I guess we shall see. I'm more interested in how the players respond to their opportunities and how competitive they are by June. It is a long season.

Rocco is not a scapegoat. If you want to argue that his hands are somewhat tied and that the Twins would struggle because of poor roster construction - no matter the manager - I suppose that's reasonable.

But, if want to evaluate his overall resume as Twins' manager, I don't see any compelling reasons for keeping him around - the collapse in 2024 and the lesser discussed collapse in 2022 would have been enough for most managers to get fired.

With the above said, there's NO CHANCE that Rocco is fired in-season. Only way that happens is if Falvey is also fired in-season and right now, the Pohlad's don't seem overly concerned with how the Twins are playing.

6 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Not much to follow. Seems evident that Falvey and Baldelli are a team. Falvey has actually stated this on several occasions. When Falvey goes, Baldelli goes. It doesn't matter to me. I'm a sicko Twins fan but not enthused with their style of play. Doubt the Pohlads make a change. I guess we shall see. I'm more interested in how the players respond to their opportunities and how competitive they are by June. It is a long season.

Falvey and Levine were a team, too. If Falvey is given a choice of firing Rocco, or losing his job, he'll fire Rocco.

1 minute ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

With the above said, there's NO CHANCE that Rocco is fired in-season. Only way that happens is if Falvey is also fired in-season and right now, the Pohlad's don't seem overly concerned with how the Twins are playing.

No Chance. That's a bold statement. I hope you are right because the only way you are right is if we play well. I want to watch good baseball. It is way too early in the season to turn off the game in the 5th. I cannot stand poor execution and sloppy play. That Miranda out at 2B was disgusting. What happened to that kid?

Falvey is as a big, if not bigger, of a problem as Rocco is. This roster leaves a lot to be desired and it's not entirely the result of the Pohlad's being cheap - Falvey's in a time warp - loves guys with + power, little to no athleticism and below average with the glove - he would've killed it with the Tigers in 1993.

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Falvey and Levine were a team, too. If Falvey is given a choice of firing Rocco, or losing his job, he'll fire Rocco.

Sure possible.

4 hours ago, Cody Schoenmann said:

Cite five (5) pieces of evidence to the contrary with 150 word annotations in APA format, please.

Sounds like a lot of work simply to state the obvious. Without compensation.

You honestly think Baldelli isn’t a part of the problem at this point? It’s the one move that has a chance of making at least a small difference immediately…and show the fan base that you care at all. 
 

Meanwhile, there’s the hope that new ownership will make the additional changes to change the coarse of this franchise.