Rocco Baldelli is Heading Into a Must-Win Year

Every year is a must win year for a manager. Some teams allow more time if they are building towards being a contender. The Twins are in a situation where they are expected to win enough to make the playoffs but the manager can't do much if injuries hurt the team and management doesn't try to help as was the case this year when management failed to improve the team at the deadline. The manager also has limited recourse if almost the entire team falls into a slump though Rocco could have changed the lineup and maybe tried to be more aggressive, bunt more to move those runners we had and have gotten the hitting coach work harder with the entire team. He also maybe could have rested players more liberally throughout the season. Hopefully he learned that lesson as many were worn out. Rocco has had a rocky tenure and probably will be gone after 2025 or before if we don't win. To me, his biggest failures were some strange lineups with players not hitting batting too high and taking Miranda out of the lineup for a long stretch when we got healthy. That ruined his offensive ability for the rest of the season (IMHO).

In some circumstances, this would be a must win year for many managers but after parting ways with multiple coaches and a General Manager it seems as though Baldelli's expectations will be lowered. The Twins organization isn't making Rocco's job any easier with another low payroll to work with, so I have to believe that his seat is a little cooler than believed.  I do believe that if the Twins don't make it to the playoffs this year, we may see a new manager.

16 minutes ago, MinnesotaTwins26 said:

The Twins organization isn't making Rocco's job any easier with another low payroll to work with

That's perhaps the biggest reason we may see Rocco beyond this season. Too many factors beyond his control that can affect the roster. But that said, I agree with the basic thrust of this article: this coming season looks like do or die for Rocco. 

I agree, EVERY year is a year a manager should be on the hot seat, unless you're Dave Roberts.  I don't think Rocco has any more rope because they have fired their entire set of batting coaches.  I think it makes it that much easier to clean house if there is another disappointing year like this one.  I'm really surprised that 3rd Base coach Watkins is still employed.  

If the Twins get off to a slow start in April & May we could see the hammer come down hard.  At that point Target Field will be a mausoleum and Rocco would be the convenient scapegoat.  If that is the case, and I'm Glenn Taylor, I'm calling the Pohlad's and making an offer. 

Maybe A-Rod and his partner would rather own the Twins...

Organizational philosophy, Baldelli carried them out. He was given a right handed OF with a career track record of not being a pinch hitter.. he was given 10 different relievers that were off the scrap heap and failed.   His pre arb pitchers appeared to run out of gas or not quite ready for prime time but there was no other options. It was a recipe for failure. It is a make or break year for Hassan and Stell more than Baldelli. Casey Stengel managed 8 World Series winners as well as the team that used to have the record for most losses in a season. The manager can only work with the material they have 

I’ve always liked Rocco and he wasn’t dealt a very good hand in 2024. Joe promised a better team in 2025 so we’ll see what that means.
 

I like the use of statistics and that the FO has elevated the Twins in that area. 
 

There are a few situations in which I’d like to see them better utilized:

early inning pinchhitting - pulling your best hitters (at the time) Wallner and Larnach in the 5th for Magoo and Martin when those lineup spots come up again the in the 8th or 9th. It has become too predictable and we often see opposing managers show a lefty to get one of our guys out of the game and then go back to a righty. 

use all of the data available - we don’t want our lefties to face a lefty ever. But what if that lefty has reverse splits? Manaea is a good example of this. He has a .738 OPS versus left-handers and a .585 OPS versus right handers.

continued reliance on LH relievers when we didn’t have a good one. In almost every instance, our right handed relievers would’ve been better than our left-handed options this season.

Can/will Rocco flex his approach?

I am not a Rocco fan at all.  But it's hard to blame EVERYTHING on him.  This team has missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years.  They are not the perennial contender they keep touting themselves as.  Now with the second big late season collapse in 3 years changes need to be made and may be forthcoming.  Plus we need to find out if these young prospects on the team can play major league ball or not.  A large group of them played very poorly.  If anyone else should go I would say Falvey and St. Pete.  I'm afraid though we will roll out much the same type of team next year.  I would like Rocco and Falvey integrate more real life baseball managing with the analytics.  Strictly sticking to analytics has hurt the team.  Unfortunately, at least for me, baseball has turned into a big video game played on computers.  It's sad to see baseball dumping it's traditions for the younger fans exclusively.  Can't we have some of both?  Just asking.

Rocco will be here all season next year, the only difference is that the FO will wait until AFTER the season to determine if they want to extend him...

Since Baldelli is the topic here, interested in any comments on this quote by Rocco:

Has baseball changed that much, or is Rocco just looking for another excuse?

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"Having one strength that can carry you for a long time -- those strengths don’t necessarily carry you for that long anymore,” Baldelli said. “You have to keep changing with the game and we’ve always talked about adjustment-making being important, but you can’t survive and flourish in today’s game without the ability to change things on the fly, on your feet, and become a different kind of hitter.”

1 minute ago, BillyBallLives said:

Since Baldelli is the topic here, interested in any comments on this quote by Rocco:

Has baseball changed that much, or is Rocco just looking for another excuse?

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"Having one strength that can carry you for a long time -- those strengths don’t necessarily carry you for that long anymore,” Baldelli said. “You have to keep changing with the game and we’ve always talked about adjustment-making being important, but you can’t survive and flourish in today’s game without the ability to change things on the fly, on your feet, and become a different kind of hitter.”

Probably should follow his own advice...

Sure, Rocco wasn't given much to work with this year,but it sure did not seem like he got the best out of the guys we had. If almost the whole team slumps for that long and has career worst marks in certain categories, some of that has to fall on the coaching.

The injury excuse really is getting old,both Atlanta and Cleveland lost pitching and players.Guess what they made the playoffs.Both the Mets and Cleveland have rookie managers and are in the playoffs.Rocco has zero imagination,how many times do you have to see a player fail as a PHer.The analytics can't be the end all be all.The organization has a poor plan for success and will not make any improvement with Rocco at the helm.

2 hours ago, David Maro said:

The analytics can't be the end all be all.The organization has a poor plan for success and will not make any improvement with Rocco at the helm

Twins should just hire a 5th grader with a laptop and let AI tell him what to do. 

As long as the topic is about Rocco Baldelli  ...

A dream debut , I wish everyone  would stop with the praises in his first year  as manager , get it right , he didn't manage during that season because  the players had career years  , all he did was make out a lineup to present to the umpire  .. then in his dream debut as manager of the 2019 he had to manage and he and the FO  failed miserably  ...

Rocco still had the Bomba squad in 2020 and did okay ...

2021 -22 was just aweful , Rocco doesn't seem to take his job seriously  as a manager , he is also a coach and his duties are to take the talent and keeping teaching the players to be a better talent  , he and his coaches fail ...

2023 , finally  we have pitching and the pitchers are allowed to go more than 5 innings  , pitching wins games and makes a managers job easier , it was a bad start but a great finish ....

2024 , the writing on the wall was written during the offseason  , we had okay starting  pitching ( bullpen on paper was solid but didnt meet the challenge ) , but more of the same ,  our lineup was not fun to watch and defense got worse as the season yet along , again Rocco and coaches did not take the talent they had and make that talent better , there were a few sophomore slumps to start the season and it was also a slow start for alot of the players except Jeffers  ... 

They get off to slow starts because it seems the twins play mostly the rookies or prospects in spring training game , the veterans work out but don't get much game time action to prepare for the season  , ( restting players doesn't seem to keep our players off the injured list )  ....

2025 I don't see much of change unless he will implement  more strategies of old school technics along with his analytics  and more emphasis on defense and fundamentals  ...

I've heard Rocco  say he expects his players to be ready to play , but no batting practice or infield / outfield practice is required , boy look how the team performed in 2024 , if Rocco  can't see the players weren't prepped before the game and ready to play  , he better start the season with a new prescription  , 

I hope Rocco won't be an embarrassment   again in 2025  , i want exciting competitive baseball ,   ( win or lose ) ...

It's along off season  , I hope the 3 ghost of Christmas visit the pohlads , Front office and Rocco  at Christmas and they see the light and can give us a happy new year  ...

2025 is going to be make or break for a whole bunch of people from the FO to the field. 

He is safe as long as Jim Pohlad is in charge. Cheap and does what he is told and keeps his mouth shut. Perfect Manager for Falvey and Pohlad.

And saying he doesn't have the players doesn't explain the players he does have throwing to the wrong bases, not running the bases properly and not knowing how to play the wall. Those are all things Rocco has not fixed!!

18 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

You're assuming that this organization believes in consequences. Not a safe assumption. 

Excuses they're great at. Top 5 in baseball. Consequences, no.

Sure there are consequences - just not the kind that the fans care about.  There are consequences for not making enough money (the Pohlad's only priority), payroll cuts and Front Office jobs left vacant.