If Twins' early struggles continue, will Rocco Baldelli's seat get hot?

The Twins' late-season collapse from 2024 has carried over into the start of the 2025 season.

Sep 27, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli (5) watches play as his team trails the Baltimore Orioles 7-0 in the eighth inning at Target Field. / Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

The Twins' late collapse last season has officially carried over into 2025. They're off to a 4-10 start to this season (heading into Saturday afternoon's game against the Tigers) and are 16-37 in their last 53 games dating back to last August.

If things don't turn around quickly, is Rocco Baldelli's seat going to get hot?

It's a tricky conversation because baseball managers generally have less of an impact on the results on the field than in other major team sports. On game days, they basically set the lineup and make minor in-game decisions on substitutions and strategy. They can try to be a positive force in the clubhouse and dugout, but there's only so much they can do. They can't go out there and pitch or hit or play defense. (Coaches in other sports obviously can't play either, but there's far more strategy involved in games like football, basketball, and hockey).

Of course, frustrated fans may argue that Baldelli hasn't been very good at the things that encompass his job description. The Twins' last two losses have been blown by the bullpen after he pulled starting pitchers Bailey Ober (73 pitches through 6 innings) and David Festa (64 pitches through 4.2 innings). The Festa move was understandable, given that he was just called up from Triple-A, but the Ober decision was a questionable one in the moment, even if his velocity had dipped a bit in the sixth frame.

Baldelli is in his seventh season as the Twins' manager. He was the American League Manager of the Year in his debut season in 2019, and he presided over the 2023 team that snapped an 18-game postseason losing streak and won a series for the first time in 21 years. The Twins have gone 461-423 in the regular season during his tenure, for a winning percentage just above 52. He's been mostly good for the franchise, which is why only two AL teams (the Rays and Yankees) have longer-tenured skippers.

As was the case when we divvied out blame for the Twins' stunning collapse last season, Baldelli is probably last among the parties most at fault for Minnesota's poor play. Ownership, the players on the field, and Derek Falvey's front office all arguably deserve a greater share of blame than Baldelli. He needs his stars to hit the ball. He needs guys like Cole Sands and Jorge Alcala — the culprits in the last two games — to go out and do their jobs.

But at some point, if the results don't improve, it feels reasonable to think Baldelli's job could be in danger. It probably won't happen soon, but the Twins may find themselves feeling pressure to make some kind of move to try to fix this mess. The easiest thing to do would be to fire the manager and see if a new voice in the clubhouse — and in-game decision maker — has some sort of impact.

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