Mariners manager candidate Rocco Baldelli has ‘good blend’ of experience

Twins beat reporter Dan Hayes shared insight on Rocco Baldelli, who has emerged as an M's managerial candidate.

Oct 21, 2026, 7:20 AM

Seattle Mariners Rocco Baldelli Minnesota Twins talks with Carlos Santana 2024...

Former Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli talks with Carlos Santana during a 2024 game. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

(Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

As the Seattle Mariners draw closer to making a final decision on who will lead the team in 2027 and beyond, former Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is a name that has surfaced as a candidate.

Mariners reportedly interested in former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli

Baldelli brings preferred experience, having managed the Twins from 2019-25, and comes with the added bonus of four years on Kevin Cash’s staff with the Tampa Bay Rays and of working as a special assistant in baseball operations with the Los Angeles Dodgers the past year.

All good on paper, but what was the view from up close in Minnesota? Dan Hayes, who covers the Twins for The Athletic, helped fill in the blanks this week on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

“One thing I think Rocco is good at, is managing personalities,” Hayes said. “I think he can see the room and know what needs to be done, whether it’s him or having a player-friendly bench coach to do some of that with him. That’ll be important for him, because he definitely is the guy who is close to the front office. He gives the front office a voice without letting them overstep.”

Baldelli brings the unique experience of having been both a player and front office member of two very analytical organizations. They are two sides that can be at odds with each other in any organization from time to time, and the balance can become delicate.

“He’s very much into everybody working well together,” Hayes said. “And that’s something that he’ll come in and look to set that environment. And I think that’s an advantage that he has, because you spend so long on Kevin Cash’s staff and he grew up as a player with the Rays and he understands that there is a voice that needs to be had on the analytical side.

“But at the same time, this is a player’s player. This is a guy that was a five-tool guy and understands the player mentality. And I think having that blend, knowing what it’s like to be that stud, but also understanding the side where, hey, if we do some of this stuff, we can enhance your game through use of analytics – I think that’s a good blend and it should get him to fit in well with both management and the players in the clubhouse.”

After the Twins finished 78-84 under Paul Molitor in 2018, Baldelli guided them to 101 wins in his first season at the helm. Where Molitor was more old-school in his approach on and off the field, Hayes saw Baldelli as a good player manager who received a huge boost in Year 1 with the team signing Nelson Cruz after the Mariners elected not to re-sign him and instead start their rebuild ahead of the 2019 season.

“It didn’t hurt that he had Nelson Cruz step in that year and take over running the clubhouse,” Hayes said. “But that was kind of what he wanted to do was get a strong voice in the clubhouse to be a leader and just let the players kind of take care of themselves and get them prepared to change things over. He knew how that worked, what it looked like and how you could have that blend without it being too much interference from the front office.

“The Twins had a bunch of young guys who were kind of trying to find their own paths, and you pair Rocco and Nelson Cruz together and it worked great. And the Twins won the division three times in his first five years as manager. He came in and smoothed things over.”

In terms of accountability in the clubhouse, Hayes saw Baldelli once again find a balance.

“He never really would bury his players publicly to the media, but in private he would say when stuff was going wrong and he would talk to us about it off record, so he didn’t let things slide,” Hayes said. “He just didn’t make a big show of it. But I think that’s a solid way of doing it, because you can continue to say you can answer the questions honestly about what needs to happen without destroying your guys. That’s how he chose to do it.”

The Twins won the American League Central three times in Baldelli’s seven years leading the team. After suffering back-to-back fourth-place finishes, he was let go. Payroll was cut, according to Hayes, and the roster not as deep or strong.

“The (Twins) created a myriad issues by doing that,” Hayes said. “And I think that it kind of fractured the organization as a whole. And the Twins in general are trying to recover from it. But even when he was let go, I don’t think that anybody looked at Rocco Baldelli in a bad light.”

Hayes believes Baldelli will see the Mariners’ job as a good opportunity – one that ultimately he could thrive in.

“The one thing Seattle would have for him is a really full, nice roster,” Hayes said. “Might need some spots here and there figured out, but he knows how to manage the personalities. He’s really good at that.

“And again, like I said, I think knowing what it’s like to be a top-tier athlete, but then always understanding what it’s like to be the guy beat up, knowing the analytics, he really has a good blend, a good mix that goes into his philosophy.”

Listen to the full Bump and Stacy conversation with The Athletic’s Dan Hayes at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune into Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.