Twins skipper finds himself in a favorable position to take home more hardware

We are just over three weeks away from kicking off the 2025 Major League Baseball season and BetKansas.com (FanDuel Kansas Sportsbook) has released their odds for AL Manager of the Year. Rocco Baldelli, the 2019 AL Manager of the Year, ranks third at +700.

He sits only behind Dan Wilson of the Mariners (+400) and Alex Cora of the Red Sox (+450).

Baldelli will look to take the award home for the second time after divisional foe Stephen Vogt, a first-year manager, won in 2024. The runner-up last year? Matt Quatraro of the Kansas City Royals.

Among AL Central managers named for odds are Baldelli, A.J. Hinch of Detroit (+900), and Quatraro (+1300). Obviously with Vogt and the Guardians having a successful 2024, it would be hard for them to sustain and go back to back for the award.

Do we even have to mention the White Sox?

How does Rocco Baldelli rank against the greats?

Baldelli is entering his seventh year on the job, so how has he ranked historically against the Twins managers of the past?

Assuming he completes the season, Baldelli would be tied for fifth all-time in seasons managed for the Twins.

In his six seasons, he has 457 wins, ranked sixth in club history. His .525 winning percentage puts him seventh all-time.

What makes that number more impressive is he is only behind Sam Mele (1961-67) in total games managed with 870.

The next closest manager to Baldelli in that category in the top seven is Hall of Famer Walter Johnson, who managed the team from 1929-32.

Baldelli has been criticized by many fans for being too analytical and not winning enough.

Baldelli has a higher winning percentage than some of the best managers in Twins history such as Ron Gardenhire (.507) and Tom Kelly (.478).

Finally, Baldelli ranks third in Average Finish in Division (2.7) only behind Billy Martin who managed one season, and Gardenhire (2.5).

For what it’s worth, Kelly had an average rank of 3.8; he managed in a seven-team division from 1986 through 1993.

Another reason for scrutiny amongst the fanbase is Baldelli’s calming presence. Being graced with Gardenhire’s entertaining ejections for 12 years set up an expectation for the fans that every manager should continue that. If Baldelli doesn’t have any fire, explain the 16 ejections he has in six seasons (fourth all-time).

How about this for fire?

Checkmate.

Since the award was introduced in 1983, four Twins managers have won it: Kelly (1991), Gardenhire (2010), Molitor (2017), and Baldelli (2019).

Baldelli will look to be the first multi-time winner of the award in Twins history.

We will soon find out what Baldelli has in mind for his Opening Day lineup, which could be an indicator of what his general mindset is for the rest of the season.

If the roster can stay healthy and he implements some feel of the game into his managing, I like his odds of +700 and I’d put money on it.