Ken Rosenthal: Twins' Rocco Baldelli is 'facing some questions right now'

The Minnesota Twins are starting the 2025 season a lot like they finished the 2024 season.

The Twins are off to a less-than-stellar 7-12 start to the season after finishing 2024 by going 12-27 down the stretch to ultimately miss the playoffs despite having over a 90% chance to make the postseason in mid-August. That's why The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, who recently had Twins manager Rocco Baldelli among nine skippers whose job status could be in question by the end of the season, said on the Foul Territory podcast he believes Baldelli is "facing some questions."

"Now Minnesota, if you remember last year, they finished the season 12-27," he said on the podcast Thursday. "They've started kind of the same way this year. They're 7-12. Now the last two days have been better ... but when you start like this after a finish like that, there are going to be questions, and that's why Rocco Baldelli is facing some questions right now."

Baldelli, 43, has been Minnesota's manager since 2019. His tenure includes an American League Manager of the Year Award in 2019, three AL Central titles (2019, 2020, 2023) and the Twins' first playoff series win (2023) that snapped an 18-game playoff losing streak, the longest-ever streak in the four major professional sports. But it also includes back-to-back losing seasons in 2021 and 2022 and last year's late-season collapse that resulted in the Twins missing the postseason.

A change certainly isn't likely to be imminent, and Rosenthal noted the Twins have additional challenges aside from just play on the field, including dwindling attendance, a new television home and the franchise currently being on the market. Still, the most important thing first and foremost will be getting the ship steadied, something Baldelli is working towards.

"I don't know that any of the things we just talked about, the attendance, the television situation, the ownership situation, will affect Baldelli and the way he is viewed as much as just the way the team is performing," Rosenthal said. "And if they continue and build upon what they've done the (last) two games against the Mets ... it's a slow start and they're back to being the Minnesota Twins, a team that should be a force in the AL Central. If not, then it becomes a different question."