The Seattle Mariners are moving on from Dan Wilson, and one familiar name has surfaced in the search to replace him: Rocco Baldelli.
Seattle’s managerial opening comes after a season that went off the rails. The Mariners entered the year with World Series hopes, but finished 76-86 and out of the postseason. Jerry Dipoto, the club’s president of baseball operations, responded by firing Wilson.
Now the focus shifts to who gets the next crack at the job, and the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude reported that the Mariners are expected to hire an experienced manager. Among the names Jude listed is Baldelli, the former Twins manager who is currently a special assistant with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jude also mentioned Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, Rays senior advisor Brandon Hyde and Dodgers first base coach Chris Woodward as candidates to watch. In addition, Seattle has discussed Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, according to Jude.
Dipoto made it clear the job is an attractive one. “There’s not a single candidate in baseball that wouldn’t be excited to take over this job, this ballpark, this city, the talent on that roster,” he said.
A Baldelli hire would carry some added meaning for Minnesota. It would suggest the league still views him as a manager worth trusting, even after the Twins moved on from him last offseason. Minnesota let him go after back-to-back seasons without a postseason berth following the franchise’s first playoff series win in 21 years.
That decision came during a broader reset. Baldelli was not the only major departure, as president Derek Falvey also left, and Tom Pohlad replaced his younger brother, Joe, as controlling owner.
Baldelli’s run in Minnesota had real high points. The Twins won more than 100 games and set the home run record in 2019, his first season in charge. They reached the postseason in 2020, then bounced back to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2023 Wild Card Series after down years in 2021 and 2022.
But the final stretch turned sour. Minnesota missed the playoffs in 2024 despite having a 95%+ (FanGraphs) chance to get in during September.
The 2025 season started poorly, and the Twins traded nearly 40% of their active roster at the deadline. After the season, the team announced Baldelli was out.
The move may not have been a mistake, but the source of Minnesota’s collapse wasn’t all on Baldelli. The Twins cut payroll by $30 million after 2023 and then made no major offseason additions before 2025. If that spending cut had not happened, Baldelli might still be running the club.
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