The Seattle Mariners are reportedly looking at Rocco Baldelli as they search for their next manager.
According to The New York Post’s Jon Heyman, Seattle has interest in the former Minnesota Twins skipper, who spent this past season working as a special advisor to Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. Baldelli, 45, brings a reputation built on defense and analytics, along with seven years of managerial experience in Minnesota.
His run with the Twins produced a 527-505 record, three AL Central titles and three playoff appearances. Minnesota won one postseason series during that stretch.
The Twins also came close to reaching the playoffs again in 2024 before a rough finish knocked them out. They dropped 12 of their final 16 games, erasing a 3 1/2-game lead for the AL’s final wild card spot and ending the season four games out.
Baldelli’s best season came right away. He was named AL Manager of the Year after guiding Minnesota to a 101-win season in 2019, the second-highest win total in team history and the most the club had posted since 1965.
Before getting the Twins job, Baldelli spent most of his baseball life with the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa Bay made him the sixth overall pick in the 2000 draft, and he debuted in the majors in 2003. He finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting that season, stayed with the Rays through 2008, spent one year in Boston, and then returned to Tampa Bay for his final season in 2010.
His playing career ended at 28 after multiple injuries and a diagnosis of mitochondrial channelopathy, a cellular and muscular disorder that causes severe muscle fatigue.
Baldelli remained in the Rays organization after retiring, serving as a special assistant for baseball operations and as a roving minor league hitting and outfield defense instructor in 2011. He later became Tampa Bay’s first base coach before the 2015 season and was named major league field coordinator in 2017.
The Mariners are also for their manager job.
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