Dodgers Hire 2019 Manager of the Year to Front Office

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Logan Forsythe (11) waits with first base coach Rocco Baldelli (15) for a review of a call during play against Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on July 17, 2015. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

When the Dodgers hired president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman after the 2014 season, he assembled a braintrust that included several former major league general managers: Josh Byrnes, Gerry Hunsicker, Ned Colletti and Tommy Lasorda, all held various titles, in addition to Friedman — and the Dodgers' actual GM, Farhan Zaidi.

Now, the Dodgers are collecting managers.

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Rocco Baldelli, the 2019 American League Manager of the Year with the Minnesota Twins, is joining Friedman's front office in an unspecified role according to multiple reports Tuesday.

Baldelli will join three other former MLB managers in the Dodgers' employ — Bob Geren (major league field coordinator), Ron Roenicke (special assistant to the GM) and Chris Woodward (first base coach) — in addition to the actual manager, Dave Roberts.

Baldelli was fired in October after his seventh season in Minnesota ended with a disappointing 70-92 record.

"This is a difficult day because of what Rocco represents to so many people here," Twins president Derek Falvey said in a statement at the time. "He led with honesty, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to our players and staff. He gave himself fully to this role and I have tremendous respect and gratitude for the way he carried himself and the way he showed up every single day."

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Baldelli, 44, worked as a special assistant for Friedman in Tampa Bay immediately after his playing career ended in 2010 because of a mitochondrial disorder.

Friedman also signed Baldelli to his last contract as a player in July 2010, after he played the 2009 season with the Boston Red Sox.

Baldelli remained in Tampa Bay as the Rays' first-base coach from 2014-17, and their roving field coordinator in 2018, under manager Kevin Cash.

Baldelli's success with the Rays put him on the Twins' radar when they searched for a replacement for Paul Molitor after the 2018 season. The hire looked like an immediate success when Minnesota went 101-61 — their best record since 1965 — and won the American League Central.

Although the Twins were again swept by the New York Yankees in a best-of-five division series, Baldelli was named American League Manager of the Year.

In 2023, the Twins finally won a playoff round, beating the Toronto Blue Jays in a best-of-three Wild Card series before losing in the ALDS.

Baldelli led the Twins to an 82-80 record in 2024 before the team unraveled this year — in part due to a fire sale at the trade deadline.

Now, Baldelli goes from a team whose ownership has been in doubt for much of the last year to perhaps the most stable organization in MLB.

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