Twins players back Rocco Baldelli after late-season collapse

Minnesota Twins players backed manager Rocco Baldelli on Saturday after weeks of fans chanting for his firing amid the team’s late-season collapse.

The Twins, who had a five-game cushion in the American League wild-card race in mid-August, were eliminated from postseason contention with Friday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Minnesota was 70-53 at its high-water mark of the season on Aug. 17, but has gone just 12-26 since, prompting fans at Target Field to chant “Fire Rocco” throughout the Twins’ September swoon.

“I don’t think it’s super fair to put everything on him,” pitcher Bailey Ober told reporters, according to The Athletic. “Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. If the players hear [the chants], I don’t think anyone’s agreeing with that. It’s like, seriously, can’t you see what’s going on? He’s not the one at fault for this mishap that happened.”

Baldelli acknowledged before Saturday’s loss to the Orioles that he has heard the boos and “Fire Rocco” chants, but said he respects Twins fans and added that they “have a right to feel almost any way they choose.”

“That’s part of managing a Major League Baseball team,” Baldelli said. “And I respect the fans. The Minnesota Twins fans showed me last year when we were in the playoffs amazing things, things that can change the outcome of a game in favor of their team. … You can’t have greater passion than what I saw. If I’m going to accept that and take that and enjoy that, then I’ll also take the criticism when things don’t go well.”

The Twins (82-79) will finish fourth in the AL Central this season after winning the division last year. Players cited several reasons for coming up short this season, including long-term injuries to key players like shortstop Carlos Correa, outfielder Byron Buxton, ace pitcher Joe Ryan and third baseman Royce Lewis.

“If you have anybody to blame, blame me for going down for two months and not being a part of the team,” said Correa, who missed 53 games with a foot injury. “I think that’s one of the main reasons.”

“We’re the ones performing out there and didn’t get the job done,” Ober said. “He’s putting out the lineups, and we’re trying to do it. I feel like most of the blame should be on the players.”

Correa and catcher Ryan Jeffers agreed that offseason changes likely are coming for the Twins, but supported Baldelli and his staff.

“Why we couldn’t be consistent? I don’t know if that’s any staff member’s responsibility or fault,” Jeffers said, according to MLB.com.

Baldelli, 43, enters Sunday’s season finale with a 457-412 record in six years with the Twins, who have won three division titles during that stretch. He emphasized his frustration over being unable to lead the Twins out of their downward spiral this season.

“Ultimately, we didn’t find it,” he said. “We did not find it. That’s probably the most frustrating part of it was that it’s not like we just ran this out and continued to try the same methods all the way down the stretch. We tried several methods, and that’s the part where, yeah, that will irk me.

“That will continue to irk me and bother me because you always believe that there is an answer. You always believe that there is a path that could work and in six weeks, the several paths that we went down, they all ended in the same place. That’s frustrating.”

As for his future in Minnesota, Baldelli said Saturday that he is “never stressed” over his job security and that he is “fully motivated and enjoy what I do.”