Baldelli managed the Twins from 2019 through the latest MLB season. Matt Krohn / Getty Images
ORLANDO, Fla. — Former Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli has landed with the two-time reigning World Series champions, joining the Los Angeles Dodgers as a special assistant, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Tuesday.
Baldelli managed the Twins from 2019 through this past season, when he was fired after a second consecutive fourth-place finish. The former big league outfielder led Minnesota to three postseason berths during his tenure, going 527-505 overall. His Dodgers hire was first reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Rocco Baldelli is headed to the Dodgers as a special assistant to Andrew Friedman, confirming @nightengalejr
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) December 9, 2025
The move reunites Baldelli with Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, who served as general manager of the Tampa Bay Rays during much of Baldelli’s six-year tenure with the franchise. Friedman then hired Baldelli as a roving minor league instructor before he joined the team’s on-field staff in 2014, Friedman’s last year in Tampa Bay. That Rays team included reliever Brandon Gomes, who now serves as the Dodgers’ general manager.
It’s far from the first time the Dodgers have brought on a prominent and familiar face to add to their mass of voices in their front office, much less one with Rays ties. Former Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins pitcher Chris Archer has held a role in the Dodgers’ front office since 2023 — a year after playing for Baldelli with the Twins.