MINNEAPOLIS _ He spends so much time deflecting credit and downplaying his own impact, it feels jarringly out of character to hear Rocco Baldelli describe accepting the American League Manager of the Year Award at a New York banquet last month as his greatest moment of triumph this offseason.
Well, until he explains why.
"I made Jerry Seinfeld laugh, just a little bit," Baldelli said of the night he shared a dais with the renowned TV comedian. "I don't know how I could ever top that."
The Twins manager, a reluctant and self-effacing honoree despite leading his team to 101 victories and an AL Central championship in his debut season, opened his remarks to a crowd of tuxedoed baseball celebrities by noting Seinfeld's presence on the stage and asking, "How many of us scrapped our jokes tonight when we saw Seinfeld was speaking?"
The crowd laughed. And Seinfeld? "He, let's say, slightly more than smirked," Baldelli said. "It was a victory. I could have taken a victory lap."
He will get his chance soon enough. Baldelli will supervise the Twins' first workout of the spring on Wednesday, opening his second season as a big-league manager with most of the same players, many of the same intentions, and one large burden that instantly raises the degree of difficulty: expectations.
He claims to welcome the challenge.
"I like that people expect us to win. I do, too," Baldelli said. "I don't know what the year will bring, but that part hasn't changed. We have a large number of extremely talented people, and our expectations are that we will display that talent again."
Yet Baldelli goes out of his way to decouple last year's Twins, who hit more home runs than any team in baseball history and scored more frequently than any previous Twins squad, from the version that reports to Fort Myers this week. Maybe they will be better, maybe worse, Baldelli said, but they will definitely be different.
"Our goal is not to re-create what we did last year. It's a different team. We want to have our own personality," he said. "We have a lot of returning faces, but some things have changed, too. We'll have a different identity, and we have to create that. If you try to be the 2019 Twins, that's not going to work for the 2020 Twins."
Maybe not. After all, the Twins' powerhouse lineup included several hitters enjoying the best seasons of their careers thus far, such bust-out performers as Mitch Garver, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler. In July, Nelson Cruz will turn 40, well beyond the normal expiration date for a brawny slugger. Miguel Sano will be learning a new position, Luis Arraez trying to follow up a rookie season that ranks with Tony Oliva's for hitting prowess as a Twin.
Then again, the Twins in the offseason gave the most expensive free-agent contract in their history to a former MVP, Josh Donaldson. And they plan to have Byron Buxton and Arraez for more than a partial season.
"There's not a team in baseball that doesn't improve when you add Josh Donaldson to a lineup. He's a tremendous hitter and a good teammate, too," Baldelli said. "I'm the lucky manager who gets to write his name on the (lineup) card."
