AL Manager of the Year finalists serve as yet another reminder of what could have been for the Twins

We all know how terrible the end of the season was for the Minnesota Twins, but it seems at every turn we're being reminded of just how bad things went. The Twins fumbled a near-90 percent chance to make the postseason, blew a shot to build on the momentum that was created by a run last October, and continue to permeate the absolute worst vibes imaginable.

The historic collapse also seems to have cost the team in the awards race.

Every single Manager of the Year finalist in the American League comes from the AL Central, and it's no surprise that they managed the three best teams in the division. It's yet another painful reminder of what the Twins squandered by historically collapsing over the course of the last month, as Rocco Baldelli surely would have been one of the finalists had Minnesota made the postseason.

That didn't happen, and now we have yet another thing to stew about all offseason.

Rocco Baldelli could have been in the Manager of the Year race

It's not as though we can say Rocco narrowly missed the cut here, as the Twins sailed pretty wide around their intended goal this year. Some might argue that he would have still gotten looked over even if the team had made the postseason, but that's forgetting just how hard it was to nagivate the season given the resources he had.

Just like this winter, the Twins didn't meaningfully add to the roster and essentially set the team up to fail. Rather than investing, ownership tossed out hopes and wishses while running back a team that was good but had clear flaws.

For the most past, Rocco navigated those flaws pretty well. After a rough start to the year things evened out and he helped manage the team to a 12 game winning streak and a summer that was a real joy to watch. Carlos Correa turned it on offensively, Jose Miranda made MLB history, and things seemed to be trending in the right direction.

Heading into August it looked like the Twins were not only going to be a playoff team but were going to make a serious run at taking over first place an winning another division title. Minnesota was just a handful games behind Cleveland when the wheels came flying off and the band-aid ownership slapped on the roster fell off to expose a fatal wound.

That's not Rocco's fault, and it's one the reasons he wasn't fired for what happened. If anything the lack of resources he had should make the job he did even more impressive and probably would have him positioned to be a close second to A.J. Hinch for winning the award.

Instead we're stuck looking at a list of rival managers up for the honor while Twins are reminded yet again of what could have been.

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