After an altercation that left him with a broken jaw, Jordan Balazovic isn't getting a warm reception from the Minnesota Twins, with manager Rocco Baldelli sending him a stern message that raises some questions about his future with the team.
Over the weekend the Twins learned that Balazovic would be missing the start of Spring Training, at the very least, after breaking his jaw in what the team is calculatedly calling an 'altercation'.
The phrase 'altercation' is being used purposefully -- rather than calling it a fight, which it seems like it was -- as Balazovic allegedly did not throw any punches and there doesn't appear to be any legal fallout from the incident. While Balazovic may not have to deal with the courts, he does have to deal with a very displeased Twins organization that doesn't seem to be backing him up.
Twins manager Rocco Baledlli doesn't sound happy with Jordan Balazovic
Manger Rocco Baldelli was rather cold and terse when asked about the incident, keeping his comments short and to the point.
“You can read into this and say whatever you guys want to say: It’s disappointing,” Baldelli said. “Maybe that’s actually better than me actually trying to put words to it.
That's not very promising. Making matters seem worse was how dismissive Baldelli was when commenting on Balazovic's progress this offseason.
“I’ve been around him. He’s been in camp. But we haven’t seen much of him.”
Yikes.
Baldelli throwing out major Disappointed Dad vibes is indeed a lot to read into, and it's pretty telling that the Twins aren't bending over backward to shield Balazovic from media scrutiny. Usually, in these situations, the team expresses its disappointment but follows that up with some sort of statement of support about the player's future importance to the team.
That didn't happen here, which begs the question of what the behind-the-scenes situation is with Balazovic. He's a Top-100 prospect and showed some early signs of being a star after posting a 2.69 ERA while striking out 129 batters in 93 2/3 innings at Single-A, but that was back in 2019. The fact that he seems to be regressing both on and off the field doesn't bode well for his future in Minnesota.