The Twins may be sputtering through the month of June, but they still believe they have the right man in charge to lead the club. The organization has picked up the team option on manager Rocco Baldelli’s contact for the 2026 season, per a report in The Athletic.

Neither Baldelli, who is in his seventh season leading the Twins, nor a club official confirmed the report when asked about it.

“The entire time I’ve been with the Twins organization, I’ve never commented on anything contractually or anything related to it. I’m going to stay there,” Baldelli said. “I spend all my time and my energy right now thinking about our team and how to get our guys in a great place and how to win games. That’s the way I like to keep it. I don’t really have anything to add on that in any way.”

The Twins entered Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners losers of 10 of their previous 11 games. They’ve slipped under .500 and into fourth place in the American League Central Division during a disastrous month of June in which the team had a 6.81 collective earned-run average.

But still, on Monday, president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey threw his support behind the manager.

“Rocco is not running away from any of the work,” Falvey said. “My focus has been on how do I support him with that, because I do believe he has got the players’ best interest at heart and he’s trying to figure out how to solve a challenging equation that we’re all trying to navigate through. He’s not alone in that. We’re all side by side with him, as is the staff and as (are) our core players. We’re trying to figure it out together.”

In six and a half seasons at the helm of the Twins, Baldelli had a career .527 winning percentage entering Tuesday. He has led the Twins to three division titles.

But the past two have been filled with ups and downs, each featuring a slow start  followed by a long winning streak to pull the team back above .500.

The 2024 season ended with a six-week collapse that saw the Twins miss the postseason after having playoff odds that topped 95 percent at one point and led to the dismissal of four members of Baldelli’s coaching staff.

And this season, once again, Baldelli is tasked with leading the Twins through a challenging stretch.

“You’ve got to continue to prepare, and you’ve got to wear it sometimes when it isn’t going the way you want,” Baldelli said. “But there is always a game tomorrow to focus on and think about. Probably a few nights where I’m not sleeping quite the way I want, but I get to play with my kids. I can’t think about baseball when I’m home playing with my kids.”

Briefly

The Twins will send Joe Ryan to the mound Wednesday for the third game of the Seattle series. Ryan, who has a 3.06 ERA, gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings his last time out. He will be opposed by George Kirby.

By MARK THIESSEN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A cargo ship that had been delivering new vehicles to Mexico sank in the North Pacific Ocean, weeks after crew members abandoned ship when they couldn’t extinguish an onboard fire that left the carrier dead in the water.

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The Morning Midas sank Monday in international water off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands chain, the ship’s management company, London-based Zodiac Maritime, said in a statement.

“There is no visible pollution,” said Petty Officer Cameron Snell, an Alaska-based U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson. “Right now we also have vessels on scene to respond to any pollution.”

Fire damage compounded by bad weather and water seepage caused the carrier to sink in waters about 16,404 feet deep and about 415 miles from land, the statement said.

The ship was loaded with about 3,000 new vehicles intended for a major Pacific port in Mexico. It was not immediately clear if any of the cars were removed before it sank, and Zodiac Maritime did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday.

A salvage crew arrived days after the fire disabled the vehicle.

Two salvage tugs containing pollution control equipment will remain on scene to monitor for any signs of pollution or debris, the company said. The crew members of those two ships were not injured when the Morning Midas sank.

Zodiac Maritime said it is also sending another specialized pollution response vessel to the location as an added precaution.

The Coast Guard said it received a distress alert June 3 about a fire aboard the Morning Midas, which then was roughly 300 miles southwest of Adak Island.

There were 22 crew members onboard the Morning Midas. All evacuated to a lifeboat and were rescued by a nearby merchant marine vessel. There were no injuries.

Among the cars were about 70 fully electric and about 680 hybrid vehicles. A large plume of smoke was initially seen at the ship’s stern coming from the deck loaded with electric vehicles, the Coast Guard and Zodiac Maritime said at the time.

Adak is about 1,200 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city.

The 600-foot Morning Midas was built in 2006 and sails under a Liberian flag. The car and truck carrier left Yantai, China, on May 26 en route to Mexico, according to the industry site marinetraffic.com.

A Dutch safety board in a recent report called for improving emergency response on North Sea shipping routes after a deadly 2023 fire aboard a freighter that was carrying 3,000 automobiles, including nearly 500 electric vehicles, from Germany to Singapore.

One person was killed and others injured in the fire, which burned out of control for a week. That ship was eventually towed to a Netherlands port for salvage.

Valley Outreach in Stillwater recently underwent a makeover paid for with a grant from Bayport-based Fred C. & Katherine B. Andersen Foundation.

An open house is planned for 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the social-service agency and food shelf, located at 1901 Curve Crest Blvd. W., to celebrate the remodel, which includes fresh paint, new awnings, better signage, new lights, modern sliding doors, and more accessible entrances, said Jess Hauser, director of communications for Valley Outreach.

“These improvements to our building’s exterior will make Valley Outreach a safer, more welcoming and accessible place for all who walk through our doors,” Hauser said. “The building is critical to our mission, and we’re committed to being a good caretaker for years to come.”

The amount of the one-time grant was not disclosed, but Hauser said it was designated for the building’s renovation and is separate from the nonprofit organization’s operating budget, meaning it could not be used to buy food or expand programming.

The open house is free and will include food, live music, tours, kids’ activities, raffles, prizes and a sidewalk sale.

For more information, go to valleyoutreachmn.org/.

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Ramsey County commissioners held a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed salary increase of 3% for board members.

The seven-member board is expected to vote on the proposed salary increase July 1, with the increase effective Jan. 1. Board members currently make $104,077 per year and the board chair makes $109,338. If the proposal is approved next week, salaries would increase to $107,199 for commissioners and $112,559 for the board chair.

County employees with settled bargaining agreements and unrepresented employees received a general wage increase of 3% in 2025. The board typically sets commissioner salary increases at a rate that matches general wage increases for county employees in the previous year, according to county officials.

Increasing commissioner salaries isn’t going to improve anything in the county, which has a median income of around $20,000 less than commissioners’ current salaries, said Greg Copeland, a St. Paul resident and former candidate for state office, during Tuesday’s public hearing.

“I don’t know how many county employees — and some of you are here today, presumably county employees — are getting a $3,100-plus annual raise. So that 3% thing is kind of, well, it’s not very transparent,” Copeland said.

In Ramsey County, salary increases were approved last year, going from $101,280 to $104,077 for commissioners and from $104,477 to $109,338 for the chair.

The current annual salary for commissioners in Hennepin County is $128,337, according to Hennepin County officials. A July proposal by Hennepin County commissioners to increase their annual salaries to $182,141 was later withdrawn following pushback from county residents.

In 2022, the League of Minnesota Cities conducted a study of commissioner salaries across the state, at the time putting Ramsey County commissioners at just over $97,000 and those in Hennepin County at nearly $114,000. The base salary for Washington County commissioners at the time was about $72,000. In Carver and Anoka counties, it was $75,000.

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