After his playing career, Baylor managed the expansion Colorado Rockies for six years and the Chicago Cubs for three seasons.

[6] He opted to pursue a baseball career, enrolling at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas.

[2] In 1970, Baylor led the Triple-A level of the minor leagues with 34 doubles, 15 triples, 127 runs, and 140 games-played while playing for the Rochester Red Wings.

He debuted at home against Cleveland, accruing two hits and three runs batted in across five plate appearances, including a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning.

Baylor only played a total of 9 games with the Orioles in the 1970 and 1971 seasons and did not see consistent involvement with the major league roster until 1972.

[3] In a transaction influenced by his imminent free agency after the upcoming season, the Orioles traded Baylor with Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell to the Oakland Athletics for Reggie Jackson, Ken Holtzman and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel on April 2, 1976.

[3] In 1977, Baylor signed with the California Angels as a free agent, joining his former Baltimore teammate Bobby Grich in Anaheim.

Upon the arrival of superstar free agent Reggie Jackson in the 1982 offseason, Baylor took him in as a roommate.

"[13] Baylor delivered on his promise, batting in 5 runs that game as California came back to win 8–3.

"[14] In his autobiography, Baylor told of Yankee alumnus Tommy John and Reggie Jackson warning Baylor not to sign with New York due to team owner George Steinbrenner's infamous strict and harsh attitude towards players.

This led to Steinbrenner demoting young players for poor performances in such spring training games.

In one instance, Steinbrenner tried to make his team play in a televised game on a field that was made subpar by inclement weather.

The following season, Baylor's batting percentages dropped but he totaled higher counting stats in fewer games.

[18] The Red Sox went on to win the game and eventually the ALCS, denying the Angels their first trip to the World Series.

[3] Late in the 1987 season, the Red Sox traded Baylor to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named later that ended up being Enrique Rios.

After retiring as a player, Baylor served as a hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals until he was named the first manager of the expansion Colorado Rockies.

[22] He became the hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves in 1999 and was hired to manage the Chicago Cubs in 2000, a job he held through the 2002 season.

[23] He spent the 2005 season with the Seattle Mariners as hitting coach under manager Mike Hargrove[24] and was as a fill-in analyst for MASN in 2007 for Washington Nationals broadcasts.

[26] Baylor was replaced by Carney Lansford after the Rockies hit a franchise-low .226 on the road during the 2010 season.

[30] On March 31, 2014, Baylor suffered a fracture to his right femur while catching the ceremonial first pitch of the 2014 season, thrown by Vladimir Guerrero.