Minnesota Twins to end manager search by reuniting with former bench coach and Pirates manager Derek Shelton
The Twins are hiring their old bench coach, Derek Shelton, to replace Rocco Baldelli as their manager, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman. The news comes after The Athletic's Dan Hayes reported on Friday that Minnesota narrowed its managerial search to four candidates: Shelton, James Rowson, Scott Servais and Ryan Flaherty.
Shelton served as the Twins' bench coach under Paul Molitor and Baldelli from 2018-19. After the success of the 'Bomba Squad' in 2019, the Pirates hired Shelton to be their manager heading into the 2020 season. Shelton remained the Pirates' manager until he was fired in mid-May after Pittsburgh started the 2025 campaign with a 12-26 record. Shelton had a record of 306-440 (.410) as the Pirates’ manager.
Shelton has been coaching since he joined the Cleveland Indians as a minor league hitting coordinator in 2003. Shelton became the Indians' hitting coach in June 2005 and served in that role through 2009. Then, Shelton joined the Tampa Bay Rays as the hitting coach in 2010, staying with the organization until he got fired in 2016. The Blue Jays hired Shelton as a quality control coach in 2017 before he joined the Twins organization.
Although Shelton wasn't successful during his tenure with the Pirates, it was pretty obvious he wasn't the reason for Pittsburgh's struggles, as the team is consistently among the bottom of the league in payroll and is known to trade stars to save money. Fired managers frequently don't find another manager job, as they were usually fired for a reason. In Shelton's case, the Pirates just needed a scapegoat, as the Twins did when they fired Baldelli.
With that being said, Shelton is a rather unexciting hire. The Twins need change within the organization, yet they hired someone who previously worked under president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and Baldelli. Not to mention, Shelton has not had major league success as a manager. But again, that isn't necessarily his fault, but something fans will notice. At the end of the day, Shelton will likely have a positive impact on the Twins, as he has plenty of coaching and managerial experience.