{"id":108974,"date":"2025-10-29T20:03:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T00:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=108974"},"modified":"2025-10-29T20:03:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T00:03:29","slug":"twins-hire-derek-shelton-next-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/29\/twins-hire-derek-shelton-next-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Twins Hire Former Pirates Skipper as Next Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"169\" data-end=\"377\">The Minnesota Twins will hire back a familiar face \u2014 former Pittsburgh Pirates manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/sheltde99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Shelton<\/a> \u2014 to lead the club into its next era as their new skipper. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the news.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_92088\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-92088\" style=\"width: 843px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-92088\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/12\/USATSI_23206779_168400885_lowres-300x194.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"545\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/12\/USATSI_23206779_168400885_lowres-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/12\/USATSI_23206779_168400885_lowres-1024x661.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/12\/USATSI_23206779_168400885_lowres-768x496.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/12\/USATSI_23206779_168400885_lowres-1536x992.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/12\/USATSI_23206779_168400885_lowres-2048x1323.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-92088\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">May 6, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton (17) and general manager Ben Cherington (right) talk on the field before the game against the Los Angeles Angels at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 data-start=\"169\" data-end=\"377\">Report: Twins Hire Derek Shelton as New Manager<\/h2>\n<h3 data-start=\"384\" data-end=\"404\">Shelton\u2019s Past<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"406\" data-end=\"729\">Shelton, 55, was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/08\/pirates-fire-manager-derek-shelton-don-kelly-replacement\/\" target=\"_self\">dismissed by the Pirates<\/a> in May after the team stumbled to a 12\u201326 start. While the record reflected the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/08\/shelton-the-pirates-retrospective\/\" target=\"_self\">organization\u2019s struggles<\/a>, Shelton was hardly the problem. Pittsburgh\u2019s front office failed to meaningfully invest in its roster, leaving him to shoulder the blame for shortcomings beyond his control.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Breaking: Derek Shelton is being hired as Twins manager<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonHeyman\/status\/1983668159795360258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"731\" data-end=\"1184\">Before his stint in Pittsburgh, Shelton served as the Twins\u2019 bench coach from 2017 to 2019 under both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/molitpa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Molitor<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/baldero01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rocco Baldelli<\/a>. During that time, Minnesota reached the postseason in two of three seasons, though each run ended in the first round at the hands of the New York Yankees. The 2019 Twins, known as the \u201cBomba Squad,\u201d led baseball in home runs and entered the American League Division Series as an offensive powerhouse, even if they couldn\u2019t break through in October.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1191\" data-end=\"1223\">Shelton\u2019s Managerial Style<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1225\" data-end=\"1563\">During his time in Pittsburgh, Shelton earned a reputation as an energetic communicator and leader who connected naturally with both veterans and young players. That skill set should serve him well in Minnesota, where the 2026 roster will feature a wave of developing talent as the organization embarks on the early stages of a rebuild.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1565\" data-end=\"1857\">Shelton\u2019s strength lies in his ability to blend analytics with traditional coaching, turning scouting data into clear, actionable advice for players. For a young, evolving roster, that balance is invaluable. Also, his previous familiarity with the Twins organization only strengthens the fit.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1859\" data-end=\"2113\">Equally significant is the presence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buxtoby01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-29_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Byron Buxton<\/a>, the team\u2019s clubhouse leader and one of Shelton\u2019s former players. Buxton\u2019s respect for Shelton and established leadership should help ease the transition in managerial voice and clubhouse culture.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"2120\" data-end=\"2139\">Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"2141\" data-end=\"2486\">Now, Shelton leaves behind a Pirates franchise that never fully committed to supporting its roster and joins a Twins organization more willing to invest in long-term success. As Minnesota rebuilds, Shelton\u2019s experience, communication skills, and history with the team make him an ideal choice to guide the next phase of the franchise\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2141\" data-end=\"2486\">\n<p data-start=\"2141\" data-end=\"2486\">Main Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Minnesota Twins will hire back a familiar face \u2014 former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton \u2014 to lead the club into its next era as their new skipper. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the news. Report: Twins Hire Derek Shelton as New Manager Shelton\u2019s Past Shelton, 55, was dismissed by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5663,"featured_media":100319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1071,35],"tags":[660,3160,1729,2528],"class_list":["post-108974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-twins","category-mlb","category-news","tag-byron-buxton","tag-derek-shelton","tag-paul-molitor","tag-rocco-baldelli"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108974"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108978,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108974\/revisions\/108978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}