The Minnesota Twins announced former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton as their choice to lead the team on Thursday.
Shelton, 55, was fired by the Pirates in May after starting his sixth season as manager with a 12-26 record, CBS Sports reports.
He previously served as Minnesota’s bench coach in 2018 and 2019 under two different managers, Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli, the latter of whom was fired just weeks ago.
“Derek brings a tremendous amount of experience from his many years coaching and managing at the Major League level,” Twins President of Baseball and Business Operations Derek Falvey said. “He cares deeply about this community and our fans, and he’s genuinely driven to take on the challenge of bringing winning baseball back to Minnesota.”
Shelton had a 306-440 record with the Pirates, the first major league team he had ever led. With the under-funded Pirates, he never finished higher than fourth place in the NL Central or better than 76-86.
The Twins will formally introduce Shelton at a news conference on Tuesday.
Well-regarded within the Twins organization and a close friend to Baldelli, Shelton will take over a team that spiraled to a 70-92 finish after the front office decided to use the leverage of the deadline to maximize the incoming talent and traded 10 players off the major league roster in a stunningly aggressive teardown.
The Twins traded their five best relievers, from closer Jhoan Duran on down, and left the final 54 games to a ragtag group that had eight blown saves in 18 opportunities during that span. The conversion rate of 44.4% ranked second-worst in the majors over the final two months.
Baldelli led the Twins to their third-most wins in team history, as well as three American League Central Division titles. He was also named American League Manager of the Year in 2019.
The Twins are 82-119 over their last 201 games for a .408 winning percentage, and that includes a 13-game winning streak this season.
Attendance has swooned at Target Field. The Twins finished with their lowest total for 81 home games — a little more than 1.7 million tickets sold — in a non-pandemic season since 2000 when they played at the cramped and dingy Metrodome and went 69-93.
Fans mostly have directed their disdain toward ownership, with deep frustration over cost cutting that came after the 2023 breakthrough Baldelli led with the end of a record 18-game postseason losing streak and the club’s first win of a playoff series in 21 years.
Executive chair Joe Pohlad and his family members put the franchise up for sale in 2024, but decided in August to keep control and bring on two new investment groups for an infusion of cash to help pay down debt.
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