Pirates Hire Former Twins Bench Coach Derek Shelton as New Manager

Derek Shelton will be tasked with turning the Pittsburgh Pirates around after agreeing to become their next manager. 

The Pirates will be Shelton's first MLB managerial gig, but the 49-year-old does have experience in the role with New York Yankees minor league teams in the Gulf Coast and New York-Penn Leagues and from 2000-02. 

Shelton was able to oversee the development of Robinson Cano, Chien-Ming Wang and Dioner Navarro during his time with the Yankees. He also spent time as a hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians (2005-09) and Tampa Bay Rays (2010-16). 

For the past two seasons, Shelton worked as a bench coach for the Minnesota Twins. The 2019 campaign was wildly successful for the organization with 101 wins, an AL Central title and an MLB record 307 homers. 

Based on Shelton's track record as a hitting coach and bench coach, the Pirates are betting on him to help develop their young talent and bring them back to contention in the NL Central. 

The Pirates fired Clint Hurdle on the final day of the 2019 season. He went 735-720 in nine years with the organization, was named National League Manager of the Year in 2013 and made three consecutive playoff appearances from 2013-15. 

Since winning 98 games in 2015, the Pirates have struggled to compete for a playoff spot in the NL. They have had losing records in three of the last four seasons and been on the losing end of some notable trades. 

Gerrit Cole was traded to the Houston Astros for four players in Jan. 2018. The right-hander, who posted a 4.26 ERA in his final season with Pittsburgh, has been one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball over the past two years.

When the Pirates found themselves surprisingly in the playoff race at the trade deadline in 2018, they traded Austin Meadows, Shane Baz and Tyler Glasnow to the Tampa Bay Rays for Chris Archer. 

Archer has posted a 4.92 ERA in 33 starts with the Pirates since the deal. Meadows hit 33 homers with a .922 OPS and Glasnow had a 1.78 ERA with 76 strikeouts to help the Rays make the playoffs in 2019. Baz is currently ranked as the No. 94 prospect in MLB by MLB.com. 

There were also issues behind the scenes for the Pirates. Reliever Keone Kela received a two-game suspension in July for reportedly being involved in a clubhouse argument with a front-office staff member.

Kyle Crick had season-ending surgery in September when he injured his finger during a fight with Felipe Vazquez over music playing in the locker room. 

Even though there are certainly problems for Shelton to clean up, there are also building blocks in place for the franchise to be optimistic.

Josh Bell developed into an All-Star last season with a .277/.367/.569 slash line; Bryan Reynolds had a terrific rookie campaign with an .880 OPS; Starling Marte remains a steady presence, hitting a career-high 23 homers in 2019.