Boneheaded organizations, like the Minnesota Twins, do boneheaded things, such as hiring managers with losing records.
On Wednesday, MLB Network insider Jon Heyman reported the Twins are planning to name former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton as their next skipper. He’ll replace Rocco Baldelli, who was fired in September after going 70-92.
Shelton is a familiar face for the Twins. He served as their bench coach from 2018-19. Except for that, there’s no other sensible reason for Minnesota to hire him.
Why Derek Shelton may be a bad hire
The Pirates fired Shelton in May, but they should’ve made that change much earlier. He went 306-440 in six seasons with the club and never won more than 76 games in a season.
Now, the Pirates aren’t a well-run organization. Pittsburgh hasn’t made the postseason since 2015 and could be wasting the prime of star pitcher Paul Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year
The Twins, however, aren’t a model organization, either. Minnesota has missed the playoffs four of the last five seasons and hasn’t advanced past the ALDS since 2002.
More importantly, Shelton could be a clear downgrade. Baldelli went 527-505 in seven seasons with Minnesota. This included the 2019 season, when the Twins went 101-61 and won the American League Central.
According to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty was also in the running for the Twins’ job. He could’ve been a better choice.
For the past two seasons, Flaherty has served on Chicago manager Craig Counsell’s staff. This past season, the Cubs made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Yet, the Twins still picked Shelton instead of him.
With the right manager, the Twins could quickly rebound. In September, Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter ranked their farm system No. 7 in baseball.
With Shelton at the helm, however, Minnesota may not have a manager who can maximize its up-and-coming talent. That’ll make it even harder to catch the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.
