Pirates renewed manager Derek Shelton’s contract, report The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel. The terms of the deal are still unknown.
The Bucs are having an intriguing start to the season, 14-7 going into Saturday’s game, taking second at NL Central as they look set to emerge from a lengthy rebuild. The 52-year-old captain has had many rough years in Pittsburgh, and so his 156-249 managerial record in his career with the Pirates doesn’t necessarily reflect his management style.
Evaluating a manager’s performance is always a challenge when the team is in the process of rebuilding and focusing more on the prospects of its minor league system than its major league roster. As a result, the 100 consecutive losing seasons that Shelton has overseen probably won’t be much different from another manager leading. Clearly, the franchise is comfortable with their direction with Shelton at the helm. While 21 games is a small sample size, the Pirates have been more aggressive than they have been in free agency this winter, and it won’t hurt that Shelton’s team is getting results. This is what GM Ben Cherington told The Athletic last year about Shelton:
“I love working with Shelty and this staff. They work hard every day and care a lot about doing the right thing. I have great confidence in this staff’s level of effort and I look forward to this group benefiting from the fruits of their labor. I think they will as our squad matures and gets stronger.”
Shelton was hired by the Pirates after a tumultuous 2019 season that saw the team lose 93 games, settle clubhouse issues and eventually fire general manager Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle. Cherington and Shelton have been brought in to oversee getting the club back on track, and while the past three seasons have been a rough one, it looks like the team is close to turning the tide.
Before joining the Pirates, Shelton served as the Twins’ bench coach. He interviewed for several other management positions, but the Pirates were the first to give him the top job.
