BRADENTON, Fla. — Derek Shelton returned to LECOM Park as a manager, this time in the visiting dugout. The former Pittsburgh Pirates skipper was wearing new colors that were old colors to him.
The former Minnesota Twins bench coach is now their manager, only months after being fired by the Pirates on May 8 following a 12-26 start to the 2025 season and a 306-440 overall record (.410 winning percentage) in five-plus seasons.
“Ultimately, I wish we could have done better,” Shelton said Thursday before the Twins played the Pirates in a Grapefruit League game. “I think there were a lot of factors that went into play there. But I look back very fondly on my time there, and with appreciation of the opportunity.”
Despite his dismissal, Shelton’s love for the game was reinvigorated by working on “Loud Outs” with Ryan Spilborghs and CJ Nitkowski on Sirius XM Radio and MLB Network appearances during his downtime.
Derek Shelton reflects on his tenure as Pirates skipper in his return to LECOM Park as manager of the Minnesota Twins. pic.twitter.com/ZzZDsof0ZZ
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 26, 2026
It allowed Shelton time to learn from his experience and reflect on what he would have done differently with how he would have communicated with his players and coaching and baseball operations staff.
That the Twins hired Shelton to replace Rocco Baldelli, one of his closest friends in the game, came as something of a surprise. But Shelton might have been uniquely qualified to work with a young team in the developmental stage because of his time with the Pirates.
“Doing the radio and TV, it did bring my love back. You get to the point where you get beat down. We’d lost a lot, and that can wear on you a little bit. I needed to get rejuvenated a little bit,” Shelton said. “I think the fact of being able to watch the game kind of as a fan — you guys know this — when you do radio and TV, you’re never wrong. In this spot, you’re always wrong in somebody’s eyes.
“It was refreshing there to be able to give your opinion to watch games as a fan a little bit, and to watch all the games. I thought that was important. In terms of getting back in, I don’t know. It was the right opportunity. It was the right job. Was it a situation where I could have continued to do that? Yeah, probably. But I’m not ready to do that yet. I want to be on the field.”
Shelton refuses to live in regret but did get wistful about Pirates general manager Ben Cherington being given the green light to acquire All-Stars in second baseman Brandon Lowe by trade and first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna in free agency to boost an offense that ranked last in the majors in home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and OPS and finished last in the NL Central.
Shelton also would have loved to continue coaching Cy Young winner Paul Skenes and shortstop Konnor Griffin, predicting that baseball’s consensus top prospect “is going to be a superstar.”
“I think at some point you wish you would have seen the investment that we saw this offseason, but good for them,” Shelton said. “I’m very happy for Ben that he had the ability to go out and acquire guys. They’re a better club than they were probably at any point in the tenure here with the people they’ve added, and it’s going to be exciting to see.
“They have the best pitcher in the game, obviously. They have the best prospect in the game, who is uber-exciting to watch. I’m a little disappointed he’s not in the lineup (Thursday) because he’s a guy that you want to watch. I’m happy for Pirates fans that they got the investment they did this offseason.”
