BREAKING: Twins to Hire Derek Shelton as Manager for 2026

[knothole61]

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

In a move many fans will find underwhelming, the Twins chose to push the dials of familiarity and experience as high as possible with their hire to replace recently fired manager Rocco Baldelli. His place at the top of the dugout steps at Target Field will be taken by Derek Shelton, who served as Baldelli's bench coach in his first season on the job in 2019 and coordinated the day-to-day efforts of the winningest team (by regular-season record) in Twins history.

Shelton, 55, was poached by the Pittsburgh Pirates that winter, taking over as their manager beginning with the COVID season of 2020. Brought in to oversee a rebuilding team's development and with no support from ownership whatsoever, though, he found little success there, going 306-440 before being fired 38 games into the 2025 campaign.

The Twins front office knows and loves Shelton, who took over as bench coach for the final season of Paul Molitor's tenure with the team and stayed on to serve in the same role for Baldelli. He's been a coach or manager almost without interruption since 1998, including eight total seasons as a manager (three of them in the minor leagues, over two decades ago) and long stints as a hitting coach, in addition to roles as quality control and bench coach with the Blue Jays and Twins. He's the most experienced candidate the team interviewed, although he doesn't have the same amount of success under his belt as fellow finalist Scott Servais did.

It might seem like a comfortable (and therefore unimaginative) choice, but Shelton offers the stability and competence the organization prizes, and was considered an integral part of the team that set a then-record by hitting over 300 home runs and winning 100 games under a rookie manager. The team faces some of the same daunting questions about payroll commitment and competitive window status as the Pirates did when Shelton took charge there, but they're multiple steps ahead of where Pittsburgh was. If Shelton is a mere placeholder, they couldn't have done any better. He won't bring a major culture change to the franchise, but it appears as though Derek Falvey decided he didn't want one.

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[Hrbowski]

Underwhelmed

[knothole61]

Just now, Hrbowski said:

Underwhelmed

Will somebody please change Farek to Derek for me…I can’t figure it out!!

[thelanges5]

Falvey doesn’t want to be challenged. Go with the comfortable hire. Hopefully I’m wrong but not super jazzed by this hire. 

[knothole61]

3 minutes ago, knothole61 said:

Will somebody please change Farek to Derek for me…I can’t figure it out!!

Many thanks! Also, Shelton is rocking a .410 MLB managerial record so he’ll fit right in. 

[LakesPibble]

I think he fits our existing culture perfectly.

[howeda7]

Derek was never going to hire anyone but a yes man. Things will change when Falvey is fired. 

[Danchat]

Not a fan of bringing in a former Falvine hire, and a guy who didn't do much in his first stint of coaching. Of course, that was because the Pirates stink and have little talent, but did he do anything to elevate the young talent they had coming up?

The only thing I can remember about him as a Twins bench coach is that he took over a game or two when Rocco missed time for some reason. I recall in a game thread on one of those days somebody complained that Rocco pulled the starting pitcher too early, but they realized Shelton was managing. Tiny sample size there, but I expect more of the same.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a short-term deal with the lockout coming up, but I just don't see Shelton making it as our "manager of the future".

Also worth noting the Pirates' interim manager had a .476 record after Shelton was fired with the team starting with a .316 record, and they were at .410 over his five years there. Sheesh.

[Hubie29]

Crap

[Vanimal46]

I’m not going to pretend to know if this will be a good hire or not. What this tells me is Falvey doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with his system and that’s a scary thought. 

[CRF]

Kind of a surprise...but not really a surprise. I thought there might be a chance to bring Flaherty in here...or even give Rowson a shot, but it wasn't to be. At least Shelton is used to losing, because he's gonna do a lot of it here. Falvey needs to hit the bricks!

[strumdatjag]

That’s a big excitement killer!   

[Dave Borton]

Looking forward to it based on Strib article years ago about his work ethic and commitment to baseball fundamentals. 

Give it time and review Oct 2026. Glad to be second guessed.

[howeda7]

15 minutes ago, CRF said:

Kind of a surprise...but not really a surprise. I thought there might be a chance to bring Flaherty in here...or even give Rowson a shot, but it wasn't to be. At least Shelton is used to losing, because he's gonna do a lot of it here. Falvey needs to hit the bricks!

Would you feel that much better if it was Rowson or Flaherty? I wouldn't. 

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Another Rocco. Oofda!

[CRF]

6 minutes ago, howeda7 said:

Would you feel that much better if it was Rowson or Flaherty? I wouldn't. 

Yes...I'd rather see either of those guys over Shelton. Maybe it wouldn't make one bit of difference, but that's my feeling. 

[insagt1]

who????

[Blyleven2011]

20 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

I’m not going to pretend to know if this will be a good hire or not. What this tells me is Falvey doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with his system and that’s a scary thought. 

We knew falvey would never choose a manager that the fans might have higher hopes for  ...

Watch falvey take no responsibility in hiring shelton at the press conference and put the blame on zoll for the hiring  ( i hope I'm just kidding ) ...

I'll wish for the best but the needle hasn't moved in our favor , the players are familiar with him and maybe we'll get alittle enthusiasm in our players if falvey stays out of managing ...

I was hoping mike Redmond would have at least had an interview , but never heard his name  ...

Wish for the best ...

 

[Nashvilletwin]

I’m wondering what some of our younger players think about essentially hiring Rocco 2.0.  No discernible record for developing major leaguers.  I’m fact, maybe the opposite given his complete lack of success in Pittsburgh.  

Their agents must be getting geared up to get them moved….

[ziggy]

with any luck Baldelli will be his bench coach this go around!!

 

 

Bad luck but still luck.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Glad we have a decision. And man, whoever they hired was going to get the same majority of comments under the article. I guess never read the comments. 
Have to think based on Dan Hayes other article today, Latroy Hawkins seems like a good fit on the staff.

Really curious now how the rest of the coaching staff shakes out

[tony&rodney]

The manager won't make any difference if Falvey has decided that the current roster now has the leadership to win. The last two years the Twins rolled it back with nearly the same roster. Will it happen again? Dave Roberts, Tom Kelly in his prime, and Shelton all have the same odds if Falvey says the roster is good .... let's go. 

The hope is for change on the field. 

I wish Shelton good luck.

[Dave Borton]

3 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

...No discernible record for developing major leaguers. ...

 

Development occurs in the minors. Finishing touches in majors. That's what minors are for.

[Brandon27]

He won't last two years in minnesota and  we will be back square one looking for another manager almost like looking for someone to  play and stay at first base long term 

[Dave Borton]

4 minutes ago, ziggy said:

with any luck Baldelli will be his bench coach this go around!!

...

Don't even!

Baldelli getting a look see in Wash DC. Good luck, good riddance.

[LyleCole]

I don't think it is the worse hire possible.

Personally, I would have hired Toby Gardenhire.  He would have been an internal candidate familiar with many of the prospects that will be on the roster for this coming rebuild.  He would have pleased the ownership too because he would have been an inexpensive hire keeping the overall budget to a minimum.   

Perhaps Shelton can figure out what is going on with Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Miranda, and other hitters who just cannot seem to find consistent results that their overall talent should deliver.  I am sure Shelton is also a low cost candidate that can be discarded with little dead cost though, another plus ownership values.

 

 

[SteveLV]

My impression is that this is not a daring selection, but may possibly be a solid one.

Fingers crossed......

[Reptevia]

Rocco 2.0. Nothing will change. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

Pittsburgh fans have little good to say of what Shelton brought to their team. This confirms my lack of hope for the future of the Twins. Fire Falvey.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Just now, Reptevia said:

Rocco 2.0. Nothing will change. 

Rocco didn’t have the coaching experience that Shelton does. Shelton has been a coach in some capacity, for a bunch of teams, for over 20 years. 
Not saying it’s a homerun hire, but their resumes before becoming head coach could not be more different