BREAKING: Twins to Hire Derek Shelton as Manager for 2026

[TJSweens]

The Twins are replacing Rocco with a guy they passed when they hired him in the first place. This is as uninspired a choice as I can imagine.

[LeatherAntenna]

More salary cutting?  Wouldn’t surprise me he’s the lowest paid in MLB.

[dxpavelka]

Is he the right choice?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Do ANY of us on this site know? Absolutely not.  Wasn't my first choice but he was THE choice.  

[rv78]

Why would Falvey choose a proven loser over everyone else? Because he's a Falvey "yes" man. After your #1 (Rocco) is used as the fallman for your failures you don't hesitate to go to your #2 man (Shelton). He can just as easily be thrown under the bus. Don't get me wrong, I didn't care for Rocco so I'm not defending him. I just see no difference between him or Shelton. This totally means Rocco was fired because Falvey needed to do it to save his own job. Hiring Shelton, who has no proven success managing at the major league level changes nothing and proves Falvey only hired him because he'll be another "yes'' man and eventually another fallman.

[Squirrel]

I don’t know why anyone thought it would be different than this. I guess hope springs eternal. Many of us said that if/when Baldelli was fired he’d be replaced with more of the same. Here we go … likely possible more of the same. However, maybe let’s wait for next season to see for certain. Yes, hope springs eternal.

[dxpavelka]

8 hours ago, jctwins said:

The Pohlads continue their masterclass in mismanagement of a business organization. For anyone looking to understand how you mismanage a business in absolutely every way, please take note of this free course in how to completely fuc.k up your customer loyalty in every way. 

Learn to love the losing comrades, it's the best way to enjoy this train wreck.

Thank you Pohlads for the gift that you keep on giving us.

Pony up and buy the team.

[dxpavelka]

10 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Remember when Falvey said he wasn't looking for any specific qualities in the next manager, because he didn't want to shrink the candidate pool?  It's absolutely astounding, that by casting this enormous net they just happened to nab the guy who was the runner up 7 years ago.  The odds of that happening must be astronomical!

Or maybe he was the best candidate.

 

[dxpavelka]

12 hours ago, Irishman said:

Oh crap!   I do not like Shelton at all.    Joe Pohlad is so cheap!   Shelton probably took pay cut to be a Minnesota Twins.

I am done with the Twins.  I will not renew the subscription of MLB tv next March.    I will not come to Target field.

Boycott Pohlad next season!

Turns out YOUR likes and dislikes don't factor in.

[In My La Z boy]

Safe not Sexy. Shelton is an excellent coach and will handle the real time in-game decisions much better than Rocco in my opinion. We also needed a "company" man to suffer through some rebuilding. Again, safe, not sexy. It's a start. We'll see what player moves we make.

[dxpavelka]

Gotta love a website that loves to be somewhat critical of the Twins ownership and front office AND had a headline on its homepage for almost two months AFTER team was no longer attempting to sell declaring the sale of the team to be imminent.  

[TheLeviathan]

I mean.....didn't a bunch of us try and tell some of you that Falvey would just hire another guy exactly like Rocco?

If you were expecting something else....you let your Rocco hate blind you to the more systemic problems.

[Brock Beauchamp]

20 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Gotta love a website that loves to be somewhat critical of the Twins ownership and front office AND had a headline on its homepage for almost two months AFTER team was no longer attempting to sell declaring the sale of the team to be imminent.  

And how are these things connected, exactly?

[big dog]

1 hour ago, old nurse said:

So then they should be firing the whole minor league crew. Managers, coaches and development staff because that is where the failure is at.  They should be firing all of the players because ultimately that is where the problem is at

Looking at the Twins Daily Top 20 for 2022, the problem that leaps out at me is not many players who "excelled in the minors". We had a lot of players who looked like they might be something someday if things went right. I don't see a lack of major-league level improvement, I see a few players expected to do well who have been okay or better and some payers we hoped would do well but had no real reason to expect it.

If you look at the top 10, you have the following major leaguers:

Martin, who was definitely not a star in the minors

Lewis, obvious injury problems throughout the minors, not a great track record there

Miranda, had one big year but not a great track record

Ryan, not a problem

Duran, that worked out ok

Woods Richardson, work in progress but seems like a pitcher

Winder, never more than a marginal MLer.

In addition you had Balazovic with a cup of coffee then released, Canterino with injuries, and Petty, traded. 

Are there obvious problems there with players who really excelled then never got better in the majors?

Looking at the second 10, we have Miller (traded), Celestino (now in the minors with his 4th organization), Wallner (profiled as exactly who he is today, a questionable prospect), Sands (MLB pitcher), Varland (traded MLB pitcher), Rodriguez (still hurt seems like all the time), Enlow (didn't play in '25), Steer (traded MLB player), Julien (described as a "versatile fielder"??), and Hajiar (traded and retired).

The idea that we had all these excellent players in the minors who fell apart in the majors just doesn't stand up, IMO. I blame Baldelli for a lot of things, but failing to develop superstars from the talent he was given is not on my list.

[dxpavelka]

1 minute ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

And how are these things connected, exactly?

Just an observation.  If you can't see the connection I can't make you see it.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, dxpavelka said:

Just an observation.  If you can't see the connection I can't make you see it.

There is no connection. What you're referring to is our lesser-trafficked notes section that largely goes idle from August through October.

[dxpavelka]

1 minute ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

There is no connection. What you're referring to is our lesser-trafficked notes section that largely goes idle from August through October.

I can see leaving it on there for a month.  Maybe.  But two?  I questioned competence every time I saw it there.  Just thought it was ironic.

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

I can see leaving it on there for a month.  Maybe.  But two?  I questioned competence every time I saw it there.  Just thought it was ironic.

It displays the three most recent notes. If notes haven't been written about the team because they're, for example, terrible and falling out of contention while nothing significant is happening, the third most-recent note might stay up there for awhile.

[Hubie29]

10 hours ago, 1985Fan said:

I like his look in the picture. He looks like a traditional old school baseball guy with the gray hair and the beard. If Latroy Hawkins wants to join the coaching staff, that would be great to have a tie to the old Twins fundamentals focus that he was schooled in. At least he’d bring a different perspective. Along with Hawkins, bring in other Twins people. How about Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, or even Viola?

But can he spit and chew gum like Rocco?

[Woof Bronzer]

55 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Or maybe he was the best candidate.

 

Yeah that's the point.  Since Falvey's candidate pool was literally every human on earth, the odds that the "best candidate" would be someone Falvey already knows very well must have been like one in a billion!  

[Woof Bronzer]

21 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

I can see leaving it on there for a month.  Maybe.  But two?  I questioned competence every time I saw it there.  Just thought it was ironic.

The grievance is strong with you!  Instead of whining about TD why don't you pony up and buy it? YOUR likes and dislikes don't really matter.  Just an observation.  

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

I don’t know why anyone thought it would be different than this. I guess hope springs eternal. Many of us said that if/when Baldelli was fired he’d be replaced with more of the same. Here we go … likely possible more of the same. However, maybe let’s wait for next season to see for certain. Yes, hope springs eternal.

Exactly... It's always the people who hire the people.  

No sense targeting Baldelli and there is no sense targeting Shelton now.  

The front office hired Baldelli and kept him employed for 7 years. If Baldelli isn't doing what the front office wants, if he is insubordinate, if he is managing in the opposite direction that the front office is trying to go. He'd have been fired by the front office much earlier. 

I'm surprised by the number of people on this website and around the world who are hoping out loud or even expecting that the new manager will put the front office on ignore and act like Philip Seymour Hoffman in Moneyball.  

[Chembry]

I thought this was an interesting interview:

https://omny.fm/shows/rosters-to-rings/behind-the-plate-to-behind-the-lineup-derek-shelton

 

This podcast was recorded right after the regular season ended and playoffs about to start.  He talked about his mistakes in Pittsburgh and what he would do differently if given the chance to manage again.

[Woof Bronzer]

9 hours ago, ashbury said:

If this is true, wouldn't Shelton himself have a sense of it happening?  Why in the world would he sign on for that?

Isn't this exactly what Suzuki signed up for with the Angels?  Just speculating but it's not like other teams were knocking down the door of a guy who spent the last 5 years losing 60% of his games.  There's only 30 MLB manager jobs on earth and I'm guessing a lot of guys would agree to just about anything to get one.  

[David Maro]

Falvey will be attaching the strings before the news conference to announce his hiring. He is probably the only one willing to take the job for the money. The organization is such a mess with a roster in flux as well as ownership. If they were looking to put butts in the seats this is not the way to do it.

[Old Twins Hat]

There are a lot of unhappy people in the world, or, in Twins' world.

Blue Jays go worst to first with ex-Twins hitting coach.

Hard to know what will happen for sure.

[jmlease1]

Just now, David Maro said:

He is probably the only one willing to take the job for the money. 

Doubtful. There are so few MLB managerial jobs, and while 4-7 of them open up every year there's a LOT of people who want one, and more than few that will bet one themselves rather than take a pass because it's not perfect enough for them. Plus, once you get in the door, you can add "MLB managerial experience" to the resume.

And while the Cheap Pohlads are cheap, the cost of a manager isn't that significant. Or do you really think people interviewing for the job were demanding $4M AAV on a guaranteed 5 year deal?

[Irishman]

Minnesota Twins ownership is killing the Minnesota Twins slowly.

[mluebker]

15 hours ago, LakesPibble said:

 

I think he fits our existing culture perfectly.

 

Yes. Regrettably. Now all they need to do is hire Rocco as a bench coach and save a few more bucks on new employee orientation. 

[saviking]

At least he rocks that beard. 

[jaimedude]

25 minutes ago, Old Twins Hat said:

There are a lot of unhappy people in the world, or, in Twins' world.

Blue Jays go worst to first with ex-Twins hitting coach.

Hard to know what will happen for sure.

Blue Jays have a lot of talented people that under performed going worst to first. The same cannot be said for the Twins, they fire sale, got rid of talented people in a panic, and are left with a roster of underperforming guys, journeyman and fringe major league players. Instead of investing in the team, all off-season rumors and rumbles are further cutting, and getting rid of established guys. The problem is when your unloading salary just to unload salary the vultures circle, and you don't get fair return on assets.  This type of cutting turns in to a vicious cycle like they did in the 1990's. Then you fire a guy and replace him with almost a clone at manager. This 2026 season already starting off on a bad foot and already eroding the fanbase further. Blue Jays have good ownership, the Twins have the Pohlads.