Should Derek Shelton Return as Manager of the Twins in 2027?

[miller761]

There is no quit in this team. Who gets credit for that? 

 

[Mike Sixel]

17 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Shouldn’t be any scapegoats from the team , team played better than expectations under Shelton than previous manager …

scapegoats should be owners starting in 2023 for right sizing so they say and hit the road jack ( falvey ) …

I enjoyed the team more this year without Rocco and falvey …

They are going to win less games than fangraphs predicted. How are they playing better than expectations?

Agree on the owners....

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, miller761 said:

There is no quit in this team. Who gets credit for that? 

 

What? They've been awful since the deadline. 

[Blyleven2011]

5 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

They are going to win less games than fangraphs predicted. How are they playing better than expectations?

Agree on the owners....

I believe that they are playing better than most FANS expected , yes they won’t reach fangraphs predictions , but it’s the fans that know the team better …

I like how they played the game and had some fight , you know how they played last year and year before , they played dead at home and got killed on the road ( the Minnesota possums ) ( 2 years of unwatchable baseball ) …

[rv78]

What's the point, It won't matter who is managing this team until they add some players with the ability to IMPROVE the roster. Whoever the Manager is, he's just going through the motions. What this team NEEDS is someone in the Front Office who is committed to winning.

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Why would you fire him.  I need a really good explanation or it is just looking for a scapegoat. 

Better question-----This article assumes that Zoll is still in the FO making decisions. 

Who wants that?

[LastOnePicked]

"As the Twins close out another disappointing season (though, at least, one that raised expectations"

First, we have got to put an end to this fiction that the Twins have "exceeded expectations" this season. Even after the Lopez injury, the Twins were projected by FanGraphs and BP for 78.6 wins. They're going to have a very hard time acheiving even that low bar.

Second, I don't get the sense that this is Shelton's fault. However, if I owned the Twins, I'd be at least curious about who else was available this offseason looking for an opportunity. If I got word that highly-regarded coaches from Cleveland or Los Angeles were looking for a chance to advance, I'd have no problem with making the switch.

If 2027 is another tread water year, fine, bring Shelton back. But if full-scale organizational change is on the table, thank him and let him go as soon as possible. Nothing suggests that he's a genius with elevating the performance of post-hype prospects.

[Parfigliano]

59 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I have no idea how to judge a manager for the most part.

Win = good.  Lose = bad.

[Mike Sixel]

14 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I believe that they are playing better than most FANS expected , yes they won’t reach fangraphs predictions , but it’s the fans that know the team better …

I like how they played the game and had some fight , you know how they played last year and year before , they played dead at home and got killed on the road ( the Minnesota possums ) ( 2 years of unwatchable baseball ) …

Fans are terrible at predictions compared to models. 

[Parfigliano]

3 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Fans are terrible at predictions compared to models. 

Vegas doesn't mess around.

[Mike Sixel]

3 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Vegas doesn't mess around.

73.5.....

[Hubie29]

44 minutes ago, miller761 said:

There is no quit in this team. Who gets credit for that? 

 

Hopefully the players? Or we really have a problem!

[Vanimal46]

42 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I believe that they are playing better than most FANS expected , yes they won’t reach fangraphs predictions , but it’s the fans that know the team better …

I like how they played the game and had some fight , you know how they played last year and year before , they played dead at home and got killed on the road ( the Minnesota possums ) ( 2 years of unwatchable baseball ) …

I mean, I would argue it’s been pretty bad baseball to watch post All Star break once again. 

[Vanimal46]

The Twins have had a player talent deficiency for several years now. I’m placing more blame on the FO that has control of the roster instead of the manager. Something is still rotten in this organization after the fire sale and firing of Rocco/other coaches. 

[Seth Stohs]

Of course he should be back. It shouldn't even come up as a topic this offseason. 

The only scenario in which it would even make sense is if the Pohlad's sold the team and brought in all of their own front office and let the new front office pick their own manager. 

[Rufus]

2 hours ago, HarmonK03 said:

In fairness to Rocco, that was an organizational decision when they dumped Correa to move Lee to SS.  He was the top option that was ready to play there.

Lewis was at third so SS was the only spot for Lee.  Keaschall was at second.  Shelton showed is true value by getting Lewis to buy in on moving to 1st and moving Keaschall to the outfield.  I don't think Baldelli would have thought of those moves or gotten the player to go along with them.

 

 

 

 

[HarmonK03]

3 minutes ago, Rufus said:

Lewis was at third so SS was the only spot for Lee.  Keaschall was at second.  Shelton showed is true value by getting Lewis to buy in on moving to 1st and moving Keaschall to the outfield.  I don't think Baldelli would have thought of those moves or gotten the player to go along with them.

 

 

 

 

Last year at the deadline, Keaschall was in St. Paul and Lee was basically the utility infielder.  He was next man up at SS and was thought to be the next starting shortstop by the organization.  He wasn't just put there because there were no other options.  They needed to see if he could handle shortstop in the major leagues.  The mistake was starting him there this year.

[Vanimal46]

18 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Of course he should be back. It shouldn't even come up as a topic this offseason. 

The only scenario in which it would even make sense is if the Pohlad's sold the team and brought in all of their own front office and let the new front office pick their own manager. 

Simply for the fact that the Pohlads aren’t going to pay 3 manager salaries in 1 year. I have no idea how much longer we are paying out Rocco since manager contracts are treated like nuclear missile codes in Minnesota. 

[LastOnePicked]

1 hour ago, miller761 said:

There is no quit in this team. Who gets credit for that? 

13-22 since August 1st. Worst in the AL. Can't score a run after the 4th inning. I hope people are joking about this "no quit" nonsense.

They're still playing nine-inning games, yes. They generally seem to be trying to hit, pitch and catch. Those are minimum requirements for even just playing Town Ball.

[LastOnePicked]

24 minutes ago, Seth Stohs said:

Of course he should be back. It shouldn't even come up as a topic this offseason. 

Really?! Fans of any team that underperforms expectations and completely falls apart in the stretch run ought to at least ask this question.

Protecting and dismissing failure is a pretty sure way to get more of it. 

I don't want Shelton fired at this point. But there's nothing inappropriate whatsoever about considering how safe his place is in the organization. There may be better options available, and the Twins desperately need to improve.

[TheLeviathan]

Managers are mostly not relevant in baseball.  I'm glad he had good vibes, most guys get that reaction early in their tenure.  His problems remain the same as the ones we've seen for years:

His team didn't have good fundamentals.

They play poor defense.

They still can't run the bases - both as effective baserunners or in terms of stealing bags

He pinch hit and used the bullpen pretty much the same way Rocco did

The flaws listed above that his team has are organizational ones.  He neither conjured up magic to help the team nor any magic to gloss over those flaws.  The team didn't exceed expectations, they just had a hot month and a half due to really lucky sequencing and RISP performance from guys like Gray, Caratini, Larnach, Clemens, etc.  A totally flukey, unsustainable, non-Shelton related cause.  

So...yeah.  Stay.  Or don't.  It doesn't matter much.  He seems like a good dude though.

[Greglw3]

Total no-brainer, yes!

He’s done a terrific job with a decimated rotation, a hapless bullpen for 65% of the year and an inexperienced and inconsistent lineup with the perennially offensively challenged Royce Lewis, about 60% of another injury marred season from Buxton, a decent amount of it chasing bad pitches, and slumping.

Plus Wallner’s demotion, significant time without Jeffers. where the .220 hitting Caratini filled in. And I hate to say it because I’m a big fan of his potential but Brooks Lee has gotten caught up in the "swinging for homers trap" that ate up Max Kepler, is eating up Royce Lewis, destroyed Matt Wallner. Lately it’s been maddening some of the way over his head pitches he’s been chasing.

Lee has such a high ceiling but hit’s around .250 when he could hit .300 with 15 homers. His defense has been out of this world.

Larnach is, after all, not much more than an average hitter.

Bell has the most professional at-bats and is the best clutch hitter, as his 86 RBIs and working counts constantly in clutch situations attest. If it’s good enough for Bell to hit to all fields, and for Jeffers to use the whole field, then why can’t Lee and Lewis.

I could see an outfield of E Rodriguez, Jenkins and Keaschall next year with whatever time Buxton can offer as a bonus. Gabby Gonzalez to hit lefties. Adding an impact bat to the outfield would be a good play.

Lee, Culpepper, Houston and a 1st baseman that they sign or trade for. Clemens homers are fun but he’s extremely streaky and that .238 batting average is not what I want when trying to build a winning team. Plus they still have Mendez, and Lackey could come extremely fast.

[Hunter4848]

5 hours ago, Greglw3 said:

Total no-brainer, yes!

He’s done a terrific job with a decimated rotation, a hapless bullpen for 65% of the year and an inexperienced and inconsistent lineup with the perennially offensively challenged Royce Lewis, about 60% of another injury marred season from Buxton, a decent amount of it chasing bad pitches, and slumping.

Plus Wallner’s demotion, significant time without Jeffers. where the .220 hitting Caratini filled in. And I hate to say it because I’m a big fan of his potential but Brooks Lee has gotten caught up in the "swinging for homers trap" that ate up Max Kepler, is eating up Royce Lewis, destroyed Matt Wallner. Lately it’s been maddening some of the way over his head pitches he’s been chasing.

Lee has such a high ceiling but hit’s around .250 when he could hit .300 with 15 homers. His defense has been out of this world.

Larnach is, after all, not much more than an average hitter.

Bell has the most professional at-bats and is the best clutch hitter, as his 86 RBIs and working counts constantly in clutch situations attest. If it’s good enough for Bell to hit to all fields, and for Jeffers to use the whole field, then why can’t Lee and Lewis.

I could see an outfield of E Rodriguez, Jenkins and Keaschall next year with whatever time Buxton can offer as a bonus. Gabby Gonzalez to hit lefties. Adding an impact bat to the outfield would be a good play.

Lee, Culpepper, Houston and a 1st baseman that they sign or trade for. Clemens homers are fun but he’s extremely streaky and that .238 batting average is not what I want when trying to build a winning team. Plus they still have Mendez, and Lackey could come extremely fast.

A terrific job?! Im glad to see your expectations are so low

[CRF]

He's not the problem. Yep, bring him back. 

[JBK]

He's a 100% improvement over Rocco.

[MikeNC]

Just to be clear here, I watch every single Twins game.  I thought Rocco was an idiot in his managing decisions.  I love Shelty.  I think he has done a brilliant job with the mess he was handed.  If he had been the manager in 2025, the Twins would have won the division and we wouldn't be in any of the mess that the owner decided to create.  I couldn't understand why it took them so long to ditch Rocco.

[DJL44]

7 minutes ago, MikeNC said:

Just to be clear here, I watch every single Twins game.  I thought Rocco was an idiot in his managing decisions.  I love Shelty.  I think he has done a brilliant job with the mess he was handed.  If he had been the manager in 2025, the Twins would have won the division and we wouldn't be in any of the mess that the owner decided to create.  I couldn't understand why it took them so long to ditch Rocco.

I don’t understand this. They seem very, very similar in decision making. Do you just like beards?

[twinssporto]

I had a nice conversation with Pablo Lopez a couple of weeks ago (thought about writing about it on TD, but didn't). I asked him specifically about the vibe in the clubhouse. He said this year was the best clubhouse he's ever been associated with.

The manager has a lot to do with that.

P.S. Pablo is a fantastic human being. 

 

[Coach]

I kind of would like them to bring back Hank Conger as some kind of a bench coach.  He was responsible for our aggressive and successful running game at the end of last season.  With the call-up of some of our new speedsters, we could have a very exciting team.

[Mike Sixel]

14 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

I had a nice conversation with Pablo Lopez a couple of weeks ago (thought about writing about it on TD, but didn't). I asked him specifically about the vibe in the clubhouse. He said this year was the best clubhouse he's ever been associated with.

The manager has a lot to do with that.

P.S. Pablo is a fantastic human being. 

 

And yet, they lose.