Boneheaded organizations, just like the Minnesota Twins, do boneheaded issues, akin to hiring managers with dropping data.
On Wednesday, MLB Community insider Jon Heyman reported the Twins are planning to call former Pittsburgh Pirates supervisor Derek Shelton as their subsequent skipper. He’ll substitute Rocco Baldelli, who was fired in September after going 70-92.
Shelton is a well-known face for the Twins. He served as their bench coach from 2018-19. Apart from that, there isn’t any different wise motive for Minnesota to rent him.
Why Derek Shelton could also be a foul rent
The Pirates fired Shelton in Could, however they need to’ve made that change a lot earlier. He went 306-440 in six seasons with the membership and by no means gained greater than 76 video games in a season.
Now, the Pirates aren’t a well-run group. Pittsburgh hasn’t made the postseason since 2015 and might be wasting the prime of star pitcher Paul Skenes, the 2024 Nationwide League Rookie of the Yr
The Twins, nonetheless, aren’t a mannequin group, both. Minnesota has missed the playoffs 4 of the final 5 seasons and hasn’t superior previous the ALDS since 2002.
Extra importantly, Shelton might be a transparent downgrade. Baldelli went 527-505 in seven seasons with Minnesota. This included the 2019 season, when the Twins went 101-61 and gained the American League Central.
According to MLB.com’s Matthew Leach, Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty was additionally within the working for the Twins’ job. He might’ve been a more sensible choice.
For the previous two seasons, Flaherty has served on Chicago supervisor Craig Counsell’s employees. This previous season, the Cubs made the playoffs for the primary time since 2020. But, the Twins nonetheless picked Shelton as a substitute of him.
With the suitable supervisor, the Twins might rapidly rebound. In September, Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter ranked their farm system No. 7 in baseball.
With Shelton on the helm, nonetheless, Minnesota could not have a supervisor who can maximize its up-and-coming expertise. That’ll make it even tougher to catch the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers within the AL Central.
