Derek Shelton and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro reportedly were the final two candidates for the job; both were early frontrunners to replace Clint Hurdle. The search began shortly after former bossmen Frank Coonelly and Neal Huntington dismissed Hurdle, with Huntington interviewing several candidates before he, too, was let go. Shelton had a good interview with Huntington before then, and new GM Ben Cherington liked what he heard, too. Long story short: today Shelton was introduced as the Bucs new skipper, a week after his hire was announced.
This is the 49-year-old’s first MLB manager's gig, but he had been the Twins’ bench coach for the past two years and was active in a lot of areas in support of Rocco Baldelli, so he won't be groping in the dark. (Rocco already has sprouted quite a coaching tree; Shelton was the fifth coach he's lost from his 2019 staff).
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| Derek Shelton at today's PC - photo Pittsburgh Pirates |
He spent 2017 as the Blue Jays’ quality control coach when Ben Cherington was with Toronto, so they're not strangers. Derek was the Tampa Bay Rays’ hitting coach under Joe Maddon from 2010-16 and worked as the Cleveland Indians’ hitting coach for five years before that. Shelton managed in the Yankees system for three years (GCL, Class A short-season) and won two league championships after serving as a minor-league catcher in the NYY organization in 1992-93, with elbow surgery derailing his career. This year, he was a finalist for the Mets job that went to Carlos Beltran, and is highly thought of within the industry.
Everybody said the right stuff. “My family and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Pittsburgh community and are humbled to be a part of this storied franchise,” Shelton said in his own statement. “It is going to be a fun environment in which we will all be held accountable to each other. It will be a player-centric culture built on strong communication and relationships with our players, our staff and the entire organization.” He's also strong with analytics, and should help the Bucs rejoin the fray on that front.
Now the Pirates can begin their reshuffle. Shelton needs a coaching staff, and the remaining coaches (hitting coach Rick Eckstein (who Shelton worked with), assistant pitching coach Justin Meccage, first-base coach Kimera Bartee, third-base coach Joey Cora, coach Dave Jauss and bullpen coach Euclides Rojas) are awaiting his decision. While no hires were announced today, Shelton did sound as if he were going to bring at least a few of them back. The Bucs had already canned bench coach Tom Prince (hired by the Tigers to manage their AAA club) and pitching coach Ray Searage, while assistant hitting coach Jacob Cruz jumped to the Brewers.
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| Ben Cherington & Travis Williams taking charge - photo Pittsburgh Pirates |
As for Cherington, he has the winter meetings coming up next week and still has to determine the final makeup of the braintrust around him. He made a splash on Monday, bringing aboard Blue Jays scouting director Steve Sanders, 31, to join the front office. Sanders has run the last three drafts for Toronto (he landed the current 1-2-3 Toronto prospects in that time), and worked with Cherington to rebuild their farm system. He was bumped up the ladder from Blue Jay Scouting Director to Pirates Ass't GM. So BC's starting to play his hand, too. He noted at today's presser that he'll keep both Larry Broadway and Joe Delli Carri in their existing roles as player development and amateur scouting directors. It's yet to be seen how Special Ass't to the GM Banny ends up.
In the meantime, the crew will be working on constructing the roster and try to replace the minor league guys who are now in big league unis; whether surgically or by demolition is the question. The boss men are in place; now it's showtime.
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