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Minnesota Twins Hire Familiar New Manager
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- Minnesota Twins Hire Familiar New Manager
Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
There's no smoke coming out of the building at 1 Twins Way, but the Minnesota Twins have hired their new manager. After dismissing Rocco Baldelli following a 70-92 season , Derek Falvey had to figure out his next move.
A final group of four earned second round interviews . That was after Twins legend Torii Hunter turned down any interest before things even got off the ground.
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When the last crop of names were announced, familiar faces in the form of Derek Shelton and James Rowson stood out as logical.
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Derek Shelton takes over as next MN Twins manager
When we last saw Derek Shelton he was managing the Pittsburgh Pirates. After being fired earlier this season following a 12-26 start , he now makes his way back to the clubhouse where he operated as Rocco Baldelli's bench coach. Shelton becomes the 14th manager in Minnesota Twins history.
Shelton left the Twins after the 2019 season and started in Pittsburgh during the 60-game Covid-19 season. His team went just 19-41 that year. After 61 and 62 win seasons, Shelton pushed the bar and had the Pirates win 76 games in each of the 2023 and 2024 years. Across parts of six seasons, Shelton finished with a 306-440 record (.410%) with Pittsburgh.
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Similarly to the Twins, Pittsburgh is a desolate place for a manager to succeed given the kneecapping of a front office by ownership. Of course that is what the Pohlads continue to do in Minnesota, but the extent is a bit less.
Shelton will now return to manage a team that has plenty of familiar faces. That's probably a positive from a place of rapport, but it remains to be seen what level of impact he will truly have.
An uninspiring managerial choice for the Twins
This sort of outcome is about as unfortunate as things can get, at least on paper. It's entirely possible that Shelton provides a fresh voice and sees immediate success with the Twins. However, he is a retread and returns to the same organization he once was hired to a lesser position by.
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When Derek Falvey chose Rocco Baldelli to be his handpicked manager, Shelton very well could have been tabbed as the leader at that point. The front office decided that Falvey was the better choice.
Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
It has also been reported that Minnesota would likely consider finances when picking their next skipper. Baldelli had his contract option for 2026 exercised by the Twins . In what would have been his eighth season for Minnesota, he will unquestionably make more from the team for not coaching them than Shelton will in his place.
At the end of the day, the manager has not been the problem for Minnesota in recent season. The blame starts at the top and trickles down. Now Falvey's next pick as manager though, Shelton will be the guy that either bails out the front office , or forces ownership to pin blame on someone else and clean house.
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