Derek Shelton will be announced today as the next manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was reported a week ago that Shelton beat out the other finalist, Matt Quatraro, for the job. Shelton will be leaving the Minnesota Twins for his first big league managerial gig.
In a statement, Ben Cherington referenced his longstanding relationship with the Pirates’ new skipper:I have known Derek for more than 15 years and have great admiration for his passion for the game and players, work ethic, curiosity, and desire to learn. He has worked and learned from some of the best in the game, and in turn has helped players and colleagues learn and improve during his 20 years of coaching and managing. We are confident Derek will help lead an elite playing and coaching environment at the Major League level and be a true partner to all of baseball operations as we challenge each other to get better every day. I want to thank our entire baseball operations group for their tireless work over the past several weeks of this search. We are thrilled to get to work with Derek and continue building toward a winning team in Pittsburgh.