Full disclosure. I swung and missed. I didn't know the Pittsburgh Pirates had hired Derek Shelton to be their new manager. The hiring took place the day before Thanksgiving.
When Ben Cherington succeeded Neal Huntington as the team's GM in mid-November, I thought he might bring former Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell aboard the Pirates ship. After all, Cherington earned a World Series ring with the Bosox in 2013 with Farrell at the helm. But Cherington stuck with Huntington's top choice.
If there is such a thing as a baseball lifer then Derek Shelton would be plucked straight out of central casting. His promising career as a catcher was cut short by an elbow injury during his all too brief tenure as a player in the New York Yankees organization where he played alongside Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter.
Shelton eventually became a minor league manager in the Yankees organization in the early 2000's managing the likes of Robinson Cano and Chien-Mien Wang. He moved onto the Cleveland Indians' organization in 2003 where he became a minor league hitting instructor. Shelton finally made his big league debut in 2005 when the Tribe named him their hitting coach. He remained in this role until he was lured away by the Tampa Bay Rays for the same role in 2010. The Rays dismissed Shelton after seven seasons, but he quickly found a role with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 as their quality control coach. Shelton spent the past two seasons in the Minnesota Twins dugout as the bench coach for two different managers - Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli. Before being hired by the Bucs, Shelton was given strong consideration by the New York Mets who ultimately opted for former Met great Carlos Beltran.
Shelton has a tall task ahead of him. He must commandeer a ship which sank under Clint Hurdle's watch in the second half and was full of mutiny and at least one rogue character who will likely spend time in the brig. What is unclear to me is the duration of Shelton's contract. I'm not sure how quickly the Bucs' brass expect Shelton to bring them a flag. But for Shelton it might very well be a case of sink or swim.
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