Twins bench coach Shelton named new Pirates manager

The Minnesota Twins coaching staff has shown that they are very capable at their jobs, and maybe that’s not a good thing for Minnesota. The Twins have lost assistant pitching coach Jeremy Hefner to the New York Mets (which is yet to be made official) and hitting coach James Rowson was hired by the Miami Marlins to be their bench coach and offensive coordinator. Now Minnesota has lost their bench coach.

Derek Shelton has been hired as the new manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Shelton was hired by the Twins prior to the 2018 season to be their bench coach alongside then-manager Paul Molitor and served alongside current manager Rocco Baldelli. Shelton has managed minor-league teams in the New York Yankees organization after playing on their farm teams, and a handful of games in the majors, as a catcher. He now faces a tall task ahead of him by leading a Pirates club that has been through some controversy and issues the past few seasons.

Although the hiring of Twins coaches by other teams shows how great the Minnesota front office has been with their own hiring and coach developing skills, the Twins now have work cut out for them to fill these positions and still make a big splash in the free agency market this off season. Minnesota has named their new hitting coach in Edgar Varela, but now they must seek out a new bench coach and assistant pitching coach - whether it is with an internal or external candidate - before things get into full swing.