MINNEAPOLIS — Derek Shelton spent the first couple of weeks after his firing by the Pittsburgh Pirates in his feelings, bitter about the dismissal just 38 games into his sixth season as manager and defiant about his ability to do the job well.
That sudden free time turned out to be an unexpected gift. As he candidly assessed in conversation with several confidants the approach he used, the adjustments he made and the lessons he learned, Shelton took the notes that helped him land in Minnesota — because the Twins took notice.
«I honestly believe the reflection period is probably the reason that I’m in this chair right now,» Shelton said Tuesday after his introductory news conference at Target Field as Minnesota’s 15th manager. «I think if that happens to you at the end of the season, it’s really hard to turn that back around and be able to say, ‘I could have done this differently.'»
Twins president Derek Falvey already knew Shelton well, from their overlap in Cleveland when Falvey first began his career and the two seasons in Minnesota when Shelton worked as the bench coach for two different managers — Paul Molitor in 2018 and Rocco Baldelli in 2019 — before getting his big break with Pittsburgh.
Pablo López and Joe Ryan.
«When I sat down with Joe Pohlad, and I asked him the question, I said, ‘What’s on the table? What’s off the table?’ And his response to me was, ‘Ask me anything you want,'» Shelton said. «I got the answers that made me really want this job.»
When Shelton arrived with the Pirates, long one of the lowest-spending clubs in Major League Baseball while playing in one of its smallest markets, they were in clear starting-over mode. The Twins, despite their 10-player sell-off leading up to the trade deadline this past season, don’t consider themselves to be in that same category.
«My goal this offseason is not to take away from this team,» Falvey said. «We’re going to have to evaluate every opportunity that comes our way. There’s going to be a lot of calls on players on our team because we think we have some talented players. I have little doubt that will be part of our process. At the same time, my personal goal is to find ways to augment and add around it.»
