Minnesota Twins’ Royce Lewis (23) talks with first base/infield coach Ramon Borrego (46) and Brooks Lee (2) during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
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The Minnesota Twins have a rough road ahead, but they now know who will be behind the wheel. The club has hired Derek Shelton to be their new manager according the Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
This is Shelton’s second MLB managerial job. He helmed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2020 through the beginning of the 2025 season, when he was relieved of his duties on May 8.
Prior to the Pirates, Shelton was the Twins’ bench coach for two years in 2018 and 2019. The 2019 Twins won the American League Central with a 101-61 record, and their success helped propel him into the top job in Pittsburgh.
Unfortunately, his time with the Pirates was not successful on the field. He had a 306-440 record and never won more than 76 games in a season or finished above fourth place. Pittsburgh was 12-26 when they let him go in May. The team made marginal improvements without him, going 59-65 the rest of the way, but they still ended the year with 31 fewer home runs than any other team in MLB.
There’s only so much a manager can control, and the Pirates never had strong rosters in Shelton’s time there. He could be walking into a similar trap in Minnesota.
The Twins look like they’re a long way from contention. The Pohlad family had been trying to sell the team, but they pulled it off the market over the summer when they didn’t get an offer to their liking. Shortly thereafter, they underwent a massive fire sale, trading away as many veterans as possible for prospects. They made nine separate deals in all, drastically reshaping the roster and organization.
Minnesota’s luxury tax payroll was $177.1 million in 2023, then $160.2 million in 2024, and $140.2 million in 2025. It will almost certainly be even lower in 2026. The team only has two guaranteed contracts on the books right now. Pablo López is set to earn $21.8 million next year, and Byron Buxton will take home $15.1 million. López is a trade candidate this offseason; he was injured at the trade deadline, which is probably the only reason he’s still with the Twins.
Minnesota went 70-92 last year, and parted ways with manager Rocco Baldelli, whose first year managing the team was Shelton’s last as their bench coach. They were 51-57 before the trade deadline, but went 19-35 after shipping off so many of their players.
While the Twins beefed up their farm system with all of their moves, that won’t help make Shelton’s job any easier in the short and medium terms. Just like in Pittsburgh, he’s charged with leading a roster that is going to be outmanned against most opponents.
Derek Shelton’s success will likely be determined by how quickly Minnesota’s top prospects can become productive MLB players—though there’s no guarantee that they will at all. Whether or not the club’s brass will have patience with him all the way through the rebuilding process remains to be seen, but for now, they’re happy to have him as the man in charge in the dugout.
