The Pittsburgh Pirates completed their leadership makeover Wednesday, hiring Derek Shelton to be their new manager.
Shelton had spent the past two seasons as the Minnesota Twins‘ bench coach. His previous stops include a season as the quality control coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 and seven years as a hitting coach with the Tampa Bay Rays. Shelton broke into the majors as hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians from 2005 to 2009, and he has managed in the New York Yankees‘ minor league system.
This will be his first major league managerial job.
“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,” general manager Ben Cherington said in a statement.
Cherington added that Shelton “will help lead an elite playing and coaching environment at the major league level and be a true partner to all of baseball operations.”
Shelton, 49, said in a statement that he wants to facilitate a “player-centric culture built on strong communication and relationships with our players, our staff and the entire organization.”
He replaces Clint Hurdle, who was fired in September amid the franchise’s worst season (69-93) since 2010 and its fourth straight losing campaign.
The Pirates hired Cherington to be their general manager earlier this month and named Travis Williams as their new president in October.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.