The next manager of the Twins will be a familiar face. Minnesota formally announced on Thursday that former Twins bench coach Derek Shelton will serve as its next manager. Shelton, 55, most recently managed the Pirates.
The club will introduce Shelton on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CT. He will be the 15th manager in Minnesota history but only the fifth since 1986. Shelton succeeds Rocco Baldelli, who was dismissed following a 70-92 season.
“Derek brings a tremendous amount of experience from his many years coaching and managing at the Major League level,” Twins president, baseball & business operations Derek Falvey said in a statement. “He cares deeply about this community and our fans, and he’s genuinely driven to take on the challenge of bringing winning baseball back to Minnesota. We’ve seen firsthand the trust and respect he earns from players and how he helps them reach their best.
"His journey, through both the successes and the tough stretches, has given him real perspective as a leader. That balance and his connection to what this place means to people will serve our players and staff well as we work to build something lasting for our fans and for Minnesota.”
Shelton helmed the Pirates from 2020 until early in this past season, when he was let go after Pittsburgh started the season 12-26. He had a 306-440 record with the Bucs, his first big league managerial job.
Prior to that, he had coached in the Major Leagues for 15 years -- and coached and managed in the Minors before that. He served as the Twins’ bench coach under Paul Molitor in 2018 and Baldelli in ’19 -- the famous “Bomba Squad” -- before heading to Pittsburgh. He was a finalist in the Twins’ managerial search when Baldelli was hired.
Thus, Shelton is a familiar face to the Twins’ front office, including Falvey, who has run the baseball side for the club since prior to the 2017 season. It was clear that parting ways with Baldelli was not an easy call for the club’s brain trust, and in hiring Shelton, it appears the Twins have chosen familiarity over a potentially more drastic new direction.
A native of Carbondale, Ill., who attended Southern Illinois University, Shelton has been coaching professional baseball since 1997. He began his Major League coaching career as the interim hitting coach in Cleveland in 2005. He has also been on the staffs of the Rays and Blue Jays.
Shelton was chosen over a field that included Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, former Mariners manager Scott Servais, Red Sox bench coach Ramón Vázquez, Royals third-base coach Vance Wilson, Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and former Twins infielder Nick Punto. According to The Athletic, the other finalists for the job were Rowson, Servais and Flaherty.
For the Twins, a 2025 season that began with playoff hopes gave way to a 70-win campaign -- the franchise's fewest in a non-shortened season since 2016 -- and a Trade Deadline sell-off. That led to the club removing Baldelli after seven seasons in charge.