It was easy for Pirates fans to feel angry with how Derek Shelton’s time here ended.

A 12-26 start to the 2025 season. A seven-game losing streak, not to mention the Pirates plateauing the previous year and frustration evident everywhere you looked.

Yet it wasn’t surprising to see Shelton named Twins manager on Thursday, succeeding good friend Rocco Baldelli and returning to a place where he served as bench coach from 2018-19.

Minnesota likely looks at this and sees Shelton the person.

We saw Shelton the manager, and we certainly saw him struggle, finishing with a 306-440 record and never winning more than 76 games in a season.

Two points:

• I don’t have a problem with Shelton getting another chance to manage. If anything, I’m happy for someone who truly was a decent human being, eve

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