Derek Shelton, after hard seasons in Pittsburgh, returns to Minnesota as Twins manager

When Derek Shelton was hired as the Twins bench coach ahead of the 2018 season, he didn’t have a beard — more like that stylish stubble.

On Tuesday, Shelton officially returned to the organization with more of a goatee. And even more gray hair than he had during two years as bench coach.

“And it is getting whiter,” Shelton said. “So, you could say it is wisdom.”

Shelton is back and is a changed man. Definitely in appearance. And, he says, as a leader of a clubhouse.

It will take wisdom, as well as guidance, organization, communication, inspiration and vision to turn the Twins around after a 70-92 season that resulted in the firing of Rocco Baldelli as manager.

Shelton is tasked with lifting the program off the ground. Although he arrives in Minnesota after being fired in May as manager of a Pittsburgh team that did not have a winning record in his six seasons there, Shelton’s experience was the selling point for Twins President Derek Falvey and General Manager Jeremy Zoll.

Shelton and Scott Servais were the only known Twins candidates with previous managerial experience. The two finalists were Shelton and New York Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, another ex-Twins coach.

“Derek Shelton, over the course of his 30 years in professional baseball, 20-plus of which are at the big-league level, has shown the ability to adapt and work with successful teams and challenging teams and rebuilds and growth mode, and ultimately being in with teams that are going to the postseason.”

After losing his job in Pittsburgh, Shelton spent part of the season appearing on the satellite radio show “Loud Outs,” sharing his views on the game. But it was the first time he was at home during a summer in a number of years, which might have been as much of a change for his wife, Alison, as it was for him.

“There’s a special place in heaven for baseball wives,” Shelton said. “There’s definitely a special place for when you spend a whole summer at home with someone that’s never been at home. Because I know I was not a good person to be with for four months.”

Shelton noted how he worked with managers Eric Wedge, Joe Maddon, Kevin Cash, John Gibbons, Paul Molitor and Baldelli, learning things from all of them. He was bench coach for Molitor in 2018 and Baldelli in 2019.

Shelton also addressed how his five-plus seasons running the Pirates shaped him.

“When I left here, I thought I was really prepared to manage ... and you’re never ready until you sit in the chair, and you’re never ready until different things come your way. Those experiences are what help build you and move you forward.”

With the Pirates, he was 306-440 and never won more than 76 games in a season in an organization with payroll issues (fifth lowest in the major leagues at the start of last season).

“Adversity is probably the greatest teacher that we can have,” he said. “And [I] went through some adversity and learned.

“The first and probably most important thing is you have to have conversations, and then you have to have the follow-up conversations. Because what is heard, what is said, and then how it’s retained, sometimes loses its place. And because of that, you don’t end up getting the best out of the situation or the player.

“And going back to making sure that there’s no detail too small. And we saw that again in the World Series by whether it was a play that happened with the ball getting stuck in the fence, or, you know, a play that happens on defense or on the bases. There is no thing that’s too small.”

“I got the answers that made me really want this job,” Shelton said. “So, I won’t get into the depth of that, but I appreciate how transparent Joe was with me.”

Drilling down on details was brought up several times Tuesday. The Twins are trying to lift some players over the developmental wall they have run into. They were a poor defensive team. And they got younger with different skill sets that necessitated a change in philosophy following the trade deadline, to a team more aggressive on the base paths.

Add in the several prospects they received in trades, and others they will receive if they make more trades during the offseason, and there’s a lot of development needed.

“I’m going to build off what happened in September,” said Shelton, who touched base with his friend Baldelli during the hiring process. “I really like what happened in September ... ultra-aggressive on the bases. You know, started to push the envelope a little bit. I think we have to continue on that.

“It’s gonna be important that Royce [Lewis] stays on the field, just very, very clearly. Brooks Lee continuing to take that next step forward. For me to articulate how that’s going to happen, I don’t know yet, and that’s not me kind of moving past the question. It’s more like I gotta get to learn this group.”

Shelton expects some members of last season’s staff will return for 2026.