PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - The Pittsburgh Pirates have hired Derek Shelton to be their new manager.
Pirates new General Manager Ben Cherington made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.
The 49-year-old Shelton spend the last two years at the bench coach for the Minnesota Twins and has 15 total years of coaching experience at the Major League level.
“My family and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Pittsburgh community and are humbled to be a part of this storied franchise,” Shelton said. “One of the most exciting things for me during the interview process was just how evident the passion for Pittsburgh and the desire to succeed was with everyone I interacted with.
“I very much look forward to developing a strong partnership with Ben and the baseball operations staff,” Shelton added. “It is going to be an exciting change of culture in our clubhouse. It is going to be a fun environment in which we will all be held accountable to each other. It will be a player-centric culture built on strong communication and relationships with our players, our staff and the entire organization. We will begin to establish those relationships this offseason prior to coming together as a team in Bradenton this February.”
It was reported earlier this week that Shelton was on a short list of two people that included Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro.
Shelton will be the 41st manager in team history.
