Derek Shelton speaks out more extensively after midseason Pirates firing

Derek Shelton's disappointing tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates came to an unceremonious end earlier this season, when the front office dismissed the manager just 38 games into the 2025 MLB campaign.

The team was just 12-26 at the time, saddled in last place in the NL Central... again. The Pirates never finished better than fourth in the division under Shelton's stewardship, and it's rather condemning for the former manager that the Pirates have managed to go .500 (52-52) since he was fired.

In all, Shelton went 306-440 in Pittsburgh, good for an abysmal .410 winning percentage. That was the third-worst mark in baseball in that span, ahead of only the hapless Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies.

For those wondering about Shelton's perspective on his firing, a new interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today has been released, with the former Pirates manager sharing plenty of new information about how it all went down.

Derek Shelton wants to grow as leader, manage in MLB again after Pirates firing

Shelton admitted to Nightengale that he was upset and "pissed off" at the Pirates for firing him, but with time, he's come to accept that he needs to grow as a leader.

“Now that there’s not the pressure of winning every day, there are decisions I wish I would have done differently. I’m not sure you grasp that when you’re managing every day," Shelton said.

The 55-year-old coach also mentioned that he'd handle relationships differently, from his coaches on the staff to the players in the dugout with him.

He finished his interview by telling Nightengale that he'd "love another opportunity" to manage a Major League Baseball team.

While his thoughts read like those of a manager who has taken the necessary time to reflect on what he could do better -- remember, the Pirates were Shelton's first managerial gig in the big leagues -- it's hard to imagine him getting more than a perfunctory interview with teams this offseason.

There are plenty of attractive candidates out there without Shelton's baggage, from first-time hopefuls to proven winners. If he wants to get back to managing, Shelton's best bet may be accepting a bench coach job with a prolific franchise; nothing the Pirates accomplished over the past five years suggests Shelton can lead a World Series contender.

All that being said, Shelton was put in a difficult spot in Pittsburgh, taking over for a team that went 69-93 in 2019. It's not his fault that ownership is so stingy, or that general manager Ben Cherington hasn't made the kinds of moves that rebuilding squads need to execute in order to start contending.

Perhaps if a perfect situation arises, Shelton could find himself back in a MLB dugout managing another team soon enough. For his sake, hopefully that goes better than how it did with the Pirates.