Pirates secretly fired coach nobody knew existed after getting rid of Derek Shelton

This just in – losing a lot of baseball games is not, as it turns out, a sound planning strategy. As first reported by New York Post and MLB Network insider Jon Heyman and later confirmed by several others, the Pittsburgh Pirates have dismissed game planning and strategy coach Radley Haddad in the wake of firing manager Derek Shelton and reorganizing the team's coaching staff.

Haddad, 34, was in his fourth season on the Pirates' staff. He was hired in November 2021 after spending five years with the New York Yankees as a coaching assistant and bullpen catcher.

Before his coaching career, Haddad played college baseball at Western Carolina University and Butler University. He signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and spent four seasons in their minor league system before ultimately retiring from playing in 2017. His former role on the Pirates' staff is now vacant, as is that of former bench coach Don Kelly, who was promoted to manager after Shelton was fired.

Pirates secretly fired coach nobody knew existed after getting rid of Derek Shelton

The fact that hardly anyone knew who Haddad was (or that the Pirates had a game planning and strategy coach to begin with) is probably a pretty good indicator that said individual should be relieved of his duties.

Haddad's role with the Pirates involved game preparation, in-game tactical decisions and advance scouting reports. The fact that he was originally hired specifically as a "run prevention and strategy coach" is even more laughable, considering the Pirates have been shut out a league-high seven times this season.

In what might be the understatement of the century, general manager Ben Cherington said during his Thursday press conference that he "wouldn't be surprised if we have some adjustments to make" to put the team in a position to succeed. At this point, it remains unclear whether Haddad's firing is a one-off move or merely the first domino to fall as Cherington looks to restructure the coaching staff around Kelly. Pirates fans will have to hope it's the latter.

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