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The Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox have already fired their managers, and the season isn't even over yet. Could Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton be next (please)?
MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic released a list of the 10 MLB managers likely to face the most scrutiny this offseason, and it should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that Shelton's name is on it. What should come as a surprise, however, is Rosenthal's assessment of Shelton's job security.
"Shelton," Rosenthal wrote, " feels safe."
Safe? Seriously? Let's review: the Pirates are headed for their sixth straight losing season, with Shelton at the helm for the last five. Most recently, they were in the thick of the National League Wild Card race at the All-Star break, only to embark on a 7-20 collapse in August that put a swift end to any postseason aspirations.
Only if the Pirates (74-85) complete a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees this weekend to wrap up the 2024 season – which feels unlikely, to put it nicely – will they beat last season's win total ... by one. Surely, no one would consider that to be the kind of "meaningful step forward" that Pirates owner Bob Nutting said he expected his team to take in 2024.
Derek Shelton's fate with Pirates rests in the hands of Bob Nutting ... so, don't hold your breath
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said earlier this month that he "fully expects" Shelton to return as the club's manager in 2025, calling him "the right person" for the job. The only problem is, a decision on Shelton's future isn't entirely Cherington's to make.
Rosenthal pointed out that any personnel changes in the Pirates front office will only occur if Nutting is "content with the status quo" – the status quo, of course, being perennial mediocrity. If that's Nutting's goal, then he's nailed it with Shelton (and Cherington, for that matter); no need to make any changes there.
Like Shelton, Cherington is also completing his fifth season with the Pirates. It's hard to imagine Nutting firing one, but not the other. Unless Nutting wants to, in Rosenthal's words, "completely overhaul the operation," it sounds like Shelton is staying put.
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