Pirates insider contradicts Ben Cherington with Derek Shelton speculation

Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington told reporters Wednesday that he fully expects Derek Shelton to return as manager of the club in 2025, prompting understandable outrage among disgruntled Pirates fans who are bristling at the thought of yet another late-season collapse under Shelton's watch.

However, in a recent column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jason Mackey raised a valid point about Cherington's statement – namely, whether Shelton returns next season or not isn't entirely Cherington's call.

By every measure, the Pirates are failing to meet the "minimum expectation" that owner Bob Nutting laid out in January of "contention throughout the season." The Pirates currently have a 70-76 record and, by Mackey's calculations, will have been at or above .500 for just over 26% of the 2024 campaign.

Any semblance of playoff contention for this team disappeared in July, when they emerged from the All-Star break in the thick of the National League Wild Card race only to undergo a monumental collapse that included a stretch in which they lost 12 of 13. They are on pace to finish the season at 77-85, a mere one-win improvement over 2023. That's not contention; it's a commitment to perennial mediocrity.

In many ways, this feels like the Clint Hurdle situation all over again. Hurdle, Shelton's predecessor as manager, told reporters at the end of the 2019 season that he had been told by the organization that he would be back in 2020. Four days later, he was gone.

It later came out that Hurdle had only received assurance about his job security from then-GM Neal Huntington. Almost one month to the day after Hurdle's dismissal, Huntington was fired, too.

If precedent is any indication, then Cherington's public comments on Shelton's job security hold zero weight. In fact, Cherington's job could very well be in jeopardy, too.

Pirates fans should not take Ben Cherington's Derek Shelton promise at face value

Mackey also pointed to another, more recent example of Cherington making a seemingly definitive statement that turned out not to be true. Just last month, Cherington said in no uncertain terms that Oneil Cruz was the Pirates' shortstop despite his ongoing defensive struggles. Nine days later, Cruz was moved center field (on a permanent basis).

Ultimately, it's Nutting – not Cherington – who has the final say on whether Shelton will return in 2025. And frankly, it's difficult to see how he could possibly justify keeping either the manager or the GM around for another year.

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