Pirates would be ruining promising future if they show complacency and keep Derek Shelton

Just a few weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the thick of a tightly-contested National League Wild Card race. They had MLB's fourth-best record (15-10) during the month of July, and they appeared to be turning a corner in their battle for a postseason spot when they added some bats at the trade deadline in Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Bryan De La Cruz.

Then, things got very bad, very quickly. The Pirates went on a humiliating 10-game losing streak – against their direct competitors in the NL Wild Card race, no less – and tumbled to the bottom of the NL Central Division. They are now 7.5 games back of a Wild Card spot, and they have eight teams ahead of them in the race.

MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today said in his Sunday column that the Pirates' free-fall out of the NL Wild Card race could cost manager Derek Shelton his job, "or at least result in some changes on his coaching staff." Frankly, it should.

Pirates would be ruining promising future if they show complacency and keep Derek Shelton

Now, let's get one thing out of the way quickly before we proceed: the blame for the Pirates' collapse absolutely does not fall squarely on Shelton's shoulders. The roster that general manager Ben Cherington has given him to work with is, frankly, an abomination, and the prospect pipeline doesn't rank nearly as high as it should for a team that was supposed to be in full tank mode during the first three years of his tenure. To be clear, Cherington's job should be in danger, too; but that's another story for another time.

Shelton has a career win percentage of .413, which ranks among the worst in baseball history. But even if you don't want to judge him based on his first three years, when the Pirates were in tank mode (but honestly, when in the last three decades have they not been in tank mode?), the club's performance since the beginning of last season still tells us essentially everything we need to know. Since then, he is 134-151 for a win percentage of .470. His bullpen management is atrocious, and his lineups have consistently been among the worst in baseball.

The Pirates aren't just falling slightly short of a Wild Card spot; they are plummeting out of contention. This is year five for Shelton (and Cherington, for that matter), and these results are simply not acceptable. He should absolutely be on the hot seat heading into next season, and he should feel fortunate if he makes it that far.

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