OnlyBucs

The Pirates are now 20-40 in their last 60 games played since their 20-8 start. That’s a .333 winning percentage over the last 10 weeks since April 30th. I’ve mentioned this on other threads as well that it’s time for Shelton to go and this collapse here over these last 10 weeks has been my breaking point. Shelton has lost 100 games in each of the last two seasons and had the worst record in baseball in the covid 60 game shortened season of 2020.



I was willing to give him one more season here given some of the veterans they added and a good mix of the younger players finally coming up but I’ve seen enough after this 20-40 stretch now since being 20-8. He has no feel for the game Shelton in terms of his instincts and that has costs this team multiple games this season in big moments, and players are just not getting better under this coaching staff overall. I think this team needs a veteran manager that has had experience and get both the veterans and younger players to get to that next level. Derek Shelton isn’t that person. That contract extension they gave him was a huge mistake and I don’t care whether he got it or not unless this team makes some sort of miraculous run after the All Star Break which they probably won’t he has to go at the end of the season. It’s time.

The problem is that it's hard to differentiate between Shelton and Cherington. Joe Maddon's book was very inciteful in explaining how many GMs today prefer to hire first time managers who are content to be told by their GM who to play or not play, how to use the bullpen from game to game. Jason Mackey in the Post Gazette said decisions are made jointly by Cherington, his advisors and Shelton. I can't imagine Shelton disagreeing when Cherington tells him his ideas based on his analysts, stats geeks, etc. The contract extension would suggest Cherington is quite happy with Shelton in the manager's seat. Shelton must be good at following orders. He doesn't seem to be good at anything else.



If Shelton were to be judged by the team's performance, he would have been fired last year if not sooner. So it's unlikely that the 20-8 start earned him a contract extension merely because of how the team performed over a brief 4-week period. It's more likely that Cherington always planned to extend Shelton but knew it would be unpopular with the fans and therefore announced it at a time when he could sell the idea as a reward for doing well. So he had to act fast.



Even Cherington has said he did not expect the team to perform at as high level this year. So why would he extend Shelton just because of a good 4-week start? If it was about performance, why not wait and see how things panned out over the course of the season? But it wasn't really about performance. It was about finding an opportune time to announce the contract extension that would be hard to justify after yet another poor season. The quick start was the excuse Cherington needed. We're stuck with Shelton because he's Cherington's lackey. If the roster ever gets strong enough that winning is expected, then Shelton could be fired as a scapegoat if they don't win. I don't see any other scenario where Shelton goes.