Trading Josh Bell on Christmas Eve of 2020 was one heckuva news dump by the Pirates. That was an all-time favorite of mine.
But releasing news of a managerial change about 25 minutes after white smoke emerged from the Vatican to announce the election of a new pope is next-level stuff from owner Bob Nutting and his staff.
Especially after the Pirates had just been swept by … wait for it … the Cardinals.
Both conclaves didn’t take very long to make up their minds. It took four ballots to name Robert Prevost as the first American pope. It took one press release to name Don Kelly the new Yinzer manager.
Best of luck to Donnie. Unfortunately, I don’t even think the Almighty can help the Mt. Lebanon native get this ship back afloat. It sank a long time ago.
However, you could argue — and I will — that the process of firing Shelton in the first place took way too long.
The only hope this Pirates team ever had to contend for even the fringes of a wild-card berth would’ve been getting off to a good start and fooling itself into thinking it was any good. Obviously, at 12-26, it is far from that, so Shelton is paying the price.
That’s not to suggest Shelton is blameless or merely a sacrificial lamb. He wasn’t good enough at his job. He was never going to be a winning manager with this organization. A 306-440 record over six seasons offers plenty of evidence to suggest he was never the type of bench boss who was going to do more with less.
And that’s what the Pirates need in this position because they will always have less: less money, less talent, less investment from their owner.
The real story, though, is that there was only one puff of white smoke from the North Side. There should’ve been two. The fact that general manager Ben Cherington wasn’t fired with Shelton is criminal.
It’s also strategic — on a few levels. Firing a manager in midseason is relatively simple. Especially if he is being replaced by the hometown kid bench coach. Hey, it may even spark a run.
Not like Dan Bylsma or Mike Sullivan with the Penguins. Pfft! Please. But this move might give the Pirates players an artificial boost.
Firing a general manager at this stage of the season is tricky, especially with the MLB Draft coming up in two months. So dumping the manager individually is a pragmatic approach to minimal change.
It also provides Nutting two opportunities to make it look like he is semi-conscious and engaged in his team. Firing Shelton now throws a little red meat to the fan base that has become ravenously “hangry” for some sort of change because of the losing malaise that has enveloped the team so far in 2025.
Then Nutting can do the same thing with Cherington a few months down the line before he installs another new regime, with another five-year plan, to pacify the fan base for another half-decade cycle of selling false optimism instead of actual results.
Seeing Cherington quoted in the Pirates’ press release firing Shelton, talking about the need for “change” and seeing Nutting use the word “urgency” was comically disingenuous.
Derek Shelton has been relieved of his duties as Pirates Manager.
Pirates Bench Coach, Don Kelly, has been named manager. pic.twitter.com/dOO9dDwf5t
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 8, 2025
Theoretically, that should’ve been one press release announcing the dismissal of both Shelton and Cherington.
Come to think of it, it should’ve been a press release announcing Nutting’s intention to sell the team, but I remain realistic.
After all, it’s unfair of me to ask for a miracle right now. This new pope has been on the job for only a couple of hours.