“Derek worked incredibly hard and sacrificed a lot over five-plus years. His family became a big part of the Pirates family, and we will miss that,” Cherington said when Shelton was fired.

“He’s an incredibly smart, curious, and driven baseball leader. I believe he was the right person for the job when he was hired. I also believe that a change is now necessary.”

Bench coach Don Kelly replaced Shelton, went 59-65 and was signed to an extension on the final day of the season.

Shelton, 55, was the Twins bench coach from 2018 to 2019 — the last year of Molitor’s tenure and the first under Baldelli. He is familiar with many of the folks behind the scenes and was praised for his organization and communication skills during his previous stint here.

It will be interesting to see how Shelton has evolved. He never reached the postseason with Pittsburgh. But the Pirates have been more stingy with the pocketbook than the Twins, which Twins fans will find hard to believe.

The Twins reached out to several candidates in their search to replace Baldelli. The known ones: Shelton, Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, former Seattle manager Scott Servais, Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, Royals third base coach Vance Wilson, Padres coach Nick Punto and Red Sox bench coach Ramón Vázquez.