For Pirates manager Derek Shelton, search for leadership starts with listening, learning

Derek Shelton is looking for leadership on the Pittsburgh Pirates, and believes the search starts from within.

As Shelton prepares for his second spring training — and, fingers crossed, his first full season as Pirates manager — he will do so without three key players. First baseman Josh Bell and right-handed pitchers Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon were traded for a total of 11 prospects in three deals this offseason. Not only did they represent the Pirates’ only remaining All-Star (Bell) and their past two Opening Day starters, but they also served as leaders inside a clubhouse that now lacks a veteran presence.

Shelton expects their replacements to come organically rather than be ordained, and he believes the Pirates have to be careful about what types of veterans they sign as free agents to add to a 40-man roster with only three players 30 or older (catcher Jacob Stallings is 31, and relievers Richard Rodriguez and Chris Stratton are both 30).

“It has to be the right person. That’s the most important thing,” Shelton said. “Obviously, with the situation we’re in and the message that we’re bringing, you have to make sure you bring the right leadership group into this. We have to make sure that our group here continues to grow and learn and lead. But you don’t force that on them. You can’t come in and say, ‘Player X should be a leader.’ Just because we think he’s a leader or we see him in a role moving forward for the organization doesn’t mean that works.

“People that become leaders on teams, the players will tell you that. One of the things with a young club that’s really fun to watch blossom is people taking that role and watching their teammates see them in that role and how they do it. Some of it stems from them coming up together, how they were in the minor leagues together and how it works from there. It’s going to be interesting to see how this all transforms this year. Having a veteran leader in there to some extent is important but we have to make sure that when we supplement people into our situation that we supplement the right people in.”

Shelton spent some time on introspection this offseason, giving himself an honest self-assessment after the Pirates finished with the worst record in baseball (19-41) and the fifth-worst winning percentage in franchise history (.317) in a season shortened by the covid-19 pandemic. That started with watching, listening and learning from the conversations the Pirates front office and coaching staff had in exit interviews with players for feedback on the cultural change the club is implementing with new ideas.

After the season, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington credited Shelton for putting players in positions to succeed and with being “incredibly proactive and interested in feedback, at every point.”

“Every day and even recently as part of exit meetings, culling feedback from players and staff: ‘How do we get better? How do we get better? Tell us something we can do better,’” Cherington said in late September. “(If) we stay in that mindset, we’re going to build a really good thing.”

As Shelton evaluated ways the Pirates can continue to grow, he focused especially on the how and why. They were in more one-run games (23) than blowouts (16), even if they won only eight tight games and lost a dozen by five runs or more. And, in winning four of their final six games of the season, the Pirates swept the Chicago Cubs and had an 8-0 win and two close losses at Cleveland, one coming by way of a walk-off.

Regardless of record, Shelton was proud the Pirates continued to play hard until the end.

“For us to move forward, we have to continue to get better,” Shelton said. “No one was happy with what our record was or winning percentage was. We lost a lot of one-run games. As we continue to learn and get better, we’re going to win those games. That’s a sign of what happens as teams mature and start to take steps to the next level.

“I definitely took that out of it. The other thing I really took out of it was how we played. I don’t think anyone can ever question the effort that was given by our players, not only with challenging year by covid but a challenging year because of what our record was.”

Shelton also asked for feedback from other MLB managers on how to handle in-game decisions. What they told him was it typically takes half a season to get to the point where he would be comfortable taking chances. With the season shortened to 60 games, Shelton never got to that point, though he started to find a groove in September.

“The one thing that I would’ve done differently, that I really self-reflected on was, there was times I wanted to do some things offensively, whether it was hit-and-run or run or bunt, that I may have been a tad passive on and second-guessed myself,” Shelton said. “That would probably be the first thing, when I have a thought in my mind, do it and be aggressive. On the flip side, it made me a much better listener. Good leaders listen. Because of everything that happened, I feel like I really had to listen a lot. A lot of it was because I was learning, especially with the covid protocols and everything. You have to be very comfortable sitting back in a room and taking in a lot of information. … although my wife wouldn’t say that at home.”

So for all of the losing he endured last season and this offseason, Shelton hasn’t lost his sense of self-deprecating humor. Or his enthusiasm. Shelton is looking forward to Pirates pitchers and catchers reporting Feb. 15 to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., where he will get a chance to see some of the new acquisitions in person for the first time. And Shelton expects the next two weeks to add a new dynamic, after Cherington hinted the Pirates will look to add free agents, particularly pitchers and corner infielders and outfielders, to create even more competition.

“The exciting thing is, we have a bunch of guys that are going to have an opportunity to impact the Pirates,” Shelton said. “Because of the moves we’ve made, maybe there’s more opportunities to impact the Pirates, not only how the Pirates are this year but moving forward. … I’m ready to start. I’m ready to see the people we’ve acquired. I’m ready to see our young group. I’m ready for competition and opportunity of the young group we have coming back. That’s what gets me excited.”