Twins’ Shelton to manage Pirates
Twins bench coach Derek Shelton was hired to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Shelton takes over for Clint Hurdle, who was fired after the team finished last in the National League East.
Matt Quataro, Tampa Bay’s bench coach, was the other finalist for the Pirates job.
Shelton, 49, has been the Twins’ bench coach the past two seasons. He also was the quality control coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 and spent seven years as a hitting coach with Tampa Bay. He was hitting coach for Cleveland from 2005-09. In other news:
San Diego acquired righthander Zach Davies and outfielder Trent Grisham from Milwaukee for infielder Luis Urias and lefthander Eric Lauer.
San Diego also will send cash or another player to the Brewers.
Davies was 10-7 with a 3.55 ERA in 31 starts in 2019, his fifth big league season. He made $2.6 million and is eligible for salary arbitration.
Grisham made his big league debut in 2019, hitting .231 with six home runs and 24 RBIs in 51 games. Lauer, San Diego’s opening-day starter, went 8-10 with a 4.45 ERA in his second big league season.
San Diego and free agent Drew Pomeranz — an All-Star during his brief stay with San Diego in 2016 — agreed to a $34 million, four-year contract.
The lefthander had a strong final two months of the season with the Brewers after being traded to Milwaukee from San Francisco. He was 0-1 with a 2.39 ERA in 25 games, including one start.
He’ll get an $8 million signing bonus and salaries of $4 million in 2020, $6 million 2021 and $8 million in 2022 and 2023.
Pomeranz spent the first half of 2016 with the Padres, going 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA and earning an All-Star berth. He was traded to Boston two days after San Diego hosted the All-Star Game.
Tampa Bay acquired minor leaguer Brian O’Grady from Cincinnati for a player to be named and cash.
The 27-year-old O’Grady spent most of last season with Class AAA Louisville, where he hit .280 with 28 home runs, 77 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He also made his major league debut, hitting .190 with two homers and three RBIs in 28 games over three stints with the Reds.