Lower Pirates have a new captain.

On Thursday, Pittsburgh Pirates announced that manager Derek Shelton was relieved of his duties. Substitute coach Don Kelly, a Pittsburgh native who has been working at the club since 2020, will take over as manager. It was the earliest sacked by a manager in the MLB season since 2018, when Cincinnati had canned Bryan Price on April 19 after his club started 3-15.

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Foreseeable, the Pirates' press release contained enough word soup from general manager Ben Cherington and boss Bob Nutting to feed a small village.

Sheldon, who was hired in November 2019, left Steel City with a record of 306-440. Pittsburgh's 0.410 win percentage ranks third in Major League Baseball, higher than Washington and Colorado. After the ugly, 19-win performance of the ugly 2020 season, Sheldon's Buccaneers had a total of 61, 62, 76 and 76 wins. The 2025 club entered the game 12-26 on Thursday, despite tracking a 51-win campaign in the 51-win campaign, and despite being the Big Girl Ace being Paul Skenes, he was considered the best young man, who was the best baseball game.

Sheldon's tenure was defined by failure, with ownership constantly unwilling to spend on salary, loss, the arrival of Skynis and more failures. In fact, Sheldon's .410 win rate was the lowest among managers in the age of integration for at least five years. His Buccaneers never made the playoffs, never ranked fourth in the central NL, and never so close to a game above .500.

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But it is unfair to nail all the scourges to Sheldon.

He is just the fall guy, the scapegoat, the sacrificial lamb of an organization poisoned by institution. Since 1992, the Pirates have won 80 games in one season. Only the Kansas City Royals have caused more losses in the 21st century. Since December 2017, shop owner Bob Nutting has not signed a multi-year free agent in the nearly two years after he hired Shelton and Cherington.

So while Sheldon may not be a magical solution for the Pirates, he certainly is not a problem.

Here is the practical problem: The Pirates don’t have enough excellent baseball players in 2025. The same goes for every other season of the Sheldon era. His club never performed poorly, disappointed or surrendered in an embarrassing way. They just have no one.

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All of this starts with ownership at the top. More specifically, these problems stem from Nutting's tolerance for mediocrity. He would be happy to carry a small salary, build a bad ball club, underinvest and make profits in every corner of the organization. Like their team, Pirates fans lost.

Perhaps the newcomer Kelly, who is responsible, can inject refreshing, exciting perspectives into the current club. Maybe not. But that doesn't matter, because he has nothing to say or can do to turn the disaster of the organization into a real winner. Cherington, who is on contract form next season, failed to establish a contender but is still tied to his boss. Nothing will change until ownership is held.

However, for the moment, Derek Shelton can live in peace because he knows Moses himself can't let him have the desolate Buccaneers lineup playoff glory.