New manager Derek Shelton makes Twins' direction abundantly clear

Five days after naming Derek Shelton their new manager, the Minnesota Twins held an introductory press conference on Tuesday, 72 hours after the conclusion of the World Series and during the thick of the popular NFL trade deadline.

If you missed it, there's really only one thing you need to know: It's abundantly clear that the Twins' plan to develop prospects and try to win at the big-league level with them.

Everything Shelton said aligned with two core beliefs that Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll promoted while introducing Shelton: development and collaboration.

"I don't take this for granted. There's only 30 of these positions, and they're extremely special," said Shelton, who was fired after six seasons managing the Pirates in May. "This is special to me. There's better things ahead. We're going to build strong relationships, and we're going to have a lot of fun as we move forward. I think people are going to be excited about Twins baseball."

What's his vision?

"The attention to detail and the fundamentals are extremely important to me," he said. "I think we saw in the World Series this year, that three little plays and a matter of three or four inches, determined who was going to win a World Series game, or who was going to win the World Series. The focus of that is going to be very important to me, and I think that's something that I've learned over the course of years, that it's really important, that there is no detail that is too small."

What does he see as the Twins' strengths?

"Good starting pitching group. Byron Buxton's a really good player," he said. "That makes me feel good, so I think you start there. The second thing is, it's a top-level farm system, so we're going to continue to grow and compete. We're going to have to continue to work in that market of growing, competing, developing. Players will not be fully developed when they come to the major league level. That's not isolated to the Twins, that's throughout the game. Guys are getting to the big leagues quickly, so however we continue to develop and teach — and teach is the most important thing — we have to continue to do that. And that will be at the forefront of the conversations that we have daily within our coaching group."

What is the plan? Future?

"I think we'll get into that more as we go through. I think that's something that, as we talked about, there was clarity. It's also going to be a group that's going to grow and learn, but yeah, I think we'll probably get into that more as we continue to go. I would say, when we had that initial conversation, the answer was a lot clearer than I just gave you."

The initial conversation he referenced was a chat with Twins executive chair Joe Pohlad.

"The one question, when I sat down with Joe Pohlad, and I asked him the question, I said, 'What's on the table, what's off the table?' And his response to me was, 'Ask me anything you want,'" Shelton said. "I got the answers that made me really want this job. I won't get into the depth of that, but I did appreciate how transparent Joe was."

Why should an apathetic fan base get excited?

"Excitement about the young group we have. Excitement about the pitching group we have. I understand the frustration, but I also embrace the passion that [fans] have," Shelton said. "I think the biggest thing that I would say to them is, every night they come out to the ballpark, you're going to see a team that competes, that fights, that is gritty, that is going to run the bases the right way. It's going to do those small, little things."

Is he taking over a full-on rebuild?

"No, I'm not using the term rebuild," Shelton said. "I think we're going to develop young players, and I think we have good young players... I'm excited about this young core, and I'm excited about how they're going to compete."

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