Cubs Division Rival Pirates Were First Team To Fire Their Manager in 2025

The Chicago Cubs will be seeing a new manager in the opposing dugout of their NL Central rivals.

Apr 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton (17) watches the action from the dugout against the Washington Nationals during the fourth inning at PNC Park | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs are no stranger to managerial changes.

After 2014, they moved on from Rick Renteria following the season and hired Joe Maddon, the right decision since the legendary skipper played a huge role in helping this team break their longstanding World Series drought.

But after the 2019 campaign, when things had gotten stale, the Cubs and Maddon decided to mutually part ways, leading to the hiring of David Ross.

The well-respected former player immediately got Chicago into the playoffs during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but when they failed to play October baseball in subsequent years after that, he was fired in favor of Craig Counsell.

While there was major pressure on the 2025 team to make the postseason coming into the year based on the players on the roster, more of that was on the front office than coaching staff.

However, not every manager is afforded the job security that Counsell currently has, and that was seen in an early-season firing by their division rival Pittsburgh Pirates.

As first reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, Derek Shelton was relieved of his duties following a 12-26 start to the year that had the Pirates in last place of the NL Central.

It has not been a good tenure for Shelton in Pittsburgh.

Hired ahead of the 2020 campaign, he amassed a 306-440 record that included three last-place finishes to go along with two fourth-place finishes in the division.

While this managerial move won't have much impact on the Cubs this year, it could have some ramifications going forward if the Pirates are able to hire someone who can be a difference maker for that franchise.