Former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton has sent a strong message regarding his firing.

The Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager Derek Shelton back in May following a 12-26 start. The Pirates have actually rebounded pretty well since then, playing .500 baseball. So maybe Shelton really was a big part of the problem?

Nevertheless, Shelton is still outside of baseball, and based on his severe lack of productivity in Pittsburgh, it's hard to imagine him landing a managerial job ever again.

But Shelton, who was admittedly aggravated when the Pirates first canned him, is putting a positive spin on his situation.

“The biggest thing is that it takes time," Shelton said, via Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “It takes time to get past the initial anger, the hurt, being pissed off. But then you realize you’ve got to learn from it to become a better leader."

Shelton initially took over as Bucs skipper in 2020 and never came close to experiencing any sort of success. He went a meager 306-440 throughout his time in Steel City, topping out at 76 wins in back-to-back campaigns (2023 and 2024).

“When you go through a situation that’s a rebuild and all of the challenges for that, it helps you prepare for the next opportunity," Shelton added. "You have an opportunity to reflect on how you would have done X, Y and Z differently. How you build your roster. How you build your staff. Everything."

The question is, will Shelton ever get another opportunity like the one he had with the Pirates? And was he somewhat undercut in Pittsburgh?

Let's face it: the Pirates did not exactly put together strong rosters during Shelton's run, and if it weren't for pitching phenom Paul Skenes, they wouldn't have even been on the radar. There is only so much a manager can do without the proper personnel, so perhaps other teams will give the 55-year-old the benefit of the doubt.

But it's hard to erase the stench of a .410 win percentage regardless of how you spin it, and Pirates fans didn't exactly do him any favors by booing him during introductions at the team's home opener. Those optics definitely aren't great.

We'll see what becomes of Shelton, but he definitely has a tough road ahead.