Will the Pittsburgh Pirates bring back manager Don Kelly for next season?

The Pittsburgh Pirates fired Derek Shelton as their manager after a 12-26 start to the 2025 campaign, replacing him with long-time bench coach Don Kelly.

The results have undoubtedly been better with Shelton as manager, with the Pirates having gone 54-63 since Kelly took over in May.

Of course, the question is whether or not Pittsburgh will bring Kelly back for 2026 or will look for another skipper this offseason.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington provided an update on the situation recently.

“Obviously it's a topic on all of our minds, and certainly on my mind as we get to the end of the season,” Cherington said, via Noah Hiles of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I do think we'll get to the end of the season so we can have a full assessment and then all attention will turn to that, I think very quickly."

While Cherington wasn't ready to give Kelly a complete vote of confidence, he is clearly happy with the job the former MLB outfielder has done.

"My view of the job that Donnie's done is one that's not surprising to me. I had confidence when he took the job in May that he would do a really good job," Cherington said. "He's an excellent communicator. He's dogged in his approach to the job. He has a high self-belief. He believes in people. I said before I believe he cares about other people more than he cares about himself. He's got a lot of really, really strong qualities for the job, and I've seen that play out.”

The Pirates' problems run much deeper than their manager, as they have made just three playoff appearances since 1993. Pittsburgh's offense is the worst in the sport, and while Paul Skenes is a phenom, the rest of the pitching staff is a notable concern.

Taking everything into account, Kelly has done an admirable job with one of the worst rosters in baseball, so he at least consideration to retain his position heading into 2026.

The Pirates have a lot of work to do this winter, but whether or not they will actually be willing to spend the money to address some of their most prominent issues remains to be seen.

Unless Pittsburgh does that, it won't matter who is managing the club.