Pirates Announce Contract Extension For Manager Don Kelly

The Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped up the 2025 campaign on Sunday with a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, giving them a 71-91 record to finish the year. With another sub-.500 record, the Pirates missed the postseason for the 10th straight year, but there were reasons for encouragement throughout the season, particularly after Don Kelly took over as the team’s manager.

Kelly, who has been with the Pirates since 2020 as their bench coach, replaced Derek Shelton after he was fired on May 8 amid the team’s horrid start. Pittsburgh ended up posting a 59-65 record under Kelly’s lead, and while that still isn’t exactly great, they performed much better under his lead than they did while Shelton was in town.

Several key areas of the team’s play, particularly its pitching and fielding, took leaps under Kelly’s watch. While Pittsburgh could have opted to conduct a full coaching search this offseason, it simply opted to stick with Kelly, as the team announced a contract extension for him on Monday.

“The Pirates announce we have extended the contract of manager Don Kelly,” the team shared in a post on X.

The Pirates have a de facto superstar, Paul Skenes, who is worth building around, and the front office will surely be looking to make some upgrades to the roster around him over the offseason. Keeping Kelly in town should help, as it will create a sense of continuity for the team as it moves into the 2026 campaign.

The 2025 season wasn’t necessarily pretty, but if it yielded them a manager in Kelly who can lead them back to the postseason, the struggles will have been worth it. Now, the front office will begin plotting its course of action for the offseason, which could be a sneaky important period for the Pirates as they attempt to take a step forward next year.

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