Had he not landed a managerial gig, it sounds like he would have ended up with the Cardinals.
There are some gigs in baseball right now that just seem like it doesn't matter how good you are, things aren't going to go well. Derek Shelton was dealt that kind of hand with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Back in May, Shelton was fired by the Pirates after five and a half seasons as the club's manager, and while the results were not there on the field, there was not a single season you could look at his roster and expect him to have done much more with what he was given.