Pat Murphy won’t return as the Padres’ manager next season, meaning that San Diego is one of four possible destinations for managerial hopefuls (along with Los Angeles, D.C. and Miami). GM A.J. Preller has promised a wide-ranging search. While we haven’t heard much yet about possible candidates, information is starting to trickle out. Here’s the latest:
- Preller says that the club is moving into the second round of its search, as MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports. “I feel good about the number of guys we had in the initial stage, and now we’ll be able to get that down to a smaller group,” Preller said. “We’re looking to push things forward.” As Brock writes, there could be some new names under consideration, as Preller indicated that the Pads have spoken with some candidates who “were involved in the postseason.”
- Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield has had a second interview and “appears to be a finalist,” Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on Twitter.
- Ron Gardenhire recently had a second interview with the team, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports. It isn’t known which (if any) other candidates have also been interviewed a second time, though this return meeting would seem to hint that Gardenhire is a strong contender.
Earlier Updates
- San Diego bench coach Dave Roberts has not interviewed for the Padres’ managerial gig, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, though he was a finalist for the Mariners’ job. The club has interviewed hitting coach Mark Kotsay, though he’s viewed as a “long shot.”
- The Friars will interview long-time big leaguers Alex Cora and Phil Nevin, according to reports. That pair has been tied in at least some manner to every other team with a current opening, though it is worth noting that Nevin spent the most productive portion of his playing career in San Diego.
- Also set for an interview with San Diego is former Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Gardenhire obviously comes into the offseason managerial search with plenty of experience, having piloted Minnesota for 13 years. It appears that the Padres are, as expected, looking at candidates with a variety of resumes.
- Pirates third base coach Rick Sofield is also interviewing for the Padres’ opening, reports Peter Gammons (via Twitter). Sofield has more than a decade of head coaching experience at the college level and also has served as a minor league manager in the Pirates and Expos systems in addition to his time as a third base coach and first base coach in the Majors. A first-round pick of the Twins in 1975, Sofield saw big league action in parts of three seasons and also had a 10-year minor league career.
- It has previously been reported that San Diego has interest in Diamondbacks third base coach Andy Green. The 38-year-old, a four-year MLB veteran infielder in his playing days, managed in the minors for several seasons before joining Arizona’s big league staff.
I sure hope the Padres hire a manager that was an every day player. A pitcher should be a pitching coach, not a manager.
Seems like crappy backup catchers and utility infielders make the best managers.
Other than managers who sits and watches more baseball than backup catchers or utility fielders? They aren’t the most talented but smart enough to figure out how to stay in the majors.
There’s a lot to be said for the low-talent, high-desire guys that fought for and earned every plate appearance. They often bounced back and forth between the majors and minors, meaning they often had to play because they love the game of baseball and not because they’re raking in truckloads of money. Usually they’re guys that worked at it and got good at playing D to make themselves as useful as possible — D being the only thing that doesn’t require tons of raw talent. They learned the game the hard way, it didn’t come naturally to them.
That’s why Ted Williams wasn’t much of a hitting coach!
I know of a great guy. He was a major league player and pitching coach before a long stint as a major league manager, has the respect of the players he coached and his teams overperformed expectations almost every year (while he was coaching his teams had the highest number of wins in excess of the Vegas over/under over the last 8 years of any major league team). His name? Bud Black.
We get it, some of you Padres fans are bitter about Bud Black.. He is not coming back.. Get over it.. New GM’s usually like to pick their own managers anyway.. Remember the guy that Black replaced? I wonder why you don’t clamor for his return.
Don’t worry about this guy. He also thought that trading Shields would bring back a top prospect without us paying any of his salary.
Truer words, were NEVER spoken…
I mean, for cryin out loud, when will Padre fans get past this notion of thinking that Black walked on freaking water. The man was a nice fellow…ok, whatever…the World is full of nice people. But I dont necessarily want a nice guy, who has no clue about how to protect his hitters, when they get plunked or run over at the plate, managing my baseball team!….sorry, but NO!..he can be nice at home with his wife and kids, where he belongs.
no one, for the most part, griped this much when Boch was let go…and the gap between him and Black, is like from here to freaking Pluto.
In the words of Elsa from Frozen, “Let it go, let it go”
I know they would never do it but they should bring back Bud Black.
I would disagree…and Black would never take the job back. And that would be a GREAT thing, in my opinion.
The Padres brought in a lot of veteran players this past offseason so why not bring in a veteran manager like Ron Gardenhire
Now there is a guy that won and did it right. Of all the guys that we have heard about so far, he is the only one that comes with no baggage and is a proven winner at the ML level.
Gardy can be frustrating and formulaic at times but I think he’d be good over there. Here in MN I think he was just here too long and the culture of the team just kind of stagnated to the point that we just needed fresh blood in the coaching staff.
Gardy wouldn’t be bad in San Diego. I also don’t really think he’d be an upgrade over Bud Black- and that’s no slight on either of them.
Yes I agree Bud Black is gone and We are over it. Yes GM’s do like to hire their own guy. So far so good. Now let us all move on. The question who to hire? Of all the names that have begun to surface the two names I like so far ( and it is still way early in the search)are in alphabetical order Phil Nevin, & Ron Washington.
Phil had Padre ties and I like his all around make up personality, as a hard nosed player, and he has paid his dues managing at the minor league level.
Ron Washington is a players manager, he is tough, got his teams to play above their preceived talent, and above all else is a winning major league manager in regular and in the post season. Players respect him. The fact Ron Washington has past major league managerial experience gives him a slight edge, but Phil was a Padres player and once a Padre always a Padre. To be continued….
I am sick and tired about hearing the Padres are trading their core guys. And we know who they are, if you don’t google it.
From before the trading deadline, after the trading deadline, and now after the season. ENOUGH ALREADY!
The new ownership group is not going to undermine the improved fan base, or the new GM. You have to give him at least 4 to 5 years to give the team a chance to come together and then reevaluate the GM’s job performance. Yes 2015 was a disapointment, and the firing of Bud Black didnt pan out but the New GM is at least aggressive and I like what he has done so far. It is just a matter of time, and time is all that matters. Go Pads, Go A J, and Keep the FAITH!!!!
Hey, you Padres fans were the ones making such a big deal out of your “ROCK STAR” GM and how he was going to bring the pennant to San Diego on the strength of all the acquisitions which by the way were 1. way too expensive 2. on the wrong side of their careers, and 3. a bad mesh of players that never came together as a team.
If you think your team management is going to sit still and watch AJ continue to spend money, try and find a new mix of players, and not put together a team that at least challenges for the division, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in NY.
Yep, it will be 4-5 years to get beyond the young talent that was traded away and wait for the new young talent (presumably) to arrive. Small markets only succeed in one scenario- talent from the farm. Preller could have gone with those that had already been scouted/drafted, but then they wouldn’t be “his” would they? And if the team succeeded, they would never be his, and he would never receive the credit. Or maybe that’s my cynical side coming out.
How about Ron Washington
Ozzie Guillen! Bobby Valentine!
I am excited to see who the Padres hire. I feel as though this approach of casting a wide net and interviewing all types of managers is the way to go, to see which type of manager is the best fit with the team from here on out.
Tim Flannery said something interesting about how he would approach a Padre interview if he was ever asked, to be interviewed…
basically he said, he would want to know what the identity of the ballclub is..what are they trying to accomplish, short and long term..and what are they doing with the farm system (which is virtually non existent).
you just wonder if he wont get that interview because he’d be asking all of the RIGHT questions, as opposed to NOT asking the important questions, because he’s not hard up for the job.
would the lesser known interviewee, be hard up for the job to the extent that they didnt ask the kind of questions that Flan’ would ask. It was apparent to me, as I listened to him on Mighty 1090, he was mildly angry that he has NEVER been asked to inerview for the job,
Black got the job and in almost a freaking decade, never sniffed the post season.
Black never sniffed the postseason because of the talent on the team. In case you forgot, there was a whole pile of really crappy Padres teams that couldn’t hit the baseball.
Remember that one time that the Padres had a 6.5-game lead in late August? Remember when they lost ten straight while the manager kept running the same slumping, fatigued players out there day after day? Oh, sorry, you must not remember that.
I’m just waiting for them to post the Padres’ offseason outlook so that I can flame them if they call Yonder Alonso a non tender candidate.
I hope they don’t hire Sofield because it would be taking away great entertainment value from every Pirates game. I love watching him. He really loves baseball and his job.