18:45 pm: San Diego Union-Tribune scribe Kevin Acee cautions that Loretta’s late entry into the interview pool was mostly the result of previous scheduling issues, and the club’s sit-down with the former second baseman is not expected to lead to his hiring (link). Although the club met with Loretta on Saturday, GM AJ Preller traveled to the Dominican Republic on Monday and met with Jayce Tingler, whom Acee still characterizes as the favorite for the job. According to Acee, Preller has been described as consistently “pushing” Tingler, a position somewhat at odds with San Diego players and ownership figures who would prefer a more experienced candidate.
10:16 am: In a bit of a surprise, the Padres “very recently” interviewed Cubs bench coach Mark Loretta for their managerial vacancy, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Friars were believed to be down to Braves third base coach Ron Washington and Rangers Field Coordinator Jayce Tingler, but Loretta could perhaps have cracked the door open for a change in direction.
Washington and Tingler remain the favorites, Heyman notes, so perhaps this is simple due diligence on San Diego’s part. That said, Loretta worked in San Diego’s front office for almost a decade before taking over as Chicago’s bench coach this season, so he no doubt has strong ties to many people who will ultimately make the final decision.
Loretta is more well-known for his 15-year MLB playing career. He logged over 1,000 innings at each infield position in a career that took him to five different organizations, including a three-year run in San Diego, where he was most productive. Loretta has no managerial experience and is relatively new to the coaching ranks, but his combination of playing and front office experience makes him a natural candidate for interviews. Loretta was previously in the running for the Cubs’ managerial job, which went to his former teammate David Ross.
You can keep tabs on all the managerial rumors around the league here.
Bring him back to San Diego
Bench coach
Loretta manager and Tingler bench coach. The former player and the stat geek.
Not a surprise at all, since he’s a current bench coach with recent ties to SD.
I’m not surprised Loretta would pop onto someone’s radar. From the outside, he certainly seems to be a reasonable candidate for an interview. What’s a bit eyebrow-raising is that it seemed a couple days ago to be down to Washington and Tingler, but this obviously casts some doubt on that.
Fair enough. I was surprised he wasn’t considered earlier or maybe the press just missed it.
The Padres keep things under pretty tight wraps. I am not surprised that new candidates are popping up and I bet when its all said and done that it will come out they interviewed others not mentioned by the media.
Dodgers are wrapped pretty tight, too—tight choker around their collective throats in October. Ain’t life swell?!?!?
Remember that it was “down to” Ron Gardenhire and Rick Sofield 12 hours before Andy Green was officially hired.
Yes go ahead and make a very Preller move and bring in someone with no experience.
Most teams don’t care about previous experience any more. They care about fit and how open to analytics a guy is. Loretta is a guy I have long thought would make a good manager.
It’s not about being “open to analytics,” there has always been a lot of data available. What it’s about is “do you feel comfortable having little to no control over your lineup?”
When Loretta was with the Red Sox, he was named an All Star. On the day he was announced, the ENTIRE umpiring crew, including the Home Plate guy, gathered around 2B as he took the field, and gave him a round of applause.
Jerry Remy said it was the damdest thing he had ever seen in his baseball career. So I don’t know what kind of manager he’d make (with his FO experience, I suspect he’ll be a good one), but that’s a pretty huge expression of the respect Loretta generates.
I’ll take Loretta over that twinkle toes Tingler
Tingler can dance? Why is giving others a tingle worse that a guy named Sue or a ballplayer named Loretta?
Loretta is coming home.
I would be fine with Mark Loretta over Jayce Tingle Berry. Reason: He played in the big leagues for 14 years. 2 time All Star. Coached under Joe Maddon, Young enough but not 38. Can relate to the big league player, yet knows the nerdy side of AJ Preller…. Still think Wash can be a good one but honestly anybody but Jayce Tingler.
Wash is not an option for a team that wants to win. There is no way a guy that got caught using cocaine as a player and a manager and cheated on his wife multiple times would be able to gain respect of young players as their manager.
Umm..re read that again. That probably is exactly what the young guns look uo to…unfortunetly.
You may be right about thugs looking up to guys like that, but a manager has to have the trust of the staff.
All a guy or gal has to do is win. Everything else is gravy.
He’s not? Did you talk to Ron? What did he say? I didn’t read that.
Losing b2b World Series would be an upgrade over what you’re accustomed to
You talking about the Dodgers? Not winning it all for their first 83 YEARS in the major leagues with only SEVEN other teams in their National League is an upgrade? My home team Padres have 32 years to win their first WS to best the 83 it took the Bridegooms/Dodgers to do it. Their latest dryspell started at the latter part of the last century and continues to present day. It’s amazing Dodger fans feel they’re “special” with a 5-131 lifetime WS record.
Get over yourself Padres have won 3 playoff series in 51 years and 1WS game
“Get over myself”? Why? My Padres are losers. There’s nothing to get over. That’s why we don’t talk/brag. I’m referring to your Dodgers—they’ve got zip since their grandpa’s won in ’88 and had it slipped to them each of their first 82 seasons by the other 7 teams in the NL since their birth in 1883. Your club has not won the WS in 131 of their 136 seasons—hence the “losers” tag. So, once again, why do you losers keep bragging? Let me see you deny any of these facts—don’t spin it like losers always try to do. If a team does not win the WS in any year, they’re by definition “losers”. That’s not an “upgrade”, Quickdraw.
what happened to madden going to san diego?
Shhhhh! Most Padres fans have Selective Memory Syndrome; it never happened.
Shhhhh! All Dodger fans have illusions of royalty—claim they’re the best team since forever in MLB. Wrongmer!
Delusion and wishful thinking.
Tinactin pulled their sponsorship.
boom!
The Padres might as well just go and get a manager at Labor Ready.
All they need is an intern to sit in the dugout who can follow the spreadsheet on his laptop.
That’s where the Dodgers get their relievers. They also like going to “going-out-of-business” trophy shops for “I coulda been a contender!” trophies.
It finally happened. They interviewed someone who doesn’t suck!
They should go after Lou Piniella!
Can you imagine that?
Enjoyed watching him play that year in Boston
Tingler as manager and Wash is bench coach if AJ gets his way. Ownership is pushing back if they are bringing in new candidates.
Friend of mine who works in the Padres’ front office says that it’s going to be Loretta. Make of that what you will.
He shouldn’t read the legal documents on the desk while he’s vacuuming. Not cool
acee keeps pushing the narrative that tingles is the expected hire. both options are incredibly underwhelming. kind of hope the fans show their frustration by not buying the new threads that are supposed to debut if either of these guys are hired.
Didn’t Acee post an article saying Gardenhire was the favorite to be hired the day before Green was hired?
IIRC he and Rick Sofield were 1A and 1B
That is interesting
The reasoning is by most of us here that it should be Loretta, that’s exactly why AJ will not hire him, he wants the guy who he can manage from his field box. Of the three I’d go with Loretta the guy always was ready to play and had that fire.
Let’s hope your guy is right with Loretta then maybe Tingler as the bench coach.
Big fail.
Your friend was wrong.
Preller can boss Tingler around more than Wash. Keep promoting AA kids without manager pushback.
If Wash was at the helm and we won a post season game there would be a ton of snow in the clubhouse. It would be as bad as the penn state white out game.
18:45 don’t you mean 4:45pm?
No.
He doesn’t.
We went from Black to Green to…what’s the next color in the crayon box?
Brown.
FYI Padres:
Interview Astros Bench Coach Joe Espada!
Doesn’t hurt to “kick the tires” and compare him to the others on your list.
Espada has successfully worked as a coach as the MLB level for:
Marlins, Yankees, Astros!
He is respected as a teacher of young players.
Espada also gets the most out of the analytics.
Don’t need a professor and not buying a car.
AJ Hinch on Joe Espada
david-ross-set-be-named-manager-bryant-service-time-dispute
chicagotribune.com/sports/cubs/ct-chicago-cubs-joe…
nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/peek-behind-curtain-wha…
Joe Espada is bilingual (big asset for all the Padres Hispanic players).
Espada has worked his way up through the coaching ranks and is respected by players and throughout the game.
He will be managing somewhere soon.
Espada could be the next Alex Cora.
Joe Espada would be a perfect fit for the Padres!