As the Padres search for a replacement for retiring manager Mike Shildt, they’re setting their sights on a big name: future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. According to a report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Pujols is set to interview for the position with the Padres, though it’s not yet known when that interview will take place.
Pujols’s name isn’t exactly new as a managerial candidate. He spent the early part of the offseason closely connected to the Angels as a potential successor to Ron Washington and Ray Montgomery in Anaheim. He was thought the be the favorite for that position at one point and was even known to be discussing a contract with Angels brass less than two weeks ago, but since then it’s been reported that Pujols will interview with Baltimore while the Halos have begun interviewing other candidates. While Pujols managing in Anaheim doesn’t seem to be off the table, it no longer appears to be a foregone conclusion as it once might have.
San Diego makes a third managerial vacancy that Pujols is set to interview for, and it’s quite an attractive one. Unlike the Orioles and Angels, the Padres made it to the postseason this year before falling to the Cubs in three games during the Wild Card series. While the Dodgers have a firm grip on the NL West that they don’t seem likely to relinquish any time soon, San Diego has made the playoffs in four of the last six seasons and even advanced to the NLCS back in 2022. They’ve averaged 88.5 wins per season over the past four years and have a talented core of players that includes Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado, Mason Miller, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Nick Pivetta, among others.
With that said, it’s also worth noting that the Padres are set to lose front-of-the-rotation arms Dylan Cease and Michael King this winter, with the starting rotation serving as a major question mark headed into next year. The questions regarding the rotation and the fact that some of the club’s star players like Machado are getting older could mean that the Padres don’t have quite as bright of a future as a team like the Orioles, which is littered with exciting young players in their prime who figure to be under team control for years to come.
Pujols is far from the only candidate for the Padres job, of course. Acee notes that pitching coach Ruben Niebla is expected to interview for the position. Cubs Bench Coach Ryan Flaherty, who also served as bench coach in San Diego under Bob Melvin and was a finalist for the manager’s chair before it ultimately went to Shildt two years ago, is also a speculated candidate for the job. Former Padres catcher and Rangers special assistant Nick Hundley is known to be of interest to San Diego for the role, but he recently withdrew from consideration from the manager role with the Giants due to family considerations and it’s not known if he would consider taking the Padres job at this point.
Hall of Fame players rarely make good managers. I can’t think of a single one that did in my lifetime.
Joe Torre is the closest I can think of off the top of my head. He went into the Hall as a manager, but was plenty good enough to make it as a player.
Super rare. Joe Torre was the only one that was exceptional at playing and managing.
Joe Cronin.
I disagree in regards to Pujols.
He’d command the respect of the clubhouse.
He knows Tatis and Manny and it’d be about the managerial team he’d put together.
Plus, he commands respect league wide…
He’s the high profile managerial option that best fits the Padres.
Superstar managing superstars.
This is a MUST HIRE.
Oh yeah and I’d want LeBron James to be the head coach of the New York Knicks…
This is all pure speculation.
SSS, no?
John McGraw, Fred Clarke, Clark Griffith, Cap Anson, Joe Cronin, Hugh Jennings, Frankie Frisch, Rube Foster, Dick Lundy, Shigeo Nagashima, Katsuya Nomura, Sadaharu Oh all had HOF caliber playing careers and were managers with lots of wins and winning records.
Lou Boudreau had lots of wins but under .500. Red Schoendienst had lots of wins and a winning record, but probably isn’t a deserving HoF player
Yogi Berra did a pretty good job
Tony Gwynn was an excellent college head coach who must be given a lot of credit in transforming strasberg into the best college pitcher arguably ever. I’d like to think about the possibility that he could’ve been the long term answer to the Padres manager and maybe even had led us to the promise land
Preller: Albert, how old are you?
Pujols: 35
No.
Please God, No.
Please God yes
Flaherty…best choice of the candidates know to be of interest so far.
AJ pasado el día entero en una niebla.
Give us Ruben
I am with you because I don’t wanna lose Ruben in any form. This thing is not broken and he knows how to work with AJ, which might be tough for someone coming from outside the organization.
Albert has a few things going for him in regards to managing the Padres.
1. He’s rich enough not to care about getting fired. And as rich as any player in the clubhouse.
2. He’s had the career no one in that clubhouse has attained yet. That commands respect.
3. He’s big enough to beat the hell out of anyone that gives him a hard time in the clubhouse. See point 1.
He mustn’t agree with your sentiment since compensation was a huge sticking point between he and Arte in Anaheim
How about Bochy? He would be a great addition to a team that’s got a lot of personalities and is looking to be a playoff team.
I think they want a manger to be there for at least a few years. Bochy looked like he was having trouble getting around this last year. I don’t think he will be managing any more.
It certainly was painful to watch him walk out of the dugout onto the mound….
If Albert accepts a job with another MLB organization there’s no way MLB allows him to keep his “personal services” deal with the Angels.
That would be a clear conflict of interest.
This is a good test to see how Manfred handles this possible situation.
Manfred works for the owners.
Interesting wrinkle to the situation for sure. I’m guessing they’d restructure it as a buyout.
It would be much better to have him as their hitting coach.
This could work
Kevin Acee!
Gil Hodges was a good manager and elected by the golden era for the hall, and managed a miracle team in 69 called the Mets.
You gotta keep Niebla, whether that’s as a pitching coach or manager. I would be thrilled if they could retain Niebla and have Pujols as manager.
Shouldn’t he start as a bench coach in rookie ball or something in order to pay his dues?
This is the problem I have with him as a candidate. How about doing some of the hard work part of becoming a big league manager instead of just walking into the job because of your headline name. It’s a prescription for disaster to whoever hires him.
Yeah. The American obsession with celebrity is something unique.
@foppert3 It’s not quite exclusively an American thing.
What I don’t get is why online Australians keep bringing up America a lot nowadays… Perhaps the Aussie “cringe culture” and “tall poppy” schtick is a part of it? That’s an obsession I want to understand.
Once upon a time that would be true but in today’s game we can take any idiot out of a tv studio and hand him a paper with what the analytics department wants him to do and call it “managing”
Skill and instinct are no longer as important as the ability to follow orders
Can’t really argue with you on that one. I suppose if he is down to do it that way, and it’s what a front office wanted, it could totally happen.
If Twinkies get Nick Punto for manager Twins are world series champs !
Aha! A great slap on the face of Arte! Hope he wakes up and sell the team!
This must be one of the dumbest things that the Padres ever done
I’ve never managed a major league baseball team either. Since no experience is required, where do I fill out an application?
Please name the other never managed anywhere first timers to win a WS in his first year.