Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller met with reporters (including The Athletic’s Dennis Lin) in the team’s season wrap-up press conference yesterday. As expected, a lot of the focus was on Mike Shildt’s decision to step down as the team’s manager on Monday, which Preller characterized as “probably more of a surprise than a shock,” given how the two had spoken near the end of the season about the health issues Shildt cited as a reason for his departure. Shildt also asked for a week off at his home in North Carolina once the Padres were eliminated from the playoffs, which created some speculation within the organization about the skipper’s future.
Shildt expanded on his decision in an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee yesterday, and said that he hopes to return to baseball in a player development role in the future. However, it appears as though his managing days may be through, as Shildt was worn down in every day from the day-to-day grind of running a team. Beyond just the on-the-field stress, Shildt said he received some death threats late in the season.
Since the news broke of Shildt’s departure on Monday, there have been multiple reports about discord among San Diego’s coaches. Jon Heyman of The New York Post first reported that Shildt had a “very poor relationship” with some members of his coaching staff, with one coach almost coming to blows with the manager after the coach felt Shildt insulted him.
Acee also explored some of the internal criticisms leveled at Shildt by some Padres staffers, including the view that Shildt had a short temper and was too quickly heated over any questions about his decision-making or thought process. With Shildt giving the Padres players a wide berth to police their own clubhouse, Shildt was accused by some of micro-managing and being too harsh with his coaches and other team staff members.
“I can accept I had a high standard and I held people to a high standard for the betterment of the players and organization,” Shildt said. “That’s my job. I am completely aware I challenged the staff….I acknowledge and won’t apologize for having high standards. I own that. I had to have hard conversations with players and staff.”
“And of 80 people in a clubhouse, a high percentage of those, I was able to partner with and work toward a common goal. And clearly that was effective, as reflected by our record on the field. There are going to be people who are going to push back and you’re not going to please. And after trying to partner with people, I had to hold people accountable. I understand people don’t like that….That standard is very high for me, and I take it very seriously. To the point of burnout.”
As noted by Shildt himself, the criticisms of his approach were “eerily similar in the two places I’ve managed,” referring to his previous stint as the Cardinals’ manager from 2018-21. Shildt led the Cards to postseason appearances in his three full seasons as the Cards’ skipper, yet was surprisingly removed from his position following the 2021 campaign. Acee writes that multiple St. Louis coaches and staffers were threatening to quit their jobs if Shildt was brought back in 2022, which contributed to the Cardinals’ decision to part ways. The situation wasn’t quite this intense with the Padres’ staff, though Acee notes that “multiple coaches indicated they would leave if they found opportunities elsewhere.”
Still, Shildt was ultimately expected to return as manager in 2026, leaving the Padres now in the midst of another managerial search. Preller said there isn’t any timeline for hiring a new bench boss, which makes sense given how Shildt’s unexpected departure is still so fresh. The next hire will be the ninth different manager (both full-time and interim) to run the dugout since Preller took over the front office in August 2014, adding to the tumult of what has been a very eventful 11-plus years for the PBO.
Preller’s latest contract is up after the 2026 season, and he didn’t provide any details on extension talks apart from saying “I look forward to having conversations with [team chairman John Seidler] and the group here this offseason.” In Lin’s view, an extension could be a matter of time since there doesn’t appear to be any sense that Preller’s job is in danger. Despite the many ups and downs of Preller’s tenure, San Diego has reached the postseason four times in the last six seasons, after getting into the playoffs just five times in the franchise’s previous 51 years of existence.
