The Padres are one of two teams with a current managerial vacancy, having fired Jayce Tingler last week. Braves third base coach Ron Washington — the runner-up to Tingler in the club’s previous managerial search — has already expressed interested and been reported to be under consideration for the position, and speculation about a few other potential candidates has begun to emerge.
In addition to Washington, Padres’ brass has done some background work on veteran managers Bruce Bochy and Buck Showalter, reports Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). Bochy told Chris Russo of SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel last Friday that he hadn’t been contacted by the Friars to that point, but he expressed some openness to considering the role if the club were interested. Showalter, meanwhile, has a lengthy managerial career that includes stints with the Yankees, D-Backs, Rangers and Orioles dating back to 1992. The 65-year-old last managed in 2018 with Baltimore, but he’d bring an accomplished resume — three Manager of the Year award wins and five postseason appearances — to the table.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today adds three more candidates to the mix, suggesting each of Brad Ausmus, John Gibbons and Jeff Banister could be under consideration. Ausmus, a former Padre player and front office executive, had previous stints managing the Tigers (2014-17) and Angels (2019). Gibbons spent two separate stints at the helm of the Blue Jays, leading the club to a pair of playoff appearances from 2015-16.
Banister, meanwhile, spent four years leading the Rangers — somewhat ironically succeeding Washington in that position after the latter stepped down near the end of the 2014 season. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has hired quite a few former colleagues from his time in Texas, but Preller had already matriculated to San Diego by the time the Rangers hired Banister. The 57-year-old Banister spent four years at the helm in Arlington, leading the team to a pair of playoff appearances in his first two seasons before they dropped below .500 over his final couple campaigns.
Olney also adds one more interesting wrinkle, suggesting the Friars may have interest in Yankees’ skipper Aaron Boone. Boone has spent the last four seasons in the Bronx, but his contract is set to expire at the end of this season. It’s entirely possible the Yankees sign Boone to an extension and keep him in the fold, but there’ll be at least some uncertainty regarding his status until New York makes a formal announcement about his future with the organization.
Clearly, San Diego has taken a broad approach to the initial round of hiring, with a wide array of early candidates in the mix. Kevin Acee of the San Diego of the Union-Tribune reports that the club is hoping to pare things down a bit by the end of this week, although there’s no firm timetable set for advancing the process.
Interestingly, each of the publicly-known initial candidates has some degree of managerial experience at the major league level, a few having managed with multiple franchises. Padres’ chairman Peter Seidler indicated last week that wouldn’t be a prerequisite for the position. It’s likely there are also others under consideration who have no prior MLB managing history, but it’s nevertheless noteworthy to see the Pads at least kicking the tires on a group of well-known skippers after Preller’s first two hires (Andy Green and Tingler, respectively) were both assuming the role for the first time.
I’ve said it before, i’ll say it again. Because of Washington’s excessive baggage, he will be just another front office puppet for the Padres if they hire him. Interesting name with Boone – he’d be perfect. No baggage and good with the media.
But played on Reds.
Mark Grant? Other retired Padres? Mike Hargrove?
Is Billy Martin still dead?
Can still manage from the beyond ⚾️
1) I think most, if not all, current managers are what you refer to as puppets.
2) Puppet implies they’re being used unknowingly, and that may not be what you mean, but I believe they know exactly what the expectations are.
3). Boone would do really well in SD imho. He’s laid back, gaining experience, and has a great relationship with FO people. My biggest issue with Boone is his in-game decisions, which are lacking. I know some expressed the same frustration with Tingler.
Yea, i couldn’t think of a better word. I just mean the front office makes out the lineups, dictate pitching changes based on matchups, and maps out the entire game while the manager just sits there and says ‘yes’. There’s nothing inherently wrong running a team like that, but its not going to attract guys like Bochy
Boone was born and raised in San Diego area.
Managing…it’s incredibly hard
LaRussa might be available.
What about Lou Piniella?
I don’t know why his name isn’t floated more often. You’ve brought him up in other articles too and he would be a great choice for certain clubs. Is he interested in managing again though?
I hear Bobby Cox is available too.
Piniella retired a number years back and has expressed no interest in returning. If anything, he seems even more distanced from the game every year that goes by, not even doing the occasional broadcast gig. Lou is maybe in his mid-70s now. I don’t see a return.
He’s 78.
@lordd99 Bochy retired too. That hasn’t stopped people from incessantly pushing him as the next Padres manager.
Remove…Books – “Bochy told Chris Russo of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM last Friday that he hadn’t been contacted by the Friars to that point, but he expressed some openness to considering the role if the club were interested.”
It sounds like Bochy might be interested in not being retired anymore.
Very interesting array of prospective candidates. Hope the Padres can make a good decision. Really think they can compete with the Giants and Dodgers, but not so sure the Diamondbacks and especially the Rockies are very close to being competitive.
Showalter should be a good choice here. He’s good at the underdog role and had his guys punching above weight when the Os were looking up at the Yankees and Red Sox.
It’s somewhat similar to the Pads looking up at the Dodgers and Giants.
Can handle the rivalries himself, and, guide young players through the pressures, all while having a good resume to back it up.
Senior citizen managers are in fashion apparently.
Not saying it’s a bad thing though.
The pendulum has swung back.
I think Brad Ausmus would be a great hire. They need somebody that’s got some intensity. He was solid leading the Tigers.
Not so much with the Angels.
I think Ausmus could be a real possibility as well. I don’t think 2019 with the Angels should be held against him. The pitching on that team was awful, and that was before Tyler Skaggs untimely passing. Not a single starter made 20 starts and they paid $19 million combined for Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill to make 23 starts.
Ausmus was only fired because Arte had to jump at the chance to bring Madden back to the Angels. If the Cubs never fire Joe odds are Ausmus would have just finished the last year on his contract actually managing the Angels
He was? He had teams filled with All Stars and still found a way to lose games.
He had Trout and no pitching.
Hire Bobby Valentine!
He may be mayor.
2012. Boston. Fried chicken and beer parties in the clubhouse during games. He lost control of that team. Not sure that 9 years would have made him any better choice to manage again. Plus he is, or was, running for mayor of Stamford CT. So apparently he’s on to bigger and better things to screw up. LOL
By all accounts, Ron Washington has had very positive feedback for his in-game management. He may do very well for the Padres, but if it backfires, Preller has to be on the hot seat, I’d imagine.
He cost the Rangers when he didn’t have Nelson Cruz back deep enough with two outs. They lost the World Series because of his incompetence. I don’t know what these accounts are but I don’t think he is very strong in the in game management department. It is quite the opposite.
believeit… – Sounds like the general consensus is Washington makes decent in game decisions. If the Cruz positioning thing was his decision, it sounds like it was one instance where he maybe made a mistake in the moment. I didn’t see it so I don’t know all the details. However, can you say that the Rangers would have won the series but for that decision by Washington?
Any competent right fielder would have made that catch against the Cardinals. To blame that on Washington is misguided. There are, after all, plenty of reasons why Cruz doesn’t play much in the field.
The playoffs are tough. If a manager gets his team to the world series then they have at least won a pennant which is no minor task. Obviously the goal is to win it all but I’d still call that a successful season. A manager can only do so much. Good teams will always lose to better teams in October.
1.bochy
2. Boone
3. Washington
4. Buck
Mike Scioscia anyone?
Yes. I think he’d be good. He has good rapport with the players and has solid player credentials.
Call Mike Scioscia. It’s probably Bochy’s if he wants it but Scioscia has 1 ring as a manager, 2 as a player, just got a silver medal as Team USA manager, commands clubhouse respect and uses analytics. He’s a HOFer with 2 more rings.
That’s a better resume than Green, and Tingler.
Greeter for 6 months at a Walmart is a better resume than Green and Tingler.
“What about Lou Piniella?”
1. He is 78 Years Old.
2. He is closer to becoming a flower bed than he is to becoming an analytical mastermind.
3. When Lou last managed the term XOBA didn’t exist.
Great points. Which may be why he could do really well with a ball club – except, of course, the flower bed. That probably won’t help win any games.
We have people older than he running the country! This is a game, he can do it.
Nor did the term XWOBALONY exist.
What about XBOFA?
@Rick Pernell Tony La Russa is only one year younger. And Bruce Bochy retired yet people still mention him.
I’m not holding my breathe, but I would like to see Bud Black back in SD assuming something could be worked out with the Rox. Given the likelihood of that happening (or not), I’m rooting for Sciocia or Buck to get the job provided they can work and play well with the analytics team.
Marge Simpson: Baseball manager Mike Scioscia! Didn’t you get radiation poisoning working at the nuclear plant?
Mike Scioscia : I sure did, but it also gave me super-managerial powers. Also, I demagnetize credit cards.
Bochy, Buck, or Boone.
I finally realized what you meant, but for a few seconds I was having visions of Joe Buck as a manager.
They were not pleasant visions.
Bob Boone that is
Bret
He won’t agree to being vaccinated so that takes him out of consideration.
All the reported names so far are guys with major league managerial experience, some with several decades of coaching, but I think Jay Bell would be a great hire. As a player his success seemed to come from being more aware, instinctive and well prepared as opposed to being physically gifted or overwhelmingly athletic and as far as my memory can recall he was one of the first to buy in to swing changes and launch angles to hit more fly balls and homers in the latter stages of his career. Doesn’t have any big league managing experience but has been coaching in the minors the last handful of years and he’s still relatively young enough to relate to the guys on the field. Could probably teach Tatis a thing or twenty about playing shortstop and cut down on his errors too.
teams really cant get their own candidates so they have to pester Bochy instead. naturally
You obviously don’t know much about Bochy and the Padres. He managed the padres for 11 Years and was on both teams that went to the world series, one as a player and one as the manager. Yes, they lost both times. He also still lives in San Diego.
I really do think that what the Padres need is someone with a strong relationship with players. That’s what Cleveland gets out of Francona, that’s what Maddon brings to the table, and that’s what Dusty does too. Not an out of touch redass like LaRussa or Showalter.
The role of a manager isn’t so much to do all the lineup stuff anymore. It’s to be a buffer between the analytics stuff and the players, and to be a single authoritative voice in the room.
Apparently only a member of the good old boys club will do based on the comments in this thread. Ron Washington isn’t the right answer due to aforesaid mentioned baggage (teams need to just stop hiring people with that kind of track record of sexism and abuse or they’ll just live Mickey Callaway over and over), but some white old fart in a rocking chair isn’t the right answer either. They need a manager who resonates with and can gain the trust of their biggest star players, as they’re stuck with those guys no matter what.
IMO, someone like Miguel Cairo or Rodney Linares would make a better choice.
It’s not necessarily about the “good old boys club” but it would seem Padres ownership wants to win now and Preller is likely on his last leg to stand on with them. Last thing i imagine he (or they for that matter) wants to do is pitch a 3rd straight Manager with no managerial experience at the MLB level after how bad Green and Tingler were.
If they were to go that route Rod Barajas would make some sense seeing as he has managed many of the few young players on the team in the minors. Billy McMillon would be another name to watch
If you want to gain the trust of the players, hire someone senior and with experience. Players don’t need friends; they need leaders. The hiring of inexperienced managers seems to be thankfully coming to an end.
And how do people otherwise get a track record?
The real problem is that Preller also should have been fired and now he needs to find a half cocked solution that doesn’t look like his previous ideas.
Realistically, Preller has backed himself into hiring a member of the old guard due to his prior failures. That doesn’t mean it’s the right decision though. With all that talent in the clubhouse he needs someone who can manage those personalities and I honestly don’t think they’re doing to respond well to an old school type. I also think someone Latino (or at least fluent in Spanish) will go a huge ways.
Please take Boone
Yes, Boone would be a fine choice (wink wink)
Is Sandy Alomar out there coaching somewhere? He has ties to San Diego as a player and seemed to be very well liked and respected throughout his playing career.
Alomar was the manager for a part of the year in Cleveland when Francona was out with health problems in 2020. I think he is still their 1B coach.
Alomar just finished his 9th season as Indians First Base Coach.
Wash would be a great hire. Every team he’s worked for, the players love him. All the players on the Braves want him to get another shot but would also love him to stay. As someone else pointed out, a lot of the managers in game decisions are decided by the FO anyways. The most important part of managing is managing people and egos which San Diego desperately needs.
With the Padres finishing under. 500 this year, I believe it’s Bruce Bochy or bust. You have to make a significant hire that parallels all the trades you’ve done. Dusty Baker could be another option if the Astros don’t sign him back.
Bobby Valentine
You guys don’t want Rojas? Didn’t he impress everyone with how he handled the Mets? (Insert eye roll here)
Padres are done. Their GM choked their rebuild away. Then blamed the pitching coach and manager for it
And they were never getting anywhere with Tatis and that core anyway. They would have beat the Dodgers and advanced last year if that were the case
I would have traded Tatis as a prospect for a legitimate core piece. You have to be very careful because you don’t want to be stuck with a Stanton or Tatis
Yeah they produce stats but they don’t do well in the playoffs
Ausmus, Gibbons, Bannister, Boone?? Really the best they could do is these 4 retreads? There should be a REVOLT in San Diego if Preller brings in any of those 4.
Olney is always wrong about rumors. Boone is still with the Yankees. The Padres cannot have expressed interest in him. That is called tampering.
Washington is the wrong direction to go. Ausmus was awful as a manager and the players hated him at both stop. Bannister lost his clubhouse. Sound familiar? Think that John Farrell might be a better candidate than John Gibbons.
They need to bring in someone who can show off that ring. Bochy. Scioscia. Farrell, maybe even Brenly.
If not one of those guys, how about Sandy Alomar Jr.?
I should be hired as the managers of all teams