After the weekend, San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt announced his retirement from baseball.
Since the announcement, many media, fans, and former players involved with the Padres are not so sure that his retirement is true. This sudden retirement brings up a ton of internal questions related to the ballclub. Ken Rosenthal, among others, believes that Shildt may not have actually gone out on his own terms. Shildt announced in his statement that he came to the conclusion in the middle of the season.
Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. will now await their 6th manager to be hired. This franchise is a serious mess, despite finding its way to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons with at least 90 wins. Shildt was one of the best coaches in Padres' history; however, the belief is that the Friars need to go in a different direction.
Former Padres manager Bruce Bochy has seen his name surface in rumors. However, it does not seem likely that he would accept the offer if given. The Padres are aiming to hire within the organization.
Dennis Lin, who covers the Padres for The Athletic, mentioned in his article who the real candidates could be.
“Flaherty, now the Cubs’ bench coach, is expected to again receive consideration for the managerial opening in San Diego, league sources said. Some of the same sources anticipate that other candidates will include Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, bench coach Brian Esposito, special assistants Scott Servais and A.J. Ellis, and former Los Angeles Angels manager Phil Nevin.”
“Multiple team sources said former Padres manager Bruce Bochy, 70, is not expected to be a serious candidate to return to San Diego.”
Bochy left the Padres for the San Francisco Giants, and he immediately won three championships in five years. Getting rid of Bochy set back the Padres organization by about 15 years.
Whoever is the next manager will have a messy situation to clean up.
