Padres interviewing Mike Schildt this weekend among latest manager updates

Dennis Lin of The Athletic is reporting that the San Diego Padres will be interviewing former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Schildt for their managerial opening this weekend. It was a surprise for many in the baseball industry when St. Louis parted with Schildt due to philosophical differences.

The ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ saying could end up describing the Padres’ thinking in interviewing Schildt, who reached the postseason in every full season he was at the helm. He was four wins away from the World Series in 2019, winning that year’s NL Manager of the Year award. The Cards were also a couple plays away from beating the Dodgers in this season’s National League Wild Card game.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller, who has whiffed on is last two managerial hires, told Lin that he will not be speaking about potential candidates for the manager position until the hiring process is over. Preller did say, however, that it’s “realistic” to expect the Padres to have a manager by the general managers’ meetings in Carlsbad, which starts November 8. That would mean San Diego has a few weeks to decide on their next skipper.

The most surprising information from Lin’s latest article was regarding two accomplished managers, Buck Showalter and Ron Washington. Despite Showalter and Washington combining to have 28 years of big league managing experience, they “are not believed to be in contention for the Padres job”.

This would be an unwise decision if true, as I talked about in episode 68 of the Talking Friars podcast. The Padres obviously don’t need to hire either of them but it doesn’t hurt to at least talk with them to see if their vision aligns with the front office’s vision. Manny Machado and some other Padres players, according to Lin, have said they are open to Washington managing the team and I wouldn’t be surprised if Machado is open to reuniting with Showalter as well, considering Showalter played a significant role in Machado’s development as a major leaguer.

Lin wrote in his article that it’s “unclear why the Padres might not be considering him”. Both Showalter and Washington seem like they’d fit into the category of ‘player managers’, and that’s a quality the Padres should have as a prerequisite in their manager search after the failed Jayce Tingler experiment.

Mike Scioscia, who has nearly two decades of managing experience with the Angels and recently managed the USA team in the Tokyo Olympics, is also reportedly expected to “emerge as a candidate for the Padres”.

Bruce Bochy, who is the #1 pick among Padres fans to be the next manager and is open to managing again in the right situation, has yet to receive strong interest from the Friars. Lin also reported that it isn’t yet known if Skip Schumaker, Jayce Tingler’s bench coach, will be a candidate for the job. He is expected to draw some interest from the Cardinals, though, as they’re obviously looking for a new manager as well after letting Schildt go.

Make sure to keep it here at Gaslamp Ball for all the updates regarding the Padres’ manager search!