This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell's Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SAN DIEGO -- As of Monday, there are now eight managerial openings across Major League Baseball. I think the Padres’ job might be the most appealing, even if it comes with its share of challenges.
Manager Mike Shildt announced his retirement from the Padres on Monday, a stunner of a move after he’d helmed two of the most successful seasons in franchise history. Shildt managed the Padres to consecutive playoff appearances for the first time since 2005-06.
“His dedication and passion for the game of baseball will leave an impact on our organization, and we wish him the best in his next chapter,” general manager A.J. Preller said as part of a statement he released on Monday. “The search for a new manager of the Padres will begin immediately with the goal of winning a World Series championship in 2026.”
That’s now the standard. The expectations in San Diego are high, and rightly so, given the construction of the roster and the city-wide support. The Padres sell out almost every home game, and Shildt went out of his way to cite the team’s home-field advantage in his retirement letter.
For any would-be managers out there, the Padres job might be the biggest prize. The other seven vacancies are with clubs that finished below .500 in 2024. Sure, teams like the Braves and Orioles have plenty of returning roster talent. But the Padres just won 90 games and have finished above .500 in each of the past four seasons, reaching the playoffs in three of them.
It’s a baseball-crazed city with a roster built to win now. That makes it an extremely appealing gig. It also makes it a pressure-packed gig. None of the three previous managers -- Shildt, Bob Melvin and Jayce Tingler -- have lasted longer than two seasons in the role.
There are plenty of questions this winter. Big questions. The Padres are set to lose a host of players to free agency -- Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn, with Michael King and Robert Suarez likely to join them once they’ve settled on their option decisions. There’s uncertainty around what kind of flexibility the Padres might have to add to their roster.
Meanwhile, Preller, the man tasked with filling those holes, is entering his final season under contract without any clarity on his future just yet. He is slated to speak with the media on Tuesday to address Shildt’s decision.
Of course, there’s plenty of talent returning on this Padres roster -- a core of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts. The bullpen should enter the 2026 season as one of the best in baseball, no matter what happens with Suarez. (And a good bullpen is a manager’s best friend.)
The immediate challenge of the next manager will be to maximize the offense’s potential. After the best offensive season in franchise history in 2024, the Padres took a step back in ‘25. Some fundamental changes might be needed. San Diego has recently deployed a small-ball-happy approach. That strategy, under Shildt, was partly related to his personnel, and it paid dividends at times. But in the biggest moments, the Padres’ bats came up short.
Mostly, however, the next manager’s job will be to build on the groundwork laid by Shildt. The Padres are a cleaner, more fundamentally sound outfit than they were when Shildt arrived. The clubhouse environment is better.
Make no mistake, the 24th Padres manager will be walking into a challenge. There’s pressure to win now. It’s a championship-starved fanbase. But it’s the type of challenge a winning manager should crave.