Any time now, the Padres will have a new manager.
The team has interviewed four candidates and does not plan to interview more.
Mike Shildt, an adviser in player development who also spent time in the coaching staff the past two seasons, and Ryan Flaherty, who has been on the coaching staff working with hitters since 2020, were interviewed first. Angels infield coach and Castle Park High School alumnus Benji Gil and Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza both interviewed last week.
Sources have indicated throughout the process that Shildt is the favorite. However, there has been praise for all four candidates.
Multiple sources say Flaherty, who has long been a favorite of Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller, should be considered a strong possibility to get the job. And people familiar with how the interviews went said the Padres’ group was highly impressed by both Gil and Mendoza.
There could always be a twist. It’s impossible to predict what Preller will do in these instances. He made a last-minute hire of Andy Green over Ron Gardenhire eight years ago, switched from Ron Washington to Jayce Tingler late in 2019, and chose Bob Melvin following a handful of other interviews two years ago.
In addition to conducting interviews for Melvin’s replacement, Preller has been meeting with his staff the last two weeks.
Bench coach Ryan Christenson and third-base coach Matt Williams are both expected to join Melvin’s staff in San Francisco. The Padres have renewed the contracts of other coaches whose deals were up, though their roles won’t be determined until the new manager is hired.
Preller is due in Arizona this week for the general managers meetings, which mark the unofficial kickoff of offseason activity.
