The San Diego Padres have made a shocking decision in their managerial search, landing on 13-year MLB veteran Craig Stammen to be their next manager. The hire comes after former manager Mike Shildt and the team agreed to part ways following the Padres Wild Card exit, despite Shildt having two years left on his contract.
41-year-old Stammen was hired over two Hall of Famers in Bruce Bochy and Albert Pujols who were both in contention for the job. Stammen retired from his playing career just three years ago, after spending the final six seasons of his career with the Padres. He has been involved with San Diego’s baseball operations department for the last three seasons, but has never managed baseball at any level.
The move came out of nowhere, as most insiders weren’t even aware Stammen was a serious candidate for the role. He even sat in on interviews with other potential hires.
There are still six players on the Padres who were with the team during Stammen’s final season as a player: Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Adrian Morejon.
Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller Makes Statement
Stammen becomes President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller’s sixth manager during his 11 year tenure with the organization. Preller had this to say about the hire:
âCraig has been a strong presence in our organization for nearly a decade,â Preller said. âHe possesses deep organizational knowledge and brings natural leadership qualities to the managerâs chair. As both a player and in his post-playing career, Craig has displayed an ability to elevate those around him. His strength of character, competitive nature and talent for bringing people together make him the ideal choice to lead the Padres.â
Stammen appeared in 562 games in his MLB career, finishing his 13-year run with an ERA of 3.66, 55 wins and 743 strikeouts.
The organization made a relatively surprising decision to turn away from Shildt, who had been the team’s manager for two seasons, leading them to the playoffs in both years though they fell in the NLDS in 2024 and the Wild Card round in 2025. Shildt also managed the St. Louis Cardinals from 2019-2021, leading them to three straight playoff appearances.
Other Managerial Hires Around MLB
Stammen became the eighth new hire in the MLB following the 2025 MLB season.
The other hires have been Walt Weiss with the Atlanta Braves, Derek Shelton with the Minnesota Twins, Blake Butera with the Washington Nationals, Craig Albernaz with the Baltimore Orioles, Tony Vitello with the San Francisco Giants, Kurt Suzuki with the Los Angeles Angels, and Skip Schumaker with the Texas Rangers.
Of all of the new hires so far, the Padres are the only team to hire a new manager after making the Postseason.
The only team without a full-time manager is the Colorado Rockies, who are standing by interim manager Warren Schaeffer for the time being while they search for a new general manager. Schaeffer replaced Bud Black as the Rockies manager back in May as the team finished the 2025 season with an abysmal 43-119 record.
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