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11/06 11:54 CST San Diego Padres hire former reliever Craig Stammen as manager
San Diego Padres hire former reliever Craig Stammen as manager
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
The San Diego Padres have hired former reliever Craig Stammen to be their
manager.
Stammen got a three-year contract Thursday to begin his first managerial job at
any level of the sport.
The longtime right-handed reliever retired from his playing career with the
Padres in August 2023, and he spent the past two seasons as an assistant to the
major league coaching staff and the baseball operations department headed by
general manager A.J. Preller.
The 41-year-old Stammen replaces Mike Shildt, who retired Oct. 13 after just
two seasons in charge. The Padres won at least 90 games and made the playoffs
in both seasons under Shildt, who cited burnout and exhaustion in announcing
his departure.
The Padres conducted a deliberate search for Shildt's replacement, interviewing
the likes of Albert Pujols, former Padres catcher Nick Hundley and longtime San
Diego pitching coach Ruben Niebla. Stammen is the Padres' fifth full-time
manager since the start of the 2016 season.
"Craig has been a strong presence in our organization for nearly a decade,"
Preller said in a statement. "He possesses deep organizational knowledge and
brings natural leadership qualities to the manager's 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."
Stammen pitched seven seasons for the Washington Nationals and six more for the
Padres during his playing career, serving as a reliever for all but his first
two big league seasons. An Ohio native known for his effective sinker, Stammen
is fifth in Padres history with 333 appearances for the club.
The Padres are enjoying their longest stretch of success in franchise history,
with four playoff appearances and five winning records in the past six years
behind stars Fernando Tats Jr. and Manny Machado. They made the NL
Championship Series in 2022, losing to Philadelphia in five games after
knocking off the Dodgers in the NL Division Series.
Stammen is the first manager hired by San Diego since the death in November
2023 of beloved Padres owner Peter Seidler, whose aggressive spending and
hunger to win galvanized the team's fan base. Seidler's brother, John, is now
the Padres' chairman.
Preller must make several major roster decisions in the upcoming weeks with key
players due to hit free agency and the likely loss of significant pitching
talent from last season's 90-win club. Starters Dylan Cease and Michael King
are free agents, while Yu Darvish will miss the 2026 season after undergoing
elbow surgery.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
