Padres hire Mike Shildt as manager, replacing Bob Melvin

The Padres have hired their next manager, a man with management experience and experience working for AJ Preller.

Mike Shildt is the choice to replace Bob Melvin and become the franchise’s 18th full-time manager.

The Padres also interviewed Ryan Flaherty, coach with them since 2020; Benji Gil, former Angels on-field coach; former Angels manager and Padres slugger Phil Nevin; Adrián González, former Padres first baseman; and former Yankees manager Carlos Mendoza, who was hired earlier this month as Mets manager.

Shildt will be introduced at a press conference at 1 p.m. PT.

“Mike is a proven winner as a manager at the Major League level, and he brings more than two decades of professional baseball experience to the role,” Preller, the Padres’ president of baseball operations, said in a statement. . “During his time here, Mike has demonstrated a strong baseball intellect, a passion for teaching the game and has built relationships with minor and major league players and staff. We believe Mike is the right person to lead the Padres forward in our continued pursuit of a World Series championship.

Melvin was allowed to leave with one year remaining on his contract to become manager of the Giants. Shildt was mentioned early on by several people in the organization as the favorite. The Padres planned to finalize their hiring last week, but paused following the death of team president Peter Seidler on Tuesday.

Shildt led the Cardinals to the playoffs in 2019, ’20 and ’21 and went 252-199 in 3 1/2 seasons. That .559 winning percentage is seventh all-time among those who have managed at least 300 league games. He was named National League Manager of the Year in 2019.

Shildt, 55, spent the last two years with the Padres, alternating between his role as senior player development advisor and as a major league staffer. He was fired by the Cardinals after the ’21 season due to what the team described at the time as “philosophical differences.”

During his time with the Padres, he spent significant time with Fernando Tatis Jr. as the outfielder recovered from his first wrist surgery in 2022. He also mentored Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell early in 2023 .

Shildt was the Cardinals’ bench coach in 2018 before taking over for the fired Mike Matheny in July of that season. He served as Matheny’s third base coach in 2017. Shildt began his career as a scout before spending three seasons as a coach and then eight seasons as a manager in the Cardinals organization.