- The San Diego Padres have fired manager Jayce Tingler after two seasons.
- The Padres completely collapsed late in the year, going 12-34 down the stretch after starting the season 67-49.
- There are likely other changes in the front office and in the coaching ranks forthcoming.
The San Diego Padres looked like a franchise on the rise through most of the 2021 MLB season. In 2020, they had reached the postseason for the first time in 15 years under manager Jayce Tingler and looked good as they started the 2021 campaign. On August 10, the Padres were 67-49 and hoping to run down the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the very competitive National League West.
Instead, the bottom fell out. San Diego went 12-34 the rest of the way and would ultimately finish the season with a 79-83 record. That record got them nowhere near a return to the post season and they wound up 28 games behind the NL West champion San Francisco Giants. It also cost manager Tingler his job after just two seasons at the Padres’ helm.
President of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller announce Tingler’s dismissal earlier today with a prepared statement. The big message was clear and to the point:
The San Diego Padres have relieved manager Jayce Tingler of his duties, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller announced today. Tingler has been offered an opportunity to remain with the organization.
Preller also added some personal comments that praised Tingler for his strong performance during the pandemic riddled 2020 MLB season:
“Jayce accomplished a great deal in his two seasons with the Padres, leading our team through an unprecedented pandemic and into the postseason for the first time in 15 years,” Preller said. “I have tremendous respect for him as a coach, colleague and friend. After much thought and consideration over the last several weeks, we felt change was necessary at this time to ultimately reach our championship potential in San Diego.”
It’s unclear whether Tingler will accept the team’s offer to remain with the organization in another capacity.
Tingler had worked his way up the managerial ranks with the Texas Rangers where he held a variety of roles including field coordinator and assistant general manager. It was during his time with the Rangers’ franchise that he met Padres’ GM Preller and that’s how he would ultimately get the position as San Diego’s field boss. To be fair, much of the Padres’ late season collapse was due to circumstances beyond Tingler’s control including injuries and a brutal run of ‘variance’ that saw them lose more than their fair share of one run games.
The Padres are reportedly considering an offer to 25 year managerial veteran Bruce Bochy. Bochy spent time with both the Giants and Padres before retiring after the 2019 season. During his run in San Francisco he won two NL West titles, three National League pennants and three World Series championships. While he was managing the Padres, he led San Diego to the divisional title four times–the team has not repeated that feat since his departure.
There’s some disagreement on whether Bochy would be interested in returning to managing in general and to the Padres in particular. Word around baseball circles is that he’s privately expressed an interest to return to the game, preferably in a managerial role. On the other hand, there’s considerable doubt that he would be interested in a situation where he’d be forced to work with a hands on GM like Preller.
