To nobody's surprise, the San Diego Padres fired manager Jayce Tingler after a bitterly disappointing 79-83 season that included a 26-43 mark in the second half. Tingler may or may not have been a good manager, but he certainly is the easy fall guy for a season that began with World Series hopes and ended with a pitching staff held together with rusty nails and moldy sheetrock.
A string of injuries and lack of starting pitching depth led to a 7-21 final month that left the Padres not only staring up at the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, but 11 wins behind the wild-card St. Louis Cardinals.
In firing Tingler after previously signing president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to a contract extension in February that reportedly runs through 2026, Padres ownership under chairman Peter Seidler is sticking with its long-term commitment to Preller. I think the question is not so much whether firing Tingler was the right move, but whether Preller can actually lead the Padres to the top.