Padres’ managerial search going a lot of different ways; experience might not be required

The only thing known for sure regarding the Padres’ managerial search is the team seeks a manager who has accomplished enough that he will immediately command players’ respect.

That doesn’t, however, necessarily mean the team will pick a former manager.

After going with rookies both times he has hired managers, much of the speculation around the league is that Padres General Manager A.J. Preller may well go that route again.

According to sources, the Padres have at least inquired about the interest of at least one former player working as a college coach, multiple former players currently on major league staffs and at least one longtime player working in television.

That doesn’t mean the team is averse to a veteran manager.

Mike Shildt will interview with the team this weekend after being let go by the St. Louis Cardinals last week, two sources with knowledge of the situation said Friday. The Cardinals went to the postseason in each of Shildt’s three full seasons as their manager. He was fired Oct. 15 with team President John Mozeliak citing “a philosophical difference” in how the team should move forward.

Whether this is the first actual interview is not known, but it won’t be the last. People familiar with the goals of Preller and team Chairman Peter Seidler said the new manager likely will not be hired until the end of the month at the earliest.

The Padres are also said by people familiar with internal discussions to have interest in former Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels manager Brad Ausmus. He interviewed for the job in 2019 before Jayce Tingler was hired, and people inside the organization said Preller and Ausmus share some common beliefs about how teams should be run.

Among the names mentioned by sources as a possibility is Mike Scioscia, who managed the Angels from 2000 through 2018. Many people in the league have expressed skepticism Scioscia or Bruce Bochy would take the job under Preller. The Padres have had only preliminary contact with Bochy, who retired a year after Scioscia.

The Padres are said to have already reached out to coaching candidates, indicating Preller will again do the hiring of at least some of the new manager’s staff.

Where it became apparent relatively quickly in 2019, after Andy Green was fired, that Tingler and Ron Washington were the leading candidates, this search has been less hurried and conducted in a far more secretive manner.