The brief Jayce Tingler era is over.
A.J. Preller will embark on the process of hiring his third manager after dismissing Tingler on Wednesday following arguably the most disappointing season in Padres history.
The team announced the firing in a press release and said Tingler has been offered a position in the organization.
Tingler was hired in October 2019 to succeed the fired Andy Green, who Preller hired in 2015 to replace Bud Black, the manager he inherited and then fired in the middle of the ’15 season.
The 40-year-old Tingler’s 222-game tenure is the shortest for a non-interim Padres manager since Larry Bowa managed 208 games from 1987 to ’88. Tingler went 116-106 in his first turn as a big-league manager. He took the Padres to the playoffs at the end of the 60-game 2020 season, the franchise’s first playoff berth in 14 years. He was one of three managers to do so in the Padres’ 53 years of existence.
Multiple sources said Preller remained a believer in Tingler. Over the past few days since Sunday’s season finale, Preller and team chairman Peter Seidler, as well as some of Preller’s key advisers, spoke frequently. They discussed the direction of the franchise, their belief the team remains close to contending for a championship and how to best foster the culture they want. Ultimately, they had to decide whether that could be accomplished under Tingler.
“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 in the statement announcing Tingler’s dismissal. “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.”
Injuries to and underperformance by multiple players had a significant role in the Padres not sustaining their success this season. But that the course was never corrected during a late-summer slide out of playoff position was seen as a sign of Tingler’s inability to influence key players and his failure to quash some issues that arose inside the clubhouse
After the success of ’20 and a slew of high-profile acquisitions in the offseason, the expectation this season was that the Padres would again be in the postseason and challenge for the organization’s first World Series title.
A 10-8 loss on Sept. 25 eliminated them from postseason contention. They won once in the seven games that followed and finished with a 79-83 record. The Padres were 17 games above .500 and five games up in the race for the National League’s second wild-card spot on Aug. 10. They went 12-34 after that.
Many in the organization, including players, felt an experienced manager would have been the best hire in 2019, and many have expressed the same sentiment now.
Multiple people around the league have suggested the Padres will turn to Ron Washington, the Atlanta Braves third base coach and former Texas Rangers manager, who was the runner-up for the job in 2019. Bruce Bochy, who managed the Padres from 1995-2006 and went on to win three World Series as manager of the San Francisco Giants, is also said to be interested in returning to managing after two years off. Buck Showalter, who managed the Orioles all of Manny Machado’s time there, could be intriguing.
