Craig Stammen is getting the call again. This time to run the Padres.
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Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune was first to report that San Diego is hiring the former reliever as its next manager. Stammen pitched 12 seasons in the majors, including six with the Padres from 2017 through 2022. He posted a career 3.66 ERA and a 3.36 ERA in 333 outings with San Diego.
This is not a random hire. Stammen was viewed as a steady clubhouse presence when he played and leaned into leadership even as a reliever. The Padres kept him around after retirement.
He has spent the past two years as a special assistant in player development, working both in the minors and with the big club. They clearly saw something they wanted to move forward with.
He now becomes the Padres' fourth manager in five years. Mike Shildt resigned last month after winning 90-plus games in both seasons in charge. San Diego still hasn't broken through in October. They lost to the Cubs in the Wild Card this year and fell to the Dodgers in the NLDS last year.
Albert Pujols had emerged as a serious candidate for the job and was expected to interview this week, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. But San Diego went with the familiar voice.
Stammen knows the room. And now he runs it.
