SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres on Monday introduced Craig Stammen as the sixth managerial hire under president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. They did not simultaneously announce a contract extension for Preller, an outcome some members of the organization had once anticipated.
Preller, the Padres’ longtime general manager, and chairman John Seidler will continue talks about a long-term deal. Team and industry sources continue to expect an eventual agreement in the coming weeks.
Stammen received a three-year contract to manage the Padres through 2028. For now, Preller remains signed only through next season.
Does Preller expect to be extended?
“Craig asked those questions,” Preller said. “Honestly, (the managerial) candidates, all of them asked those questions in terms of, obviously, you’re signing up for the job, that relationship between general manager and manager and just talking about what that looks like. … Craig specifically, I think he’s signing up because he has a lot of trust, belief in the organization. I think it was important for him in his decision, as well.
“Like I said before, I’m looking forward to being here for a long time, and I’ll continue having those conversations and see where it goes.”
Preller’s lack of a completed extension stands in contrast to other top officials’ statuses. In 2024, the Padres publicly extended then-manager Mike Shildt through the 2027 season and, as The Athletic reported last month, quietly extended CEO Erik Greupner with a multiyear deal. Late Padres owner Peter Seidler had already extended Greupner, who runs San Diego’s business operations, and Preller through 2026.
As both executives helped oversee the Padres’ rise to national relevance this decade, Preller made repeated headlines with blockbuster trades and splashy signings. His finest work, though, might have come over the past two seasons, after Peter Seidler’s death and without the unwavering support and unprecedented resources the owner provided.
The Padres won 93 games in 2024, their most victories in more than a quarter-century, before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. A year later, San Diego won 90 games before falling to the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card round.
Shildt resigned less than two weeks later, citing his health as the primary reason and becoming the fifth full-time manager to depart since Preller was hired away from the Texas Rangers in 2014. In that span, no other major-league GM has been afforded as much managerial or coaching turnover. In 2026, Preller will attempt to sustain the club’s on-field success with a roster that features ample talent and several nine-figure contracts that could hamper those efforts.
Still, San Diego has enjoyed unusual prominence for a smaller-market franchise. The Padres made four trips to the postseason in the past six seasons, writing a new chapter in their mostly dismal history; in their first half-century of existence, they had gone to the playoffs a total of five times. Since big-league stadiums reopened to fans in 2021, Petco Park has ranked in the top five each year in total and average attendance.
Stammen’s promotion, from a special assistant with no formal coaching experience to a rookie manager with a veteran roster, indicates Preller still possesses significant autonomy. It was less than two years ago that the Padres hired Shildt as manager over Ryan Flaherty, who was described by team sources as Preller’s personal preference. Flaherty interviewed for the job again in October, but people familiar with the Cubs bench coach’s thinking said he was less interested this time.
Ultimately, Preller selected another candidate he knows well. Stammen, a key reliever for the Padres from 2017 to 2022, has been tasked with pursuing the franchise’s first World Series title over the next few seasons.
Preller could soon join him in enjoying similar job security.
“I say it all the time: I love San Diego and the city and the organization. I enjoy my job and hopefully do an OK job with it,” Preller said. “But (I am) also under contract for next year, and we’re in a spot where we’ve got to put a coaching staff together.
“That’s really the focus, and I’ll continue to have conversations with John about my contract.”
Since Shildt’s departure, hitting coach Victor Rodriguez and third-base coach Tim Leiper have left to join the Houston Astros and the New York Mets. Preller said the Padres could seek to find replacements and round out Stammen’s staff in the “next week or so.”