{"id":591667,"date":"2026-02-25T07:23:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/591667\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T07:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:23:37","slug":"former-manager-bud-black-is-again-a-piece-of-padres-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/591667\/","title":{"rendered":"Former manager Bud Black is again a piece of Padres’ ‘puzzle’"},"content":{"rendered":"

PEORIA, Ariz. \u2014 When the Colorado Rockies fired longtime manager Bud Black in May, the San Diego resident could\u2019ve opted to wind down a professional baseball career he began in 1979 as a Seattle Mariners draftee out of San Diego State.<\/p>\n

Not going to happen, I thought.<\/p>\n

As Padres manager, Black never seemed to wear down over eight-plus seasons. He likes the absurdity of 162 games in six months. I can\u2019t confirm he smells like pine tar, but Black\u2019s a certifiable baseball lifer, a true seamhead.<\/p>\n

Seeing Black as a candidate to fill several roles for the Padres this year, A.J. Preller had a few breakfasts with him this winter to get a feel for the fit, then hired him last month as a special assistant.<\/p>\n

Never mind that Black, 68, was fired as Padres manager when Preller was starting out as a general manager.<\/p>\n

Preller appreciated that Black worked well with others while applying the know-how he built up as a pitcher in 15 big league seasons, a major league pitching coach for seven years, a scout for two years and thousands of big league games he managed across 18 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had a lot of respect for Buddy,\u201d Preller said this week. \u201cI\u2019ve seen him do a lot of good things in baseball \u2013\u00a0 with Cleveland, with San Diego, with Anaheim and across the way with Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a really good baseball mind. He loves San Diego, he loves the Padres. We\u2019ve always maintained a good relationship. And I know he wants to give back. He wants to give back to the team in his hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Diego Padres chairman John Seidler, right, talks with Bud Black during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.(Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Black said his Padres duties come down to this: \u201cWatch baseball and talk baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s scouting Padres minor leaguers in spring training and will track them further in San Antonio, Texas; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Lake Elsinore. Leading up to the summer draft, he\u2019ll also scout amateur players as directed by Chris Kemp.<\/p>\n

Black will also serve as a sounding board to the organization\u2019s managers and coaches.<\/p>\n

His colleagues include former longtime Mariners manager Scott Servais, a well-regarded special assistant in player development and baseball operations. Farm director Ryley Westman will match Black and Servais with staff in the minors.<\/p>\n

Craig Stammen, who begins his first year as a manager (or coach) at any level, said the tandem of Black and Servais has provided him \u201csuper\u201d support.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely super,\u201d Stammen added.<\/p>\n

\"Peoria,Peoria, AZ \u2013 February 19: Bud Black, senior advisor to baseball operations for the San Diego Padres watches during a spring training practice on February 19, 2026 in Peoria, AZ. (K.C. Alfred \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cBuddy\u2019s gotten after it right out of the gate, which I wouldn\u2019t expect anything less,\u201d Preller said. \u201cIt\u2019s every day. He\u2019s jumped into it full throttle, which is cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black pitched often for the 1985 Kansas City Royals team that won the franchise\u2019s first World Series trophy.<\/p>\n

When the Anaheim Angels claimed their only World Series title in 2002, he served as their pitching coach.<\/p>\n

Black said he\u2019s eager to help the Padres win their first trophy, no matter how far down the margins he works.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love baseball \u2014 love it \u2014 and I love the competition,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be a piece of that puzzle when it all comes together, I like that. The team is sort of like a puzzle. You put it together. I like that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PadresPadres general manager A. J. Preller and manager Bud Black talk before batting practice during a spring training practice. (K.C. Alfred, The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Although Black said nothing beats playing in the big leagues, he described his Angels experiences as magical.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we won one in Anaheim, to see others enjoy it, it\u2019s a great feeling,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said by one former colleague to have the knack of \u201cmaking everybody he meets feel good,\u201d Black said he\u2019s renewed by another incoming baseball season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what I like the most about it? I like the calendar,\u201d he said. \u201cI like the everyday process and journey to try to get to the World Series.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us who do this, we have an internal clock that, it\u2019s really hard to shut off.\u201d<\/p>\n

At age 68 and grateful for another spring training, it\u2019s not Black\u2019s time to unplug.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PEORIA, Ariz. \u2014 When the Colorado Rockies fired longtime manager Bud Black in May, the San Diego resident…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2407],"tags":[5,853,4,43,137,18,4339,4338,185,3546],"class_list":{"0":"post-591667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego-padres","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-padres","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-padres","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-sandiegopadres","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116130074736501883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}