Ranking the MLB managerial openings

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SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 30: Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres, right, celebrates with Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Petco Park July 30, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /

1. San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres are about to pop, and one lucky manager is going to get to take a big chunk of the credit for finally turning the franchise into a long-term winner. San Diego has not been to the playoffs since 2006 and has finished above .500 only once in the last 12 seasons. The closest the Padres have come to fielding a consistent winner in recent history was when they finished over .500 four years in a row from 2004 to 2007 and made the playoffs twice.

Padres owner Ron Fowler has made it clear he is willing to spend whatever it takes to build a winner at this point. Before the 2015 season, the team made an aggressive push and traded for Justin Upton, James Shields and Craig Kimbrel. The Padres were forced to hit the reset button after that series of moves did not work out, but Fowler signed Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado to nine-figure contracts in back-to-back offseasons. More importantly, the Padres have one of the best pipelines of young talent in the big leagues.

Whoever gets the Padres job is in for a treat, as getting to guide Fernando Tatis Jr. from rookie to superstar is going to be special. The 20-year-old hit .317/.379/.590 with 13 doubles, six triples, 22 home runs, 53 RBI and 16 stolen bases in only 84 games. There’s also budding ace Chris Paddack to work with and the next wave of prospects will include Mackenzie Gore, Taylor Trammell and Luis Patino.

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For all of the losing the Padres have done since 1990, they have been very patient with their managers. The Padres have had only three managers since 1995, including Bruce Bochy and Bud Black, who were both in charge for close to a decade. Fowler wants to win, but he does understand the difficulty of being in the NL West. The division finally looks ripe for the Padres to rise up for second behind Los Angeles, and the right manager could be set for years.

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