A.J. Preller didn’t leave much room for doubt when he talked about Craig Stammen’s place with the Padres.
The president of baseball operations made it clear Tuesday that Stammen, after guiding San Diego to 91 wins, the National League’s top wild-card spot and a sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card round, has support from the people upstairs. That matters in a franchise that has cycled through managers even while piling up five postseason trips in the last seven seasons, the most successful stretch in team history.
Stammen’s path to the job is part of why Preller sounds confident. Unlike Jayce Tingler, Bob Melvin and Mike Shildt, he has been around the organization for most of the last decade, first as a pitcher in Andy Green’s bullpen and later as a special assistant.
"He's been in the organization for the whole run, both as a player, as a staff member, and as a manager," Preller said Tuesday. "I think it was really important for us, in terms of the hire, just somebody that the way we do things as an organization, like to throw things on the table, like to utilize our staff and our people to bounce different ideas around and utilize the experience and intelligence of a lot of really smart people in the building."
Preller also pointed to the way Stammen handles his own mistakes. In his view, that willingness to own missteps is a strength, not a flaw.
"How many times he said to this group here or some of the people in this group here, 'I probably screwed up' or 'I could have done this better.' That's what leaders do," Preller said. "They're good leaders, they're accountable, but they also understand they may not have all the answers all the time, and then they grow from that."
Those comments amount to a straightforward endorsement, and Preller acknowledged the message has been shared with the team’s ownership and top leadership as well.
"Sitting down with [former chairman] John Seidler and [current co-owners] Jose [E. Feliciano] and Kwanza [Jones] and [team president] Erik [Greupner], he's going to keep growing throughout the year," Preller said of Stammen.
"He's got that type of mentality. I think we've all seen that in his ability.
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Padres Owner Just Added Heat To A Rivalry Fans Already Feel
Before the Padres took the field for their wild-card Game 2 against the Cubs, owner Jose E. Feliciano managed to add a little fuel to an already combustible rivalry. In a media session, he took a playful shot at Dodgers owner Mark Walter, joking that Walter "owns a lot of dinosaurs," a nod to the fossil collection displayed in Walters office. The remark spread quickly on social media, the kind of offhand jab that tends to travel fast when San Diego and Los Angeles are involved.
Craig Stammen was asked about the bigger-picture possibility of a playoff meeting with the Dodgers, but he kept the focus where it needed to be. The Padres manager steered the conversation back to the next series and the Milwaukee Brewers, which remains the immediate task in front of the club. Even so, the moment was another reminder that when these two organizations are anywhere near the same October conversation, the edge never stays quiet for long. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Padres, the matchup offers a clear opening. San Diegos lineup brings more power, and its pitching gives it the kind of balance that can stress a team built more on run prevention than long-ball damage. If Milwaukees offense cant produce enough thump, especially in the kind of tight October games that define a short series, this could turn into the kind of flaw that decides everything. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Crow-Armstrong Had A Brutal Take On Cubs Wild Card Exit
The Cubs quick exit from the Wild Card round came with the kind of offensive frustration that tends to linger, especially after being swept by the Padres. Chicago never really found a rhythm at the plate in the series, and Pete Crow-Armstrong was part of that struggle, finishing 0-for-7 with four strikeouts and one walk while the bats around him went quiet as well.
Crow-Armstrong didnt try to dress it up afterward, taking a blunt view of his own part in the loss and saying he has to do better in games that matter most. For a Cubs lineup that expected more in October, his self-assessment underscored just how far short they fell against San Diego and how much accountability will hang over the offseason. [Read more 🡒]