Padres hire Craig Stammen as new manager: Former reliever was serving as special assistant to A. J. Preller

The San Diego Padres have hired former major league reliever Craig Stammen as their next manager, the club announced on Thursday. The contract is for three years. Stammen, 41, becomes the 24th manager in franchise history. 

“Craig has been a strong presence in our organization for nearly a decade,” Padres president of baseball operations AJ Preller said in a statement. “He possesses deep organizational knowledge and brings natural leadership qualities to the Manager’s chair. As both a player and in his post-playing career, Craig has displayed an ability to elevate those around him. His strength of character, competitive nature and talent for bringing people together make him the ideal choice to lead the Padres.”

As a player, Stammen pitched for parts of 13 seasons in MLB, including six with the Padres from 2017 through his final season in 2022. Since retiring as an active player, Stammen has worked for the Padres as a special assistant in the player development department.

The hiring of Stammen will come as a surprise to some, as legendary slugger Albert Pujols had very recently appeared to be far along in the interview process and seemed to be the frontrunner for the Padres job. 

Stammen inherits a Padres team that went 90-72 before falling to the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Series. Soon after the team was eliminated, then-manager Mike Shilt resigned from the post in a surprising move. Shildt guided the Padres to the postseason in each of his two seasons on the job. Overall, the Padres have made the playoffs in four of the last six seasons. 

While the Padres figure to contend again in 2026, Stammen nonetheless steps into a bit of an uncertain situation in San Diego. The rotation is primed to take significant losses, as both Dylan Cease and Michael King are pending free agents and Yu Darvish will miss the entire 2026 season after undergoing major elbow surgery. As well, the farm system has been gutted by Preller’s recent win-now trades and ownership’s ongoing willingness to sustain the team’s high payroll is left to question.