The Giants are no longer the only contender in the N.L. West looking for a new manager, and Nick Hundley may now have another option to consider.
Padres manager Mike Shildt announced his retirement on Monday morning, meaning there are now eight teams — the Giants, Padres, Angels, Braves, Orioles, Nationals, Rockies and Twins — looking for their next manager. The Rangers had been on that list when Bruce Bochy announced he would not return to manage, but Texas quickly filled that vacancy by hiring Skip Schumaker, one of the most sought-after managerial candidates.
Shildt’s unexpected retirement gives Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey additional incentive to secure his next manager as quickly as possible.
Posey told reporters after firing former manager Bob Melvin on Sept. 29 that he didn’t have a definitive timetable to hire a new manager, saying “it’s going to happen naturally whenever we have some time to sit down and talk with people.”
Posey doesn’t want to rush his first managerial hire, but A.J. Preller and the Padres’ brass will likely have their own interest in Hundley, among others.
San Francisco Giants’ Nick Hundley (5) congratulates San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (40) on his walk-off single which scored San Francisco Giants’ Gorkys Hernandez (7) against the San Diego Padres to win the game 5-4 in the 12th inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, September 25, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Diego is arguably the most appealing available job. The Padres have made the playoffs in four of the last six seasons and feature an incredibly talented nucleus headlined by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill. Preller is also no stranger to blockbuster trades, perpetually willing to sacrifice his farm system to acquire win-now pieces.
“I think it’s a really attractive job,” Preller told reporters on Tuesday. “You’ve got 3 1/2 million fans coming to the ballpark, year in and year out. It’s as good an atmosphere as there is in the game. It’s a great organization. We produce players, we put talented rosters on the field. We go to the playoffs. I think it’s the challenge of winning a World Series in a city that hasn’t done it before.”
Hundley, who’s currently a special assistant to Rangers general manager Chris Young, has strong ties to the Padres. San Diego selected the former catcher in the second round of the 2005 MLB draft, and Hundley played 510 career major-league games with the Padres over seven seasons. Hundley also lives in San Diego with his wife and two children.
Preller and Hundley missed overlapping in San Diego by just a couple months. The Padres traded Hundley to the Baltimore Orioles on May 24, 2014, then hired Preller to be their general manager on August 6, 2014.
Hundley, 42, is not without his connection to San Francisco, spending the ’17 and ’18 seasons as Posey’s backup. He was named the 2017 Willie Mac Award winner during his first season with the team, and was in attendance at Oracle Park last month when Willy Adames was named the 2025 Willie Mac Award winner. Hundley declined an opportunity to interview for the Giants’ managerial job in 2023 due to family reasons. The Giants ultimately hired Melvin to replace Gabe Kapler.
Along with Hundley, the list of candidates who have reportedly interviewed for the position include long-time catcher Kurt Suzuki and Santa Rosa native Brandon Hyde. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt’s name has circulated in recent days, but Vogt is under contract with Cleveland for next season and will likely sign a contract extension.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, pictured Saturday, said he was “pretty disappointed” in comments made by Boston Red Sox skipper Alex Cora on Monday night questioning Baltimore’s success at the plate, calling them “disrespectful to our hitters.” (Terrance Williams, AP)
Hundley and Suzuki have never managed in the majors, but Posey laid out for reporters earlier this month what he truly values in a candidate.
“For me, age is somewhat irrelevant. The experience part, you can have different takes on that,” Posey said. “I’d say what I want … is somebody that’s going to be obsessive about the details, obsessive about work, obsessive about getting the most out of our players, getting the most out of our staff. Somebody that will inspire confidence in our players on the field and also all the interactions that happen off the field as well.”
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Posey has kept his list of candidates close to his chest but told reporters during the Giants’ end-of-season press conference that Bochy would not be considered. Given San Francisco’s recent lack of managerial stability — the team’s new manager will be its third in four years — Posey will likely prioritize candidates who will hold down the job for the foreseeable future.
“I most definitely value stability,” Posey said. “I think stability and success are correlated. A lot of times, we’re in the business of production. If production doesn’t happen, I think you’re going to see more turnover. We both know that as well that it’s our responsibility to create stability through winning and putting hopefully what’s an entertaining product out there on the field that our fans are excited about.”
— Kai Correa, Kapler’s bench coach from 2020-23 and the Giants’ interim manager for the final three games in 2023, is on the move again, reportedly taking over as bench coach with the New York Mets.
Correa had spent the past two season on Vogt’s staff in Cleveland as the major league field coordinator/director of defense, baserunning and strategy.
