Bud Black, the second longest-tenured and winningest manager in Padres history behind Bruce Bochy, was fired on Monday in the midst of his ninth season with the team.
Manager Bud Black has been relieved of his duties. pic.twitter.com/OhE7A5dLa2
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 15, 2015
Black had a 649-713 record with the team, never made the playoffs, and finished above .500 just twice in his tenure with the team. After winning the 2010 Manager of the Year award, Black’s Padres never won more than 77 games.
This year, San Diego was off to a 32-33 start after a busy offseason that turned them into a sexy pick in the NL West. They were six games back of the Dodgers in the NL West and four games back of the Cubs in the NL Wild Card race at the beginning of the day on Monday.
Black was the fall guy for the misdeeds of AJ Preller and San Diego’s front office this winter. The Padres watched franchise second baseman Jedd Gyorko struggle for the second straight year, and demoted him to AAA. Right fielder Matt Kemp, arguably the team’s marquee addition, is off to another lousy start and can’t play defense to save his life. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks is stinking once again. The team doesn’t have a competent shortstop. None of their outfielders can really play center field.
The team’s vaunted pitching staff has even struggled. Starter Ian Kennedy has been awful in 11 starts, giving up homers by the bushel. Freshly acquired closer Craig Kimbrel has struggled in his first season outside of Atlanta. Joaquin Benoit, Kevin Quackenbush, and Dale Thayer have been much worse in 2015 than in 2014.
Something had to change with the Padres this year, and replacing Black (a holdover from the eras of both Kevin Towers and Josh Byrnes) was the easiest move to make. But if San Diego keeps sucking wind and struggling in the tough NL West, the Padres front office only has itself to blame. Considering that Justin Upton, the team’s best hitter, is a free agent following the season, 2015 could be San Diego’s best chance to compete…and it hasn’t gotten off to a good start.
