Pat Murphy will not be getting the “interim” tag removed from his job title. Shortly after their regular season finale, the San Diego Padres announced that Murphy will not return as the team’s manager next season. The San Diego Union-Tribune‘s Dennis Lin was first with the news on Twitter:
Padres announce that interim manager Pat Murphy will not return in the same capacity in 2016. Search for new manager begins immediately.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) October 4, 2015
Murphy took over as interim manager after Bud Black was dismissed on June 15. The Padres were 32-34 and six games out of first place in the NL West at that point.
But the team went 42-54 under Murphy’s watch, failing to rebound from a disappointing start and follow through on expectations that were raised after a frenzied offseason splash by general manager A.J. Preller. The front office seemed to feel that it was possible to make a run into contention, neglecting to deal away players such as Justin Upton, Joaquin Benoit and Ian Kennedy who can leave via free agency after the season. San Diego finished with a 74-88 record, 18 games behind the first-place Dodgers.
“I don’t think I got a chance to be me,” Murphy told reporters before Sunday’s finale. “I didn’t get to set the tone the way that I wanted to do it. I found out that my inner self isn’t great unless I really get to put my mark on it.”
Lin added in a subsequent tweet that it’s not yet known if Murphy will take another role in the Padres organization, speculating that he will probably move on. In an earlier article, Lin reported that Phil Nevin has surfaced as a possible managerial candidate, with hitting coach Mark Kotsay another possibility.
