MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 5, 2023

Mike Shildt

San Diego Padres

Press Conference

Q. Just wondering how the last few weeks have been for you? What's the onboarding process been like?

MIKE SHILDT: The last few weeks have been fantastic. We've been able to align with what's going on with our front office and also with our players, just catching up with staff and figuring out day by day and brick by brick how we're going to move forward and get to where we want to go.

Q. Where are you in the process of sorting out that coaching staff?

MIKE SHILDT: Wish Flash all the best. Love that guy to death. A good opportunity for him in Chicago. So now looking to the roles that we know are open, third base coaching job, bench coaching job. We have a lot of great people that are already on staff with our hitting staff.

So working through that. Just peeling the onion back and talking to people and getting -- we have a few other balls in the air in the organization, so working through a lot of things. But the staff is right at the top of the list.

Q. Is there a chance that (indiscernible).

MIKE SHILDT: We've got guys in place, so again, we're trying to communicate and make sure we're all on the same page and look at the big picture of it while we have the time.

Q. Do you have a lead hitting coach yet? Are you going to arrange that group in a specific way?

MIKE SHILDT: Not yet. Not anybody that we've gotten down the road with that far. They're still in the process.

The biggest thing we talked about is to go back and review with our players, what our players -- have talked about player plan for the offseason with existing staff. So that was a big part of last week and, of course, now we're here this week.

Q. Did you ask Brian to be your bench coach before he left?

MIKE SHILDT: Yeah, of course. I had great conversations and good relationship with Ryan. I think the world of him. I think he was down the road with other opportunities.

Q. Any conversation with (indiscernible) about potential staff opportunities?

MIKE SHILDT: I don't want to talk about staff outside of anything until it becomes official.

Q. Have you had conversation with Juan Soto at all given all that's being talked about?

MIKE SHILDT: I've texted with Juan. I've been trying to get down. I've seen a lot of our players. Had dinner with Joe, Manny, Campy while they were in town when I was in San Diego. Going to go see Croney on Monday, going to take me to a nice Chicago restaurant. Looking forward to that.

I have on this calendar to see Juan on my way down to the Dominican. Juan, Toddy, Bogey in Aruba, so little sun for middle of December. I've had some good texts with Juan. Think highly of him. Good relationship.

Q. When do you plan to be down there to see him in the DR?

MIKE SHILDT: I'm going to see Juan in Miami -- on the 17th is what we have he scheduled. I assume this is public information. Then I'm going to go see Toddy on the 18th and 19th and bounce over to Aruba and see Bogey after that.

Q. What have you gathered from conversations that you've had with the players about what next season will look like and maybe what 2023 was?

MIKE SHILDT: More big picture. A little bit of what '23 was. Want to capture the good and want to capture the areas that we can improve upon.

The big picture about the meetings with the group so far is continue to be impressed by our leadership of our clubhouse and the quality of people we have and the dedication, desire to work together and be great.

I just can't speak highly enough of the guys we have. Joe Musgrove, Manny. These guys have been amazing to work with, to sit down and talk with, hear their thoughts. They have great ones. Shared opinions and philosophies and looking to partner with that group.

So it's just been continually good to get to know them and understand where they're coming from and what they're thinking and how we can work together. Impressive guys.

Q. When you kind of look at the way things were for you before coming to an organization shaped by a lot of guys who meant a lot to you, how do you take that to a new place and bring that from what they brought to you and what you can bring to the organization? And how you can create that new identity, or extend that in San Diego?

MIKE SHILDT: That's a good question. There's a sweet spot to that; right? The good news is what we're creating and continuing to create in San Diego is how the Padres operate. Listen, I come from a place and have been blessed, and no secret, the number of people, high-quality Hall-of-Fame caliber people that have poured into me. I've been able to take advantage of their experiences and just be a part of their career. They clearly poured into mine. That means a lot.

Now it's bringing all the good things that I know that are true about our game and how to compete and then working with and being open-minded. We have a gentleman by the name of Don Tricker on our staff. I used the word "edit". I think it's great. I bring information, there's information that will be brought into the organization, and really it's about editing it.

Dennis has asked a question in the press conference when I first got the job about what when this looks like, and it's about creating a holistic approach and just good baseball using all the different measurables, philosophies, technologies, and then creating a sweet spot where we can bring it together and ultimately create that unification that allows us to move together in a functional manner.

Q. Does the notebook still stand on your desk in the same spot?

MIKE SHILDT: It travels well. It gets more creased every day.

Q. What do you think the benefit to you was of going elsewhere, like going outside the Cardinal silo or just any silo, but seeing the game from another vantage point?

MIKE SHILDT: Huge. I didn't really appreciate that until you leave. Again, highly functional. A lot of strong relationships. A lot of history, a lot of good history, a lot of winning. There's a lot of things you take from it that you move forward. In reflection it's been very healthy for me.

Then also to be able to see, collaborate, get with different organizations, different people, different way of thinking that you go, okay, there are other ways to skin the proverbial cat and be able to listen and communicate with different people and see different philosophies. And I've really enjoyed my time all the way up until this point including the time before I became the manager.

We have a lot of good people with a lot of baseball knowledge and passion, and our front office and our scouting department is very hungry and dedicated to creating a lot of talent, which this organization has done for a long time, and that excites me as well.

Q. In what ways are you a different manager in this job compared to before? I hear a lot of guys say some things change from one job to the next because of how things change. I'm just curious if you've had that sense.

MIKE SHILDT: I will continue to evolve. That's how we get here. I think the starting point at the end of that is I need to be comfortable and confident with what I know and continue to be open-minded to what I don't. That's been a strength of mine really my entire career. Otherwise, I don't get here the path I took without that open mindedness and growth mindset.

Time will tell. Again, I know I'm a better version of myself than I was the last time we played against the Dodgers in the Wild Card in '21, which was good. But there was a lot of things that went well that allowed success to have taken place to get the job.

Again, creating the understanding and openness to realize, okay, what are my blind spots and being open to that and hearing hard conversations and being open to create sweet spots.

Q. Obviously your success in St. Louis, that speaks for itself in terms of track record. As you look for your second stint as a manager, is there anything that you would look to do differently than what you did with St. Louis?

MIKE SHILDT: Again, people talk about the success I had in St. Louis. I was just part of the organization. I was part of a great staff and a great group of players. It was a collaborative effort. Really what am I going to look to do different? Not entirely different because I think that model really works, and that really starts with togetherness and making sure I do my part to create as much functionality and consistency to where we can just focus on playing baseball as much as possible in San Diego.

The good news is we have a lot of people that are like-minded with that. But following up to Ben's point is always looking to evolve. I've done reflection. There are some things that you clearly want to make sure you do a little different you're more aware of that you just -- experiences teach you.

I've had conversation with other managers that have gone through it for the second time. Tony and Jim Leyland and Grady Little, and Clint Hurdle and things like that. I have Mr. Torre on my list at some point to bend his ear, and I'm always grateful for his time.

Just the evolution of what I can do to continue to make myself better for the organization.

Q. Along the whole lines of you'd like to have Bob and the Giants first and Cardinals come in second. Is it nice to rip those Band-Aids off and get through that?

MIKE SHILDT: And I appreciate the fact, and you know me, Jeff, and you guys, it's clearly interesting how the schedule unfolds. Can't deny the fact that there's some interesting matchups at the beginning of the season, but ultimately really -- and the guys locally will know this about me -- it's really how we compete against ourselves.

We play the Padres every night, and we have an opponent that we respect. I talk about staying on things that you've leaned on in the past. One thing I know that works for us in the past and me in the past is we're going to be respectful. We're going to be aware of who we're competing against, but ultimately, we play the game how we play the game.

That can be a distraction. It can be motivating. It can be any number of things, but for me it's going to be good to see some of the people I've had relationships with. But when the game starts, it's really about who plays the game the best and we'll look to be prepared to do that consistently regardless of opponent.

Q. Speaking of which, you open in Korea. What does that mean taking time to think how special that will be for the sport as a whole?

MIKE SHILDT: It's amazing. I love the fact that historically it's been America's game, but the thing about baseball that's so wonderful about it is it's the country's game. I just love the fact and the privilege to be able to be in Mexico City and play the game internationally. And now we go play in Seoul, and it's going to be amazing, especially for Kim and that opportunity for him to get back and play literally at his place that he played in his home ballpark.

I love the fact that the game continues to grow. You look up and look at rosters and how the game is being played internationally, and you see players coming into the Big Leagues from amateur places that continue to grow. That creates opportunities for our wonderful game. I love it. I think it's great.

Q. Coming off last season as you meet with players, is there any sort of common thread as you meet with guys when they talk about last season and what they can improve on collectively heading into next year?

MIKE SHILDT: There are conversations about it. Again, we've talked about the past. I think it's more about being aligned in the future and being proactive about what the group's strong preferences are individually and then what our group non-negotiables are.

And by the way, that sounds like a really good thing to say. I got it from A.J. Ellis. I'm by no means coming up with this one. I think it's great we're using it.

Yeah. Just making sure that we're hearing everybody in an individual sense, create the relationships. Everybody understands that we're going to do this together and as a team. Everyone has their opinions, and that's valued.

The great thing is we have a lot of players with high level of experiences, championship-caliber experiences, high-level playoff experiences, a lot of time in the game. That being said, we don't want to minimize guys that are coming up that also have experiences and make sure their voice is being heard.

Then we bring it all together and create an identity of how the Padres are going to compete. That's the process we're going through right now.

Q. (Indiscernible.)

MIKE SHILDT: To make sure he shows up at the ballpark and he is ready for the first pitch and he is ready to play because that guy is rightfully (indiscernible) to him for winning that Utility Gold Glove. Very impressive player defensively. Very impressive player across the board.

The great news about guys like Kimmy is he can play anywhere. He is open to playing anywhere. He has a great attitude. He is a baseball player. He is a winning player.

The situation of what we have in the moment will dictate perhaps where he plays, but the good news is he is open-minded and likes to play baseball, and he competes and contributes wherever that is. The more guys like that we have, the better chance we get to that World Series championship we're seeking at some point.

Q. (Indiscernible) hired a manager to go into the alignment stuff. How close are you to settling on playing (indiscernible) in the infield? Is that a Spring Training thing?

MIKE SHILDT: Combinations. Talk to guys when we see them about our defensive alignment. The good news is we can talk about things that we've done in the past that have been -- know that playing good defense wins. We played good defense last year.

You look at Toddy, wins a Platinum Gold Glove, sharing a new position. Kimmy is stalwart. Croney is fantastic defensively regardless where you put him. Manny's a Gold Glove caliber third baseman. Expect that to continue for him.

I thought Bogey did a very nice job. That gets rewarded as well from what he did at shortstop where Grish has won two Gold Gloves.

The good news is we have gotten in a place that have played really good defense that have already moved over in different places, and now it's a conversation about big picture, what's the best for the Padres as and then individually. Again, talking to guys about their preferences and non-negotiables and putting it all together.

Q. Obviously Fernando was great in right field last year, but there could hypothetically be a scenario where you could need a center fielder. How would you view the potential balance between what he did at right and maybe finding a home there versus the potential or the opportunity to maybe play center if you need him there?

MIKE SHILDT: Good news is we know he could do it at a high level and confident he could go over. The other good news is we already have a Gold Glove caliber center fielder, so that's outstanding as well.

I would like to reward Toddy for a brief moment. You mentioned about could he play center? Absolutely he could play center field. He has clearly done it in right field. That's a positive. The more positives you have to put guys in multiple spots and have multiple options, the better your club is going to be.

I would like to reward Toddy -- I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago on our radio talk. I couldn't be more happy and proud of Fernando. If you look at what this gentleman has dealt with prior to getting started again on April 20th, missing basically 17 months with three surgeries and some other off-the-field things that were clearly impactful, how he handled that before he got to the opportunity on April 20th, his rehab was fantastic. He was very dedicated to it. He was rewarded by being able to be on the field pretty much every day of the season after missing that time.

Some credit needs to go to our support staff, which they're doing their jobs. You've Scott Hacker, Oscar Bernard, guys that were part of that process did a great job. But Fernando deserves all the credit. Then how he just handled all the challenging circumstances that faced him, especially on the road and did it with a very good attitude, and I thought he had a fantastic year.

Now we've taken the next step with him. Really proud of him, and looking forward to what's next for Fernando.

Q. Did you and Tatis build a unique relationship? Because I know you guys worked closely together during his rehab? How can that help you now with what you guys formed when he was going through what he was going through and you were in the role you were in?

MIKE SHILDT: I got a good opportunity to get close with that group. Again, he helped drive it. I did my small part with it over the last two years.

I enjoy him quite a bit. He's an artist. His canvas is the baseball field. No disrespect to any other players, but physically as good a player as I've ever worked with, just physical ability where.

The other thing I've appreciated getting to know him is his high baseball IQ. He knows the game and sees the game very well. He is a good guy. I just enjoy him.

I've enjoyed being able to continue to get closer to him and look forward to working with him over the next ten years.

Q. How did you find the expectations in San Diego? Obviously, very high-profile, a lot of stars, high payroll, and high hopes of winning a division and going further. How did you find those expectations, and how do you think they ought to be set going into this --

MIKE SHILDT: I love that question. We talk about expectations. They run in a couple of parallels, right? You have the expectation of, yes, San Diego -- and let's pause for a moment to the legacy of Peter Seidler who has created this wonderful vision for the City of San Diego. And you can create a vision, but he also supported the vision of what that can look like for us to win San Diego's first world championship and World Series championship.

You look at that, and that is the goal. There's going to be 29 other managers that sit up here and say similar things that are looking towards that. We've also backed it up. We have a good core of what that looks like remaining in place to make that happen.

I will say this. A trap that can happen and perhaps did -- I don't know -- all I know is moving forward how we'll think about things.

If we prepare every day -- Jeff asked about the schedule. We play against ourself on the schedule, we have an opponent we're going to respect. We get an opportunity every day to get better as the season goes, better as the game goes, series goes, season goes.

So if you create an expectation of just continual improvement and togetherness and playing the game right, you're going to get the best version of your club. So one of the first things is that -- and then a tangible goal -- we need to be able to compete better within our division.

Now, clearly Wild Card teams have historically still won a World Series. We get into the Wild Card, we'll take our shot at it. Let's be a little more competitive consistently which speaks to that body of work day by day, brick by brick that we were discussing. Those are the expectations that lead to a bigger picture expectation. And I want to make sure we're staying present and not losing a vision that is out there without putting the day-to-day, brick-by-brick work together.