The Chicago Cubs could have to make a major staffing change in the near future after a surprising piece of news surfaced this week from within the National League.
Less than two weeks after being eliminated by the Cubs, San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt abruptly announced that he would be retiring. This leaves one of the better rosters in baseball in need of a manager and opens a highly desirable job for prospective candidates on staffs across Major League Baseball.
The most significant candidate for the San Diego job who keeps getting mentioned by just about every insider who has weighed in has been Chicago’s bench coach Ryan Flaherty.
Insiders Continuously Mention Flaherty For Padres Job
Flaherty began working for the Padres after his playing career came to a close and worked his way all the way up to bench coach during the 2023 season after serving as acting manager in 2022 when Bob Melvin was in COVID protocol.
When Shildt got the job two years ago following Melvin leaving, he and Flaherty were the two top candidates for the job, but losing out caused him to join Craig Counsell’s staff in Chicago instead. Now that Shildt is out of the picture, it would make a lot of sense for San Diego to return and offer the job.
Most notably, just about everyone who has reported on the subject named Flaherty as someone to watch here. Bob Nightengale of USA Today said he will be a candidate, as did Jon Heyman of the New York Post (subscription required). Heyman’s colleague Joel Sherman also named Flaherty as one of two names to watch.
Will Cubs Actually Lose Flaherty?
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and it certainly seems like the Padres are going to have some real interest in bringing Flaherty back to the organization. With two more years of experience than he had when he left, plus the fact that he has been within San Diego’s clubhouse in a prominent role already, it’s hard to imagine that more attractive candidates would emerge.
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Losing Flaherty would be a significant hit to Counsell’s staff, but it’s part of the reality of fielding an elite coaching staff and having success in Major League Baseball.
If Flaherty were to land the Padres job, it’s very much in the realm of possibility that Chicago will have to go through one of their own next season in order to make a deep playoff run.
Time will tell if that’s the way things play out.
