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MLB NEWS WIRE
Managerial hot stove heats up

By MLB.com staff
10/22/2025

10/12 -- Padres join teams in looking for new dugout boss: After a 184-140 record over two seasons and a pair of playoff bids with the Padres, Mike Shildt is stepping away from the game as he announced his retirement. His retirement makes the Padres the 9th team since the beginning of the season to turn over their manager (which includes interim skippers during the season), roughly 30% of the league.

While most of the baseball world was surprised by the announcement, it was apparently not a surprise to the Padres' brass, as Shildt informed the Seidler family, Padres president Erik Greupner, and baseball ops chief AJ Preller that he needed time to decide if he wanted to remain as manager, and they reportedly gave him "all the time" needed to make a decision.

The opening remark in the statement was "retiring as manager of the San Diego Padres", which left some room for interpretation, but the rest of the letter made quite clear that he was stepping away from baseball entirely.

"The grind of the baseball season has taken a severe toll on me mentally, physically, and emotionally," he said in his prepared statement that was posted on all of the Padres' social media accounts. "While it has always been about serving others, it's time I take care of myself and exit on my terms."

Shildt, 57, never played professional baseball, getting right into coaching and scouting after wrapping up his playing career at UNC-Asheville. After a handful of years as an assistant coach in the high school ranks, he became an assistant at UNC-Charlotte (now just Charlotte) before taking a job with Major League Baseball as an associate scout in the early 2000's.

The Cardinals hired him as a regional scout in 2003; and in 2006, was named as a full-time assistant coach in the minors. He held various assistant and managerial roles in the minors through 2016, when he was added to the Cardinals' coaching staff for the 2017 season. He held down the third-base coaching role in the interim before being named as the team's bench coach for the 2018 season.

Shildt would find himself in the big seat on July 14th, 2018, when the Cardinals terminated Mike Matheny as the manager, and Shildt would go on to post a 41-28 record as the interim skipper that season. Through 2021, he compiled a 252-199 record as the Cards' manager before leaving due to "philosophical differences" with the organization.

He would spend just a few short months working as a consultant for MLB before the Padres named him to their staff for the 2022 season. He spent that year in a quality control role before Shildt worked his way up to the managerial seat for the 2024 season after Bob Melvin left to manage the Giants.

Who are the candidates at this point? It's difficult to imagine the Padres not making their first call to Bruce Bochy, who won nearly one-thousand games as the Padres' manager from 1995 through 2006. But does he even still want to manage at 70? Others that could make sense are Guardians assistant Craig Albernaz, Dodgers pitching coach and San Diego native Mark Prior, and current pitching coach Ruben Niebla.

10/13 -- Mets' Alonso expected to decline option; test free agency: The first big domino for free agency appears to have fallen, as it's been reported by multiple outlets that Pete Alonso plans to opt out of the final year of his contract and enter free agency this offseason.

Alonso, who ended the season on the injured list after suffering a high ankle sprain at the end of August, still managed to post a .918 OPS in 2025, his best mark since his rookie season (.948) in which he hit fifty-three homeruns and unanimously won the Rookie of the Year award in the NL that year.

New York was just bounced from the postseason by the Phillies, who are down 1-0 after taking a 13-1 loss to open the series last night. Manager Carlos Mendoza took a lot of heat for the Mets' late-season collapse that prevented them from winning the division, and it was bad enough that both Steve Cohen and player personnel director David Stearns both unequivocally stated that Mendoza would return in 2026.

"Carlos will be back in 2026, and we anticipate him being the manager here for a long time," Stearns said in a recent interview with ESPN. "While we had a disappointing finish, there were still many good things to take away from this season."

Losing Alonso would take a big chunk of their offensive firepower away; and while the Mets' brass have a lot of confidence in Mark Vientos' talent, he's coming off a very poor 2025 after a standout 2024. Alonso declining the option doesn't mean he's not willing to return to the Mets, but not at the $20 million price tag.

"If there's a player that the Mets want, chances are they will have the financial wherewithal to get him," said one unnamed NL executive. "There will be some competition in the end, but I expect that he'll be back with the Mets with a new deal."

One thing that isn't in the Mets' favor is that he's already received a qualifying offer in the past, so teams will be unencumbered in trying to sign him to a long-term contract without fear of losing a draft pick or two. The immediate top suitors for him would be the crosstown Yankees and the Red Sox, but the Giants are also a team that might be involved.

10/13 -- Angels, Suzuki agree to contract: Well, the Albert Pujols speculation didn't last long in Los Angeles, as they have finalized a contract to make former MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki their next manager. It's the second vacancy to be filled, with the Rangers hiring former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker about a week ago.

Pujols is a candidate for several open managerial roles, including Baltimore, San Diego, and Washington. He's considered to be the front-runner for the Orioles' job, but the Padres and Nationals have also shown interest in the former Angel, Dodger, and Cardinals' star.

Despite not being considered for the Angels' role anymore, his personal services contract will not exactly go away -- in fact, he is having the remainder of his ten-year, $1 million-per-year 'personal services' contract paid out prior to taking any job.

Both owner Arte Moreno and player personnel head Perry Minasian were wanting to hire internally for the open role, with former players Suzuki and Torii Hunter the other two candidates and consultants in the front office to Minasian. Hunter is also under consideration for the open Twins' role, but mentioned shortly before the season's end that he was "waiting for the right opportunity".

10/14 -- Royals sign infielder to extension: First broken by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and later confirmed by MLB Trade Rumors, ESPN, and Anne Rogers of MLB.com, the Royals have solidified the left side of their infield for years to come, extending All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia to a seven-year, $87 million extension.

His new deal is guaranteed for five years beginning in 2026, as the Royals are buying out all of his arbitration years plus a year of free agency. He has player options on the final two years, both worth $18 million apiece. He set career highs in nearly every offensive category this year, and is also a newly-named finalist for both the Silver Slugger (utility) and Gold Glove (third base).

He could also earn up to an extra $2 million in incentives per season, with plate appearance escalators worth $200,000 per 100 PA up to 500. He also has a per-year $1 million All-Star bonus.

While he has mainly played third base the last two years, the Royals' brass are reportedly considering a move to second base for Garcia. Second base is a bit of blind spot at both the major league and minor league levels, and with one of their cornerstone players now in the fold for the foreseeable future, a move there would make sense if they can find a suitable replacement in the offseason.

GM JJ Picollo and the Royals' front office are allegedly very high on 2025 first-round pick Josh Hammond, a third baseman, who they think could be a 'fast-riser' in the system and reach the majors within a few years, and could look for a stopgap at third. There's not a lot in the free agent market at the position, but some veterans such as Yoan Moncada or Willi Castro could be options; or a trade for someone like Nolan Arenado from the Cardinals, who could look to unload the final two years of his deal.

If he opts out of his Red Sox contract, Alex Bregman has also been floated as a potential free agent target for the Royals, but would likely be the most expensive option in terms of either prospect capital or actual dollars. Despite an injury-plagued year that limited him to just 108 games, Bregman still managed to hit twenty-four homeruns and twenty-nine doubles, posting a 146 OPS+, the third-best mark of his career.

10/17 -- Rays could make infielders available to trade: Tampa Bay, always looking to improve via trade, are reportedly going to listen to offers for infielders Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe. The 31-year-old Lowe is only guaranteed through this season, but holds a very affordable $11.5 million team option for 2026 that they will likely exercise and then potentially leverage in a deal.

Diaz, on the other hand, has a fully guaranteed $12 million salary for 2026. He also won the league's hit title, collecting a league-best 184 hits on the season. He finished in the top five in the AL batting race at .293. The last three seasons, however, have seen him become one of the best right-handed contact bats in the league, and his power metrics (launch angle, exit velo) have jumped since the beginning of 2023.

Since the beginning of 2023, he has ninety-five doubles and sixty-seven homeruns with a 134 OPS+, tops on the Rays in that period of time.

With top prospects in first baseman Xavier Isaac and infielder Carson Williams on the cusp of the majors, the Rays could be looking to sell expiring contracts to make room for younger, cheaper players that could be ready for a larger role in the majors, something they've always done in the past. They typically do this with pitchers, namely Tyler Glasnow and Zach Eflin, if we're talking recently.

Lowe missed about a month just past the All-Star break with some ankle issues, but still managed to post a 119 OPS+ with twenty-six homeruns and seventeen doubles.

10/19 -- Yankees, Volpe agree to five-year extension: Coming off his best offensive season since breaking into the majors, Anthony Volpe is now under contract for the next five seasons. It's a relatively modest deal by Yankees' standards, but will still get paid nearly $25 million in sum over the final two years of the deal, which are his first two free agent-eligible seasons.

In all, it's a five-year deal worth nearly $40 million, and there weren't any incentives to speak of until the 2029 and 2030 seasons, where he'll get an additional $500,000 per All-Star bid. It's also fully-guaranteed with no opt-outs or team options.

"We're thrilled that we could get something done for him," said Hal Steinbrenner in a statement. "Anthony had his best season as a Yankee last year, and we're excited to see him continue to grow as a player and a person in pinstripes for the foreseeable future."

The 2023 Gold Glove winner set a new career-best in doubles (29) and tied his career homerun mark (21), but did so in about a hundred fewer at-bats than his rookie season. He's the second young AL infielder this week to get a long-term extension, joining third baseman Maikel Garcia of the Royals who signed a seven-year extension just a handful of days ago.

10/20 -- Pujols emerges as front-runner for Padres' job: Along with Craig Albernaz of the Guardians, the Padres have narrowed their search in just over a week to both he and Albert Pujols. Pujols has been a part of FOX Sports' coverage of the postseason, but has notably missed some time as he's been jetting around the country, interviewing for the open positions with the Orioles and Angels, as well as the Padres.

After going 184-140 in just two seasons, Mike Shildt stepped aside from San Diego at just fifty-seven to take a break after posting that the "job was taking a physical and mental toll" on him.

Albernaz is also a favorite for the Orioles' open spot, along with Pujols and former Pirates manager Derek Shelton. Baltimore ousted Brandon Hyde after a 15-28 start, and recently decided to part ways with interim Tony Mansolino despite an improvement on Hyde's dismal 2025 beginning.

Director of baseball operations/vice president AJ Preller is leading the search for the new manager, along with team president/CEO Erik Gruepner. Reportedly, pitching coach Ruben Niebla is not a candidate for the job, but would like to stay in San Diego if not hired elsewhere by another organization. Niebla is also a candidate for the open Nationals position, but was recently dropped as a candidate by the Orioles and Twins.

Current bench coach Brian Esposito was also nixed as a candidate in an update earlier in the week, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that was later picked up and confirmed by ESPN and Baseball America.

10/21 -- Giants to hire Vitello from the college ranks: San Francisco has made baseball history with the hiring of Tony Vitello from the University of Tennessee as their new skipper, as he's the first manager in MLB history to go straight from the college ranks to managing an MLB team without any previous MLB coaching experience.

He replaces Bob Melvin, who was ousted despite having his 2026 option picked up shortly after the All-Star break. He'll also be one of the highest-paid managers in the league at $3.5 million per year through at least 2029, and has an option for 2030.

Posey called Vitello, 47, "one of the brightest, most innovative, and most respected coaches in college baseball," and also noted that his "commitment to developing players stood out." That will be crucial for the Giants moving forward, along with other Vitello traits.

"His ability to build strong, cohesive teams and his passion for the game align perfectly with the values of our organization," Posey wrote in his statement announcing the hire. "We look forward to the energy and direction he will bring along with the memories to be made, as we focus on the future of Giants baseball."

There also wasn't any indication that there were any other targets besides Vitello. He immediately ruled out a reunion between the organization and Bruce Bochy, who won three titles with the Giants in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Others like Skip Schumaker, Brandon Hyde, and even Albert Pujols were not even considered.

Vitello joins a Giants outfit that hasn't been to the playoffs since 2021 when they lost to the Dodgers in five games in the NLDS. Before that, their last foray into the postseason was 2016, two years after their last World Series championship. Prior to Tennessee, the St. Louis native and former Missouri Tiger standout coached at Arkansas and Missouri before joining up with the Vols in 2017.

With Vitello's hiring, the number of vacancies has shrunk to six -- Washington, Baltimore, San Diego, Minnesota, Atlanta, and Colorado. The Rockies still haven't made a decision on interim Warren Schaeffer, but they want to have a replacement for Bill Schmidt in place before hiring a new dugout boss.