After nine seasons as the San Diego Padres Manager, Bud Black has been fired.
The Padres made the announcement with a news release that was released shortly after 12 p.m. Monday.
Later that afternoon, Padres General Manager A.J. Preller talked about the decision, which came after an eight-month evaluation process.
"Last night, I kind of thought at the end of the day that it was the direction we wanted to go in. I wanted to sleep on it, and then woke up this morning and decided to make the move," said Preller. He said it was a really tough call to make because he has grown to like and respect Black since taking over as GM in August.
Black’s career record as Padres Manager was 649-713. During his 9 seasons with the Padres, Black saw different front office hires come and go, yet Black remained, until today. Despite a losing career record, Black’s lengthy tenure with the Padres was a testament to the respect he had with peers and players in the game.
After Preller acquired high salaried players like Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and James Shields this offseason, expectations for this Padres season skyrocketed.
Those expectations have not been met. This season's Padres team is one game under 500, with a record of 32-33 through the first 65 games. San Diego is third place in the NL West, six games behind the first place Los Angeles Dodgers.
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"We've seen so many inconsistencies, you know, the ups and the downs of this team," said Preller. "I'm really just looking for a situation here in the next month or so where we start playing at the level we've shown we're capable of at various times throughout the year."
Bench Coach Dave Roberts will serve as manager beginning with Monday night’s game against the Oakland A’s. The Padres have begun a formal search for an interim manager for the remainder of the season, and Preller said they are considering internal candidates at this point.
