San Diego Padres Should Hire Ron Gardenhire as Their Next Manager

The San Diego Padres won’t be bringing back manager Pat Murphy next season and have already launched a search for their next head man. While their search will be extensive, they should look no further than former Minnesota Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire.

San Diego has already interviewed the former manager twice, which shows there must be serious interest on both sides. It makes sense for a lot of reasons.

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Gardenhire took a year off this past season, but spent his previous 13 years on the bench for the Twins, where he led them to the playoffs six times. However, their postseason record during that time was a lackluster 6-21. At this point, though, the Friars would take a playoff appearance regardless of that.

During his time in Minnesota, Gardenhire got the most out of some teams that had no business being as competitive as they were. With a Padres team that had no business being as bad as they were last season, he could get them out of their current rut.

After the disaster of 2015, it will be hard to resurrect the team within a single season, but he can definitely help the franchise make strides toward contending by 2017.

He worked with two great young pitchers with the Twins in Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano and would get two more good ones to work with in San Diego with Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross. After disappointing seasons, those two could benefit from his tutelage.

Young pitchers like Andrew Cashner could benefit from the guidance of Ron Gardenhire.                                                       Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Other candidates for the job include Alex Cora, Phil Nevin and Mark Kotsay. Another name being floated around is Dave Roberts. However, Gardenhire is easily the best candidate of that group. He has established himself in the league; the other men have not.

At this point in the franchise’s development, they need a proven leader who will weather the storm as the front office works to put a winning product on the field. Gardenhire is that guy and he’s who should be writing out the team’s lineup next Opening Day.