Padres hunting for next trusted third base coach after quiet Mets raid

For all the noise that usually surrounds A.J. Preller offseasons, this one started with a whisper. While the San Diego Padres celebrated the surprise hiring of Craig Stammen as manager and tried to reset their trajectory on the field, the New York Mets slipped in and plucked away another dugout voice. 

It wasn’t a star player, blockbuster trade, or front-office coup. It was third base coach Tim Leiper — the traffic cop on the chalk, the veteran organizer of details that rarely makes the press release but always shows up on the margins of wins and losses.

This is where the Stammen era actually starts. The contract is signed, the introductory quotes are out, the disbelief around the industry has had 24 hours to cool. Now comes the hard part: building a dugout infrastructure that fits the vision. 

Padres lose Tim Leiper to Mets, opening key staff lane for Craig Stammen

With Leiper expected to join the Mets’ staff as third base coach, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, San Diego suddenly has one of its more trusted game-day roles open. For a first-time manager stepping into a win-now timeline, that vacancy is less inconvenience and more invitation. Stammen now has a real chance to shape the personnel around him instead of inheriting an entire staff by default. The third base box becomes one of his first big decisions.

Leiper’s résumé isn’t something you casually replace. Nearly three decades in pro ball as a coach, experience across levels, a reputation as a communicator, and the past two seasons serving as the Padres’ third base coach after joining the role in 2024. His fingerprints were on baserunning reads, positioning conversations, and the subtle alignment between what the front office wanted and what the players trusted. For the Mets, installing that kind of experience at third after a turbulent stretch reads like smart, targeted poaching. For the Padres, it’s a reminder: other clubs are watching who you trust and aren’t afraid to make opportunistic moves.

The response in San Diego has to be sharper than shrugging and promoting the next available body. Third base coach is where aggressive vs. conservative gets decided in real time; it’s where scouting reports, positioning data, and dugout feel collide at 27 feet from disaster. With a roster still expected to lean on pitching, defense, and squeezing value out of every run, the Padres can’t treat this as a plug-and-play job. 

Stammen and Preller have the chance — and now the obligation — to identify someone who marries modern information with in-game instinct, who can be an extension of Stammen’s voice on the field rather than a leftover from the last regime.

That’s where this opening could quietly work in Stammen’s favor. As a recently retired Padre who already knows the building, he’s uniquely positioned to blend continuity with a reset. Filling third base coach with his choice allows him to plant a flag early: this is my staff, my dugout language, my standard. Whether the answer is an internal promotion trusted by the clubhouse, an outside hire with a strong baserunning/defense background, or a forward-leaning teacher who syncs with the front office’s data habits, the process itself matters.

If the Mets’ quiet raid stings a bit, it should. Leiper earned that kind of attention. How San Diego chooses its next third base coach will say as much about this new era as any press conference quote ever could.