Padres may have just eased a real development concern with reunion with ex-manager

The Padres don’t have a “talent” problem. They have a translation problem.

It’s one thing to acquire players, draft athletes, stack tools, and talk about upside. It’s another to turn all of that into a clean, repeatable pipeline that produces big-league contributors without needing a miracle at the trade deadline. That’s the part San Diego has felt wobbly about for years — not because the organization doesn’t work, but because it too often feels like it’s held together by urgency and improvisation.

That’s why the Bud Black reunion matters more than it looks.

Per Tom Krasovic, Preller met with Black for a few breakfasts this winter, got a feel for the fit, then brought him in last month as a special assistant. Yes, the history is the hook: Black was the manager who got fired when Preller was just getting started as a general manager. This could’ve been awkward. Instead, it reads like something the Padres finally did with cold clarity — bringing back a baseball lifer because the organization needs more adult, steady eyes on the process.

Padres’ Bud Black reunion quietly reveals what they’re fixing behind the scenes

Black distilled his job into a simple line: watch baseball and talk baseball. But that’s not small. That’s the whole point.

The Padres are asking Black to scout their minor leaguers in spring training, then continue tracking them in San Antonio, Fort Wayne, and Lake Elsinore. They’re also plugging him into amateur scouting for the draft under Chris Kemp. And just as importantly, they’re positioning him as a sounding board for managers and coaches — which is where this gets sneaky valuable.

Black brings credibility that doesn’t need explaining. Fifteen big-league seasons as a pitcher. Seven years as a pitching coach. Time as a scout. Eighteen years managing. Thousands of games seeing what works, what breaks, and what young players actually need when the adrenaline hits.

And the Padres didn’t stop there. Black’s colleague in this lane is Scott Servais, another well-regarded special assistant. Farm director Ryley Westman is matching those voices with minor-league staff. Craig Stammen — in his first year managing or coaching at any level — called the support “absolutely super.”

Read between those lines: San Diego is trying to remove chaos from the pipeline. Not with slogans. With infrastructure.

Black has seen what a championship feels like — as a player on the 1985 Royals and as the pitching coach on the 2002 Angels. He’s not here to cosplay nostalgia. He’s here because the Padres know the margins matter, and they’re finally staffing them like they mean it.