Padres should take one lesson from Dave Roberts’ success with the Dodgers

Dave Roberts earned his first managerial victory at Petco Park. The Dodgers beat the Padres 15-0 on Opening Day in 2016, which feels almost too cruelly symbolic in hindsight. Roberts recently collected his 1,000th regular-season win. During that climb, he has led LA to nine division titles, five NL pennants and three World Series championships. Meanwhile, the Padres have continued to change the name on the manager’s office.

Andy Green. Jayce Tingler. Bob Melvin. Mike Shildt. Now Craig Stammen. Five full-time Padres managers since Roberts took over the Dodgers. Throw in Rod Barajas’ brief interim stint, and the revolving door continues to spin. 

We can roll our eyes at the Dodgers all we want. We can complain about the payroll, deferred money, superstar shopping sprees and every other advantage. None of that changes a very specific lesson.

What the Padres can learn from Dave Roberts and the Dodgers

Successful organizations choose a direction and stay in it long enough to build something. The Dodgers did that with Roberts. The Padres should do it with Stammen.

A recent USA Today examination of Roberts’ success pointed toward the trust and organizational alignment behind his remarkable run. Roberts has obviously managed loaded rosters, enormous egos and relentless expectations. The Dodgers have not once panicked.

They trusted what they have. They trust their structure and Roberts. Even more importantly, the front office and manager have kept going in the same direction.

The Padres have spent the last decade behaving as if the manager’s chair comes with an eject button. The problem is managerial churn creates the illusion of progress. A new voice walks in and players praise the energy. There’s new buzz language coming from the coaching staff. Everybody talks about accountability and communication. Then adversity arrives, the season gets uncomfortable and the organization starts wondering whether another voice might fix everything.

Eventually, we have to stop pretending the voice is always the problem. Stammen was an unconventional hire. The Padres handed a win-now roster to a first-time manager whose candidacy barely registered publicly before he got the job. That was a massive bet by Preller.

So if Stammen is supposed to lead, give him time and let him do it. Let him make decisions without feeling too much pressure from the front office. Allow him to disagree with Preller. Let him endure mistakes, learn the rhythm of the job and develop an identity beyond being the former reliever everybody likes.

A manager cannot build authority while operating as a well-dressed messenger for the baseball operations department. Players spot that arrangement immediately. And so do the fans.

Roberts became Roberts because the Dodgers gave him time, resources and institutional backing. He was allowed to survive brutal postseason exits that would have sent plenty of organizations hunting for a scapegoat. Los Angeles kept the larger picture in focus, and that patience produced 1,000 victories, 10 postseason berths and three championships.

Stammen hasn’t earned that kind of standing. He needs the opportunity to build it. If he truly is the Padres’ long-term answer, it’s time for the organization to act like it.

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