Padres hire Mike Shildt as new manager

Flashback: Shildt fills the vacancy left when former manager Bob Melvin took a job with the rival San Francisco Giants last month after leading the club for two seasons.

Zoom in: The Cardinals made the playoffs in each season Shildt managed them, including in 2019 when he won National League Manager of the Year after leading the team to the NL championship series.

• He was born and raised in the Charlotte, North Carolina-area, and coached college, high school and youth baseball there until he was hired as a Cardinals scout in 2004.
• Shildt spent 18 years in the Cardinals organization, with eight as a minor league manager and three managing the big league club.
• "I have a broken heart," Shildt told USA Today of his firing. "It still hurts. It hurts bad. When it first happened, I broke down. I was inconsolable. It got better as time went on."

What they're saying: "Mike is a proven winner as a manager at the Major League level, and he brings over two decades of experience in professional baseball to the position," general manager AJ. Preller said of the hire, in a statement.

Zoom out: Shildt takes over the Padres as the organization is in flux.

• Peter Seidler, the team's owner and chair, died just a week ago
• The team announced late last week that minority owner Eric Kutsenda will take over as chair and interim control person.
• The team's coming off a disappointing season in which they missed the playoffs and are reportedly aiming to slash payroll by about 20% to $200 million.