Bud Black, Manager, San Diego Padres

March 9, 2007 @ 16:00:00

By Chris Kolb
Edited by Nicholas Minnix

Background

At the end of a disappointing playoff series with the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Diego Padres watched as their manager of 12 seasons, Bruce Bochy, left town to manage the Padres' division rival, the San Francisco Giants. The switch by Bochy came as little surprise, as the Padres had chosen not to extend his contract after the team was once again eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. After interviewing several promising candidates, the Padres decided to hire Bud Black, who had spent the past seven years as the pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Despite not having any prior big-league managerial experience, Black has been a well-regarded coach for some time now and turned down a number of managerial positions with other clubs in years past before accepting the Padres' offer.

The hiring of Black made perfect sense for the Padres, as Black is a known commodity in the San Diego area, playing his college ball at San Diego State before pitching for the Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants in the big leagues. Black has been on two World Series Championship teams: as a plery with the Royals (1985) and as a coach with the then Anaheim Angels (2002). His track record of being around a winning ball club played an integral role in his landing a managerial job.

Development

Black comes into a Padres' organization that is at a crossroads of sorts. They have several young superstars-in-the-making, including first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (.304, 24 home runs, 82 RBI, 83 runs scored) and starting pitcher Jake Peavy (11-14, 4.09 ERA, 215 strikeouts); however they also have a bevy of older veterans in pitchers Greg Maddux (15-14, 4.20 ERA, 117 strikeouts), David Wells (3-5, 4.42 ERA, 38 strikeouts) and Trevor Hoffman (46 saves, 2.14 ERA, 50 strikeouts). While there is definitely something to be said for having veteran leadership, Black will be challenged early on in the season, in that his lack of managerial experience will make it difficult for his players to anticipate Black's coaching style. All of the little game-time coaching decisions that managers have to make may bring some level of questioning from both the media and from the Padres' players. That being said, the Padres' core veteran group will play a big role in keeping the team on a straight path during the first part of the season, so Black should be able to ease into his new position somewhat.

Fantasy Outlook

Black's fantasy impact on the Padres will be something to keep an eye on for sure. Black is known for being a laidback coach that has an excellent ability to communicate and instruct his players, so while that approach may work out well in developing the Padres' young talent, it may take some time to see how well it is working with the veterans on the team. That being said, the Padres' offensive production should not experience a significant drop-off with Black at the helm, as he will emphasize a solid grasp on the fundamentals of the game. Black was instrumental in the development of, amongst others, starting pitcher John Lackey. It's possible that Black could have a similar effect on Peavy, who endured a pretty disappointing season in 2006. At 26, Peavy is about the same age as Lackey was when the Angels right-hander, after teasing the team in 2002, broke through in 2004. Peavy was incredible in 2004 and 2005, but last year shoulder problems plagued him and led to the poor showing.

Summary

The Padres play in an extremely competitive National League West division and this season is shaping up to be no different. Each of the five teams playing in the division has made key acquisitions to bolster their roster, so Black will have his work cut out for him. He'll likely have to find ways to win the close ballgames that will inevitably take place if he wants to lead the Padres to another division championship.

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Chris Kolb
Chris Kolb has been a KFFL contributor since 2006.

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