New Sheriff in Town! Padres Hire Battle-Tested Manager to Lead Team to Glory

Former Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais will be sharing a spring training facility with his former employer as he joined the San Diego Padres in a new role.

Servais will serve as a special assistant in player development, the San Diego Union-Tribune confirmed.

Over nine seasons with Seattle, Servais posted a 680-642 record, including two 90-win seasons. However, the 57-year-old manager only made one postseason appearance with the Mariners and was dismissed after the team lost the AL West lead and fell from a 13-game advantage over .500.

Servais was just the second manager in Mariners history, after Hall of Famer Lou Piniella, to guide the team to a playoff appearance. However, he was let go following a 1-8 record on a nine-game road trip that included losses to the Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers.

When the Mariners let Servais go, they were 64-64.

Servais brings valuable experience to his new role. The former major league catcher served as the Texas Rangers’ senior director of player development from 2006 to 2011, where he worked alongside current Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller.

He then spent four seasons as an assistant general manager for the Los Angeles Angels, with a focus on player development.

Servais also worked with Padres farm director Ryley Westman and assistant farm director Mike Daly with the Texas Rangers organization.

This isn’t the first time the Padres have hired a former manager in a less important role.

In 2022, shortly after being let go by the St. Louis Cardinals, Mike Shildt joined the San Diego Padres as a player development consultant. Shildt, who took over as the Padres’ manager from Bob Melvin last offseason, was given a contract extension through 2027 in November.

In August, Servais expressed his desire to continue managing in the future, though his name wasn’t connected to any of the managerial openings that came up last fall.

This new role in San Diego doesn’t alter his goal of returning to a major league dugout, but it offers him an opportunity to stay involved in the game from a different perspective.

Servais, a Wisconsin native, had an 11-season MLB career from 1991 to 2001, playing as a catcher for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and Colorado Rockies.