© Jake Roth | 2019 Mar 29
Bruce Bochy is retiring at the end of this season, right? Right???
That been the skipper’s plan since before the season started, but the Padres’ recent firing of manager Andy Green has started the rumor mill churning. In fact, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Bochy is on the shortlist of candidates the Padres would like to interview for the vacant position.
Bochy didn’t exactly shoot down the possibility of being interested in the gig, saying “I’m not even going there,” when asked about it by reporters last week.
So, could this happen? Longtime beat writer Henry Schulman doesn’t think it’s all that likely.
“You know, we had a long conversation that was off the record with Bochy, as we’re sitting in the dugout in Atlanta,” Schulman told KNBR Tuesday. “And of course, it was off the record. I can’t tell you exactly what he said. But he didn’t sound like a guy — I can tell you that tone wise — he didn’t sound like a guy that had any plans to manage next year.”
Still, Bochy has shied away from saying he’ll never manage again, even hinting to KNBR last week that he’s thinking about coaching the French team at the World Baseball Classic.
“(Bochy) said, ‘never is a long time.’ So, you know, if the right situation comes along, if he if he gets tired of retirement, I would not rule it out,” Schulman said.
There’s also the fact that baseball is trending away from offering managers lucrative contracts. Would Bochy really want to return on a bargain deal?
“The only way Bochy would accept something like that, if it was the right place. San Diego is is the one situation where you could possibly see it. It would be a great situation to walk into, whoever going to manage there. When you have some of the youth that you have there. I mean guys like (Fernando) Tatis Jr. and (Luis) Urias the second baseman, the catcher they got in a trade, (Francisco) Mejia, they’re gonna have Manny (Machado) for another nine years and he’s still 27 years old.
“It’s a good situation, and it really comes down to how much you want, really, really want to manage. I mean, he has all the money he needs. But you’re right, I mean athletes and, and managers and whatever, equate money with respect, and I honestly can’t tell you how he would feel about that sort of thing. I know he felt strongly that he wanted some time off so that he could enjoy his life outside of baseball, to some degree when he was still healthy. And I think that jumping in right away to another managing position. It just kind of goes counter to what he said.”
Listen to the full interview below.