In full-circle moment, Wil Myers, Bud Black rejoin Padres organization

A.J. Preller’s tenure as the Padres’ “rock star GM” began, essentially, in the winter of 2014, when a flurry of moves included trading for a former AL Rookie of the Year Wil Myers and installing him as Padres manager Bud Black’s center fielder.

So Wednesday’s news that both Black and Myers are rejoining the organization is a full-circle moment.

Black, 68, is returning as a senior advisor to baseball operations several months after he was fired as the Rockies’ field manager, while Myers, 35, is rejoining the organization as a special assignment coach in player development, some 11 years after a three-team trade with the Rays first dropped him into San Diego.

“(He) came out hot and really hasn’t stopped,” Black said Wednesday of Preller. “ … Those slew of trades and acquisitions that A.J. made initially proved to me that he was a doer. He was going to get things done.”

Those things included firing Black after a 32-33 start to the 2015 season, a disappointment for a team that acquired Myers, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Will Middlebrooks and Derek Norris to begin to reset expectations for how a small-market team could become relevant.

While that team flopped, Preller’s Padres — buoyed over the years by the likes of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Juan Soto and plenty of impactful transactions in between — have been made the postseason in four of the last six years, advanced as far as the NLCS and have been in the top five in attendance in every season since 2021.

“There’s no doubt that what has developed here over the years has been impressive, starting with the player acquisition, starting with A.J. coming on board and really not stopping … with what happened over the winter of 2014 to ’15,” Black said. “And it’s just continued and to see the growth of the organization, to see what’s happened at Petco, what’s happened with the fanbase, just the positive feel of the organization, to witness that both from afar and closely, living here in the offseason and coming here to play the Padres a couple times a year, it’s just been so impressive to see everything that’s transpired.”

Black went 649-713 over parts of nine years as the Padres manager. He oversaw just two winning seasons without qualifying for the postseason, served as a special assistant with the Angels in 2016 and then was hired as the Rockies’ manager. Black made the postseason his first two years in Colorado as a wild-card but went 544-690 over parts of nine seasons before his dismissal last summer.

Conversations with Preller about a return to San Diego began in earnest some time after Black’s firing in Colorado. Among his duties in San Diego, Black figures to be a sounding board for first-year manager Craig Stammen, who, like Black, is a rare pitcher turned skipper.

Myers played eight of his 11 years in the majors with the Padres, seeing time in center, right and left field, first base and even some third base. He was an All-Star in 2016, represented the team in the home run derby at Petco Park that year and was a .254/.330/.451 hitter with 134 homers as a Padre. The six-year, $83 million extension signed in January 2017 was for a time the richest contract in franchise history.

Myers departed as a free agent after the 2022 season — after buying drinks for fans at a local bar after besting the Dodgers in the NLDS that year — and played one year in Cincinnati (.541 OPS) before retiring. He’s now a father of two and an avid golfer, but his desire to be around the game again was reinvigorated when he caught up with former teammates in Atlanta last May.

“I’ve enjoyed my time away; I’ve enjoyed being a dad,” Myers said. “But I went down and saw the Padres in Atlanta (and) I got to the field early, I hung out in the training room, I hung out in the clubhouse, I talked to A.J. I missed being around the guys. I missed being around the game.”

That encounter led to attending a pre-draft workout near Myers’ home in Charlotte, N.C., and later the Padres’ fall instructional league in Peoria, Ariz.

“I never envisioned myself throwing BP in the cage, flipping balls and picking up balls,” Myers said. “I never saw myself doing that until I put myself in that situation and (I) really enjoyed it.”

Myers expects his focus to be on offense and helping young hitters make the most of their pre-game swing work. The new job will begin with a three-week stint in spring training that will cover a top-prospect mini camp and the start of minor league spring training. During the season, Myers expects to travel once a month for weeklong stays with the Padres’ minor league affiliates. He hopes to find a window that will allow him to return to Petco Park for the first time since 2022, when he suspects the bar cut him a break on all the shots he poured for fans after besting the Dodgers in four games in the NLDS.

“It was $1,000, which is nothing compared to being able to celebrate with the fans,” Myers said. “It was a ton of fun. That was the biggest game I was part of there in San Diego. It was a really great series and a cool win and a cool atmosphere and to be able to go out and celebrate with the fans that were right there at the ballpark, it was a ton of fun.”

Notable

• Baseball’s international amateur signing period opens Wednesday. The Padres have a $5.94 million pool and are tied to four top-100 prospects as ranked by Baseball America: SS Joniel Hernandez (No. 31, Cuba), SS Carlos Carrion (No. 40, Dominican Republic), LHP Diego Serna (No. 45, Mexico) and SS Timothy Mojen (No. 76, Curacao).
• Pitchers and catchers participating in the World Baseball Classic will report to spring training by Feb. 11, with participating position players reporting by Feb. 12. The Padres’ first pitchers-and-catchers workout is Feb. 11 and the first full-team workout will be Feb. 15.