San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
WASHINGTON: ALLOW TINGLER TIME
Ron Washington thought he was going to be the Padres’ next manager in 2019. He thinks he should have been.
But he also believes the guy who got the job should still have it.
“This guy deserves another chance,” Washington, the Atlanta Braves’ third base coach, said of Jayce Tingler. “I know this team was supposed to do this and supposed to do that. But if you believe in him — and I’m talking about A.J. (Preller) — you give him another shot to right his wrongs.”
Washington, who was the choice of some in the Padres’ organization before Preller hired Tingler in October 2019, knows both men from their time with the Texas Rangers. Washington was the Rangers’ manager from 2007-14 and went to the World Series in 2010 and ’11. Preller was assistant general manager, and Tingler worked as a minor league coach and coordinator during that time.
“Your first couple years are tough, simply because you’ve never done it before,” Washington said. “Everybody questions you, secondguesses you, everybody is out to get your ass. You have to stand strong. You have to stand tough in your beliefs. You have to stay strong in the type of baseball you want people to recognize you for.”
Washington, one of the most widely respected coaches in the major leagues, wasn’t asked about Tingler. He volunteered his thoughts on the embattled Padres manager.
“He gives a damn,” Washington said. “He gives a damn too much sometimes. Once you get that job and you start thinking everything that happens is on me — which it is — you’re going to be very careful on how you do things. And you can’t. You have to do what’s right. … It takes some time. You can’t take a novice guy and put him in that situation and don’t have anybody around him that can get his ear and help guide him, help mold him and then put him out there and then only give him a year.”
Washington, who the Padres asked in 2019 to be Tingler’s bench coach, said 2021 was akin to Tingler’s first year, as it was his first 162game season.
“I’m looking at the big picture,” Washington said. “I was a novice in Texas. I know how people came after me.”
Prospects in World Cup
Most of the Padres’ youngest prospects have gathered in Peoria, Ariz., for the start of the fall instructional league. A handful, however, are in Mexico for the Under-23 World Cup, headlined by catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela.
The 20-year-old Valenzuela, a switch-hitter, finished his first full season at high Single-a Fort Wayne. He hit .307/.389/.444 with six homers and 62 RBIS in 82 games at low Single-a Lake Elsinore. He finished the year with a homer, seven RBIS and a .245/.415/.327 in 15 games with the Tincaps.
Valenzuela is ranked No. 19 in the Padres system by Mlb.com.
He will represent his native Mexico in the World Cup alongside Double-a outfielder Agustin Ruiz (No. 27) and Fort Wayne outfielder Tirso Ornelas (No. 28).
Ruiz, 22, is tied for the system lead with 21 homers, including six at Double-a San Antonio (.599 OPS) after beginning the year at Fort Wayne (.809 OPS).
Ornelas, 21, led High-a Central with 31 doubles while hitting .248/.344/.389 with seven homers and 55 RBIS.
Catcher Juan Fernandez, infielders Justin Lopez and Kelvin Melean and right-hander Edwuin Bencomo will represent Venezuela, and right-hander Ruben Galindo will represent Colombia.
Scouting shuffle
The reshaping of the scouting department continued Friday, as the Padres did not renew the contracts of at least a half-dozen scouts.
A couple of the people who departed did so for other opportunities, at least one moving to another club and one who took a job out of baseball. At least four area scouts/crosscheckers were let go.
This follows the moves this week to part ways with Sam Geaney, senior farm director, and reassign Mark Conner, amateur scouting director.
International Scouting Director Chris Kemp added Conner’s duties to his own, and Director of Player Development Ryley Westman took over for Geaney.