San Diego Padres fire Andy Green

The San Diego Padres have fired manager Andy Green, it was announced today. The Padres, who were expected to be contenders with their deep group of terrific young players and the addition of Manny Machado, are 69-85 this year.

Green was hired after the 2015 season — Bud Black, who former Ranger front office man A.J. Preller inherited when he took over as general manager in 2014, was fired partway through the 2015 campaign — but topped out at 71 wins in 2017.

This move is mainly interesting to me because of Preller’s former Ranger ties, and the possibility of there being a Ranger connection with the next manager. Jon Morosi says that Moises Alou, the former major leaguer and son of former major league player and manager Felipe Alou, is a strong candidate, while T.R. Sullivan says Ron Washington would be perfect for the job.

Another I’d keep an eye on is Clint Hurdle, who was held in very high esteem by the Rangers braintrust when he was the hitting coach for the Rangers. Hurdle has had some success in stints managing the Rockies and the Pirates, but the wheels have come off in Pittsburgh this year, and Hurdle, the current Pirate manager, appears likely to take the fall.