Orioles To Hire Mike Shildt In Player Development Role

"Shildt surprisingly stepped down as Padres manager following the season, despite the fact that he had two years remaining on his contract. The decision was Shildt's and did not come from the organization. In the wake of his decision, Shildt explained to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune that the daily grind of managing a 162-game season (plus playoff appearances) had "taken a severe toll mentally, physically and emotionally." Subsequent reporting painted a somewhat strained relationship between Shildt and some members of the organization."

"Shildt has publicly voiced a desire to remain involved in baseball - ideally in a less-demanding player development role. He'll land just such an opportunity in Baltimore under president of baseball operations Mike Elias, with whom he overlapped during the pair's early days as scouts (and, in Shildt's case, a minor league coach) in the Cardinals organization. Shildt's ties to the Orioles organization run far deeper than that early overlap with the team's front office leader now, however."

"The Orioles are hiring former Cardinals and Padres manager Mike Shildt as their new coordinator of instruction in the upper levels of the minor league system, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Samuel Vega, who had been the Orioles' Latin American coordinator of instruction, will now be the organization's coordinator of instruction in the lower levels of the system. The 57-year-old Shildt surprisingly stepped down as Padres manager following the season, despite the fact that he had two years remaining on his contract."

Mike Shildt will become the Baltimore Orioles' coordinator of instruction for the upper minor-league system. Samuel Vega will shift from Latin American coordinator to oversee instruction in the lower levels. Shildt, 57, voluntarily stepped down as Padres manager despite having two years left on his contract, citing the daily grind of a 162-game season and playoff runs as taking a severe mental, physical and emotional toll. Shildt sought a less-demanding player-development role and will work under Mike Elias, a former scouting colleague. Shildt has longstanding personal ties to the Orioles organization from his youth.

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