After the 6-3 defeat vs the Dodgers, the Padres announced that interim manager Pat Murphy was fired.
Murphy took over around half way the season after the Padres fired Bud Black. Murphy stepped in with a 42-53 record and with the Padres in fourth place. At the end of the season the club was still in fourth place and sported a 74-88 record. When Murphy stepped in he was promoted from AAA El Paso, where he managed the previous season as well. He even was the Padres AAA manager as they still were in Tucson.
Murphy admitted that the Padres didn’t play good defense and didn’t score enough runs, which had a bad effect on their pitching.
According to Murphy, the team had come together a lot under his leadership.
Personally I think that the Padres make a mistake here. You cannot blame a manager alone for the poor performance of the players. It is the front office who is making the decisions which players are bought or traded. You really can wonder if the managers are to blame if two are fired within one season.
When Murphy managed the Dutch national team with the 2000 Summer Olympics, he managed to make a team out of it which resulted in the historic victory over Cuba, their first ever in the history of the Olympic Games.
Murphy stated that he was grateful for the opportunity that he was given by the Padres.
Perhaps another team will see the added value of Murphy.
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