Six things to know about Craig Stammen as Padres manager:

First, this is a comfort hire.

Like an old shoe. Or your favorite pizza.

It’s certain that Stammen, 41, clicked with Padres power brokers A.J. Preller, 48, and Manny Machado, 33, in his time as a Padres reliever and player development assistant.

Other key Padres figures were colleagues, too. Such as pitching coach Ruben Niebla, bench coach Brian Esposito, right-fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., and pitcher Joe Musgrove.

So there’s no guessing here about Stammen’s personality.

On the other hand, Preller is guessing about Stammen’s ability to lead a team. There’s no track record there.

Second, this is a bargain hire.

Dave Roberts gets a reported $8.1 million to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Craig Counsell gets a reported $8 million from the Chicago Cubs.

Bruce Bochy had an estimated $4.5 million annual salary with the Texas Rangers.

Mike Shildt’s deal had $2 million in average value on the extension Preller gave him in November 2024.

Stammen got a three-year contract. Figure it’s shy of Shildt’s $2 million, reflecting his lack of managerial experience.

Even if it’s $1.5 million in annual value, that’s $9 million to $20 million in Padres savings over the life of the deal compared to upper-tier cost.

From 4 homers allowed to his place in Padres lore, a look at Craig Stammen through the years

The “Stammen Dividend” raises two questions.

Can Preller turn $9 million to $20 million into good value on the field?

And, will Stammen outperform his lower-tier salary?

(I’m assuming Shildt, as reported, indeed forfeited the $4 million due him after he stepped down for health reasons.)

Third, this is a trend-line hire.

Stammen becomes the third unconventional managerial hire this offseason. That is, if there’s still such a thing.

Tony Vitello never worked in professional baseball before Buster Posey signed the University of Tennessee manager last week to guide the San Francisco Giants.

Yet, Vitello wasn’t a low-cost hire. His buyout with Tennessee was $3 million.

At 33, incoming Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera is younger than many big league players. He and pitcher Michael King were teammates at Boston College.

Fourth, Stammen is a play-to-your-strengths hire.

Run prevention and bullpen quality are often Padres strengths. Stammen outsmarted hitters. He was beloved for his competitiveness, poise and willingness to take the ball no matter what.

Fifth, Stammen wasn’t my grand-slam hypothetical hire.

That would’ve been Bochy, with Albert Pujols as the associate manager/hitting coach.

Preller likes Bochy. He twice went to his home in Franklin, Tenn., in his managerial search in 2021. Bob Melvin got that job, perhaps with a push from chairman Peter Seidler. Bochy, implied his late agent Tony Attanasio, didn’t come close to taking that job. The Rangers hired Bochy the following year, and he led the team to the World Series title.

Padres notes: Ramón Laureano returning, more silver for Manny Machado

This week Bochy, 70, returned to the Giants as a special assistant to Posey. He didn’t rule out a return to managing but said, “I’m content with what I’m doing now.”

Pujols interviewed for the Padres’ managerial job.

Sixth, for multiple reasons, this is a mystery hire.

It’s rare for a former big league pitcher to become a manager. Examples include World Series-winning managers Tommy Lasorda and John Farrell.

Mostly, though, it’s the starting pitchers who become managers.

And among the MLB managers who’d never managed at any level, many could draw upon MLB-coaching experience.

Dusty Baker, for example, was the Giants’ hitting coach in the previous five seasons before he succeeded Roger Craig and led his first club to 103 wins.

A classic “bet on the person” addition, Stammen becomes Preller’s sixth hire into the job. Like Pat Murphy, Andy Green and Jayce Tingler, Stammen takes the job having never managed in the big leagues.

“I assume Stammen is someone A.J. trusts and has a good relationship with,” said an evaluator with a neutral club. “No judgment here. I hope it works out well.

“Can’t say I wasn’t a little surprised,” he added.

Let’s go macro one more time.

MLB team executives say it’s very tricky to quantify and put a dollar value on managerial performance. “The noise and variance,” one said Thursday, is considerable.

Stammen hails from the central Ohio village of North Star. Can he adapt to a new occupation fast enough to become a guiding light for a Padres team seeking a fifth playoff berth in seven years and the franchise’s first World Series title?

Or will his on-the-job education prove overly expensive?