**Update**

Jayce Tingler is reportedly the Padres new Manager. News broke this morning and has circulated online.

Reports have speculated that AJ Preller is looking at candidates he’s familiar with. The first candidate is Ron Washington. The 67-year-old firebrand is all about fundamentals and no non-sense. Something the young Padres could use.

The other candidate we’re hearing about is Jayce Tingler.

Who?

At first glance, it sounds like a character Matthew McConaughey would portray in one of his movies. That’s all I could think of. Boogie Nights?

Anyhow, he’s got an interesting story.

After a collegiate career (which he mashed, surprisingly) at Missouri, he was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 10th round back in 2003. 2 years later, the Texas Rangers would grab him in the rule 5 draft. He would only last through the 2006 season before pursuing coaching. Or, maybe encouraged to coach?

Based on his minor league slash line, he appears to be a small ball guy. He had 221 walks compared to 95 strikeouts. His .378 OBP wasn’t too shabby, nor was his career .989 fielding percentage.

Do these things matter as a Manager? Maybe not, but ballplayers are much more likely to respect a guy that played the game. A guy that played it “the right way”? Even better.

Tingler became a coach for the DSL Rangers in 2007. He managed the DSL Rangers 1 to a first place finish in 2008. They went 46-23. The next year he managed the DSL Rangers 2 to a 47-15 record and another 1st place finish. He managed the AZL Rangers in 2010. Soon after, he’d become the coordinator of instruction for rookie-level operations in the organization. In 2012, he was promoted to minor league field coordinator for the Rangers. He’d serve in that role from 2012-2014.

In 2015, Tingler would be promoted to Major League Field Coordinator. He’d serve in that role for 2 years before becoming an Assistant General Manager. After Jeff Banister was fired in 2018, he became the interim bench coach. After the season he was named the Major League Player Development Field Coordinator.

This offseason, he’s managing Leones del Escogido (which upon further review is NOT Escondido) in the Dominican Winter League.

So, that was a mouthful. What does it all mean? Tingler doesn’t have big league experience, but he’s been impressive as a leader in the lower levels. I can’t think of many Managers that have bounced between the front office and the dugout outside of AJ Hinch. Clearly the Rangers (and the rest of the league) think highly of this guy. I wouldn’t be surprised if Preller pulls the trigger.

If anything, the guy has an outstanding name. That alone is worth the price of admission.