The San Diego Padres are certainly going off the beaten path by interviewing Tom Gordon for their vacant managerial position.
Gordon secretly interviewed with the Padres on Friday, according to CBS Sports’s Jon Heyman. The former pitcher is respected in the game, but he has no experience and hasn’t even come up as a potential manager before anywhere else.
It’s news that Gordon is even interested in a managerial position, as he hasn’t been in the spotlight anywhere recently. The Padres have certainly demonstrated a willingness to take risks under general manager A.J. Preller, as evidenced by their overhaul last winter, but things did not work out this year.
Young, inexperienced managers have been a bit more in vogue in recent years, with Mike Matheny of the Cardinals and Brad Ausmus of the Tigers being hired with little or no professional experience. New Mariners manager Scott Servais has never managed at any level either, though he has a fair amount of front office experience. These hires have worked out better for some than others, and Gordon would join that group.
