Mike Shildt to Join Commissioner’s Office
Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Shildt is said to be taking on a new role in 2022.
After being fired at the end of the season, Shildt was expected to be a candidate for both the San Diego Padres managerial gig as well the New York Mets (both whom have vacancies).
However, Bob Nightengale of of USA Today reports that the 53-year old will work in the on-field operations department at Major League Baseball’s Commissioner’s Office working under senior Vice President Michael Hill.
Shildt had managed parts of four seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals, and was fired in October despite his team’s 46-26 record after the All-Star break which included a franchise record 17 game winning streak. The Cardinals did make the playoffs via wild card, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
A month later, it was announced that the departed Mike Shildt was named a finalist for National League Manager of the Year (which he won in 2019), but ultimately was beaten out this season by San Francisco Giants skipper Gabe Kapler.
Shildt had a 252-199 (.559 winning percentage) as a career managerial record. This will be the first time since 2003 that he will be taking a job outside of the Cardinals organization, as he spent time in both the minor and major league with St. Louis as a scout, minor league coach and manager before being named interim manager after Mike Matheny was fired midway through the 2018 season.
There may be other opportunities that present themselves to Shildt down the road, but in the meantime, it looks like he’ll be happy taking on this new role for MLB.