On Thursday, reports from the Padres' front office said they would hire current Texas Rangers Major League Player Development Field Coordinator and Dominican Winter League manager Jayce Tingler as the 21st skipper in franchise history.
Tinger, 38, has known Padres’ general manager AJ Preller since 2005 when they worked together in the Rangers organization.
The 38-year-old new skipper began his professional playing career in 2003 after being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round. He played in the Blue Jays’ rookie level through Advanced Class-A in three years.
A 25-year-old Tingler was selected by the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 Draft after the 2005 season and moved up to Double-A in the second half of 2006.
After the 2006 season, Tingler decided playing pro baseball would not work out, so the University of Missouri Columbia graduate began his managerial career. In 2007, he became a coach for the Rangers’ Dominican Summer League team. In 2008, he was named the manager and led the team to first place in the two years he managed.
In 2010, Jayce Tingler became the Rangers’ Arizona League (AZL) manager at 29 years old, where they finished in first place. In 2011, he was named the Coordinator of Instruction of Arizona and Dominican Operations.
For the next three years between the 2012 and 2014 seasons, Tingler became the Minor League Field Coordinator for the Texas Rangers.
In 2015, Jayce Tingler joined the Texas Rangers major league coaching staff as the major league field coordinator. Immediately following the 2016 season, Tingler was promoted to one of three assistant general managers.
In 2018, the Rangers fired their skipper Jeff Banister and Tingler was promoted as the team’s interim bench coach for the final ten games. After the season, he was named the Major League Player Development Field Coordinator for the Rangers and coached that role for the 2019 MLB season.
This offseason, he managed the Dominican Winter League’s Leones del Escogido for the first ten games before leaving for the job opportunity with the Padres.