Padres bring back pitching coach Niebla on multiyear deal (source)

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres and pitching coach Ruben Niebla have finalized a multiyear contract to keep Niebla in San Diego, sources told MLB.com on Friday.

The club has not yet announced the deal, which was first reported as being final by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The Padres typically prefer to unveil their entire coaching staff in one announcement.

Niebla will be entering his fourth season in charge of Padres pitchers. His first three campaigns were wildly successful: the Padres twice reached the playoffs, and when they didn’t in 2023, they still posted the lowest rotation ERA in the Majors.

In Niebla’s three seasons, San Diego pitchers have notched a combined 3.80 staff ERA and 56.9 WAR, per FanGraphs -- which checks in third in the Majors, below only the Phillies and Braves.

Here's what Niebla's return means for the Padres:

1. They kept their guy
Niebla is viewed by some as a potential future managerial candidate. He's well-liked by his players. He's forward-thinking with data. He communicates that data into digestible language and cues for his pitchers. And he's a bilingual Spanish speaker, able to build meaningful connections with his players.

So yeah, the Padres wanted him back. Throughout the process, no other outcome ever seemed likely.

"We’re going to reward the people that perform," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said recently. "Ruben’s been a big performer. Looking forward to him being a big part of the Padres organization for a long time."

Now the Padres need rotation help, after Martín Pérez's departure via free agency and Joe Musgrove's Tommy John surgery, which will force him to miss the 2025 season.

With Niebla back, the Padres have an enticement for free agents, considering the boost he's given so many of his pitchers, even dating back to his time in the Cleveland organization.

2. The Padres are close to finalizing their staff
Earlier this week, manager Mike Shildt signed an extension which runs through the 2027 season. Shildt repeatedly focused on the value of his coaching staff during a media availability following that extension.

"I'm looking forward to the staff staying together, being together, growing together, taking the next steps," Shildt said. "That continuity between the staff and the players on the field, we've established a good, good base."

Shildt said that in the preliminary negotiations around his extension, he made it a priority to retain his staff. Preller didn't confirm that the entire coaching staff would return, but he hinted that an announcement could come soon and that it would contain plenty of continuity.

"It was pretty easy to be able to be on the same page in terms of bringing this group back," Preller said Wednesday. "We'll have more to say over the course of the next few days, the next week or so. But from Mike and my standpoint, we think we have a super talented group."

3. Another reliever-starter transition incoming?
One area where Niebla has thrived: helping career-long relievers transition into valuable starting pitchers. He did so with Seth Lugo in 2023 and Michael King in ’24.

The Padres have vacancies in their rotation, and guess what? They might be eyeing that avenue again.

“I think we’ll also look at some guys from the bullpen, see if, as a group, they have a chance to lengthen out and start,” Preller told MLB.com’s Sonja Chen at the GM Meetings in San Antonio.

In both cases, neither Lugo nor King was hindered by an innings-limit. Instead, both were carefully monitored throughout the season, and the Padres picked extra days here and there to get them rest. But as long as the pitchers hit their checkpoints, physically and mechanically -- baseline checkpoints crafted by Niebla in the preseason -- they pitched on. Both turned in excellent seasons in which they pitched to the finish line (and, in King’s case, into October).

Preller mentioned the possibility of internal options for a similar transition. Adrian Morejon, once a highly touted prospect who dealt with injuries that sent him to the ‘pen, is the most obvious candidate. Bryan Hoeing -- who pitched exclusively in relief after his Trade Deadline arrival from Miami, but has also spent time as a starter -- could be another. (Though Hoeing seems a less likely option, considering his poor career splits as a starter.)

In any case, the Padres could also look at external buy-low candidates, knowing that -- with Niebla on board -- those types of pitchers have thrived.