Padres hire Shildt as next manager

Mike Shildt has been hired as manager of the Padres, returning to the dugout two years after he was suddenly fired by the Cardinals following a third straight playoff appearance. The Padres announced Tuesday that Shildt had been given a two-year contract. Shildt, 55, replaces Bob Melvin, who was hired away by the NL West rival Giants on Oct. 25 with a year left on his contract with the Padres. That ended a fractured two-year relationship with general manager A.J. Preller. Shildt was voted NL Manager of the Year in 2019 while with the Cardinals. He takes over a big-spending team that flopped dramatically in 2023, a year after making a stirring run to the NL Championship Series and after increasing its opening day payroll to $258 million, third highest in the majors. Shildt has been a senior advisor to the major league staff and player development department with the Padres since 2022. He’s the Padres’ third manager in four seasons and the fifth full-time manager under Preller since midway through the 2015 season. Preller’s teams have never won a division title.

Brady quick to have Belichick’s back

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding Bill Belichick and whether he will be the coach of the Patriots after this season. With all the success he’s had in his 20-plus year run with the team, it’s hard to imagine someone else taking over. For Tom Brady, who helped lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships, Belichick not being on the Patriots’ sideline is something the future Hall of Fame QB has a hard time thinking about. “I think he’s an incredible coach,” Brady, above, said during his appearance Monday on ‘The Stephen A. Smith Show.’ “He’s the best coach, in my belief, in the history of the game. The thought of him not being in New England is hard for me to think about. ... He prepares the team really well. And ultimately, you gotta have a lot of people around you to succeed. You gotta have a lot of things in place for the organization to be successful.” It’s been an abysmal season for the Patriots, who sit at 2-8. Still, Brady believes that Belichick hasn’t changed the way he coaches over the years and continues to prepare the team the same way he did during the franchise’s glory years.

Dest draws ire of US coach, captain

Sergiño Dest lost his composure in a needless dispute with the referee, getting a pair of yellow cards for dissent in a 30-second span that endangered the United States’ berth in next year’s Copa América. Trinidad won 2-1 on Monday night in Port-of-Spain, overcoming a deficit by scoring twice after Dest’s 39th-minute ejection left the U.S. a man short. The Americans held on to win the total-goals series 4-2 and earn spots in the 16-nation Copa América and the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals. U.S. captain Tim Ream revealed there were “choice words” for Dest at halftime. The U.S. was in control until Dest, upset officials ruled he didn’t keep a ball from going out near midfield, punted the ball away toward the far end. That earned the first yellow from Guatemalan referee Walter López, “It’s inexcusable,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. Dest, 23, argued with López as Gio Reyna and Ream tried to keep him away. López raised two fingers and showed a second yellow and a red. Dest will be suspended for the Nations League semifinal in March. — Associated Press