⚡ LATEST UPDATE: Padres bring in a free-agent pitcher whose link to the new manager raises eyebrows across MLB ⚡.NL

The San Diego Padres re-signed Kyle Hart to a one-year, $1.2 million deal this week, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported the Padres’ hiring of manager Craig Stammen helped him make the decision.

Former Padres manager Mike Shildt announced his retirement after the 2025 season, and the Padres rushed to find their new manager before making any signings this offseason. The Padres hired Stammen to take Shildt’s spot, and he has already begun to work his magic in a place he is familiar with having spent the last two seasons as an assistant to the team.

“Familiarity playing a major role in a reunion makes sense, especially since, in Hart’s case, some of his underlying numbers didn’t match results,” Rosenthal and Sammon wrote. “Hart, who turns 33 next week, produced a 5.86 ERA in 43 innings while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen. But he had a 3.56 expected ERA, which offers reason for optimism. Hart expects to work in a similar role next season.

“Hart’s one-year contract with a club option for 2027, which the club announced Monday, guarantees him $1.2 million, a league source said. It’s possible that if he waited longer into the offseason a similar major-league deal or an opportunity to pitch again in Korea would have materialized.”

Hart signed with the Padres ahead of the 2025 season after a successful season in Korea, during which he won the KBO’s equivalent to the Cy Young award. Hart pitched 20 games in his return to MLB, making six starts and keeping a 5.86 ERA through 43 innings pitched.

While his numbers weren’t quite where he’d like, he had a solid run of games in July, where he pitched 6.2 innings without allowing a run.

Hart could find himself back in a starting role next season, as the Padres are short several starters ahead of 2026. Hart’s first six appearances of the season came as a starter, and with the Padres’ current crisis in their rotation, they could very well call upon him if needed.

He did well in a long relief role during 2025, though, and will look to improve upon a difficult season back in the states.