This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Mike Shildt is the new Padres manager, and perhaps the only surprising aspect of the hire is how unsurprising it was.

Each of general manager A.J. Preller’s three previous managerial hires came with twists and turns at the end. But Shildt, who spent the past two years as an adviser in the organization after reaching the postseason in each of his three full seasons at the helm of the Cardinals, always seemed like the favorite.

The Padres strongly considered Ryan Flaherty -- as was expected. They took a serious look at some external candidates, too -- also as expected. But they settled on Shildt, the 2019 NL Manager of the Year Award winner in St. Louis.

Assuredly, the rest of the Padres’ offseason will not be quite so predictable. So with Shildt on board ... now what? Here’s a look at what comes next for the Padres:

1) Fill out the coaching staff
The Padres have work to do on this front. Preller made it clear he’d let his new manager have most of the say on the 2024 coaching staff. But that new manager wasn’t in place until a month and a half after the Padres finished playing games in ’23.

Pitching coach Ruben Niebla and bullpen coach Ben Fritz appear set to return. Both are under contract for next season and both have tenures that predate previous skipper Bob Melvin’s arrival. The rest is slightly unclear, though Shildt was quick to note that last season’s staff was full of "high-character people, and I’d welcome the opportunity to work with any of them."

Flaherty’s next step is the most interesting question right now. After missing out on the managerial job, would he be willing to return to his role in charge of the San Diego offense?

"He’s somebody that we think really highly of," Preller said. "I personally think really highly of him as a coach and baseball person. He’s got great relationships in the building. I think Ryan understands he was obviously in this process. But I think he also understands that he’s got opportunity here."

2) Find a starting pitcher or two ASAP 
There’s no mandate that the Padres must have a certain number of starters in their rotation by Dec. 3. But it would sure be nice if they could head to the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., with more than what they’ve got right now.

It would give them some breathing room. Even though the Padres are likely to be looking for pitching well into February, searching for one starter is different than searching for four.

As things stand, just about every team in baseball needs starting pitching. But there might not be a team that needs it more than San Diego, which saw Blake Snell, Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and Nick Martinez all hit the free-agent market.

"That’s clearly an area of need," Preller said. "Our group is identifying players and pitchers. That’s what the next few weeks are about -- is looking to add starters and depth, so Mike has a lot of options."

The Padres have work to do, and plenty of people involved feel they’ll probably need to explore the trade market to add at least one or two arms. But give the Padres credit for this much: Over the past few seasons, they’ve been able to find those quality "buy low" starting-pitching options before turning them into useful rotation pieces under Niebla.

They’ll need to do so again.

3) Get clarity from Soto 
The baseball world is abuzz with Juan Soto trade rumors. I’m not saying that it’s premature, but it certainly feels early. If any trade were to come to fruition, it’s several steps away from becoming a reality. Consider what Soto’s agent Scott Boras said at the General Managers Meetings earlier this month.

"Met with the Padres, they laid out their plan for next year, which obviously included a lineup that definitely includes Juan Soto," Boras said. "He’s their one .900 OPS player. They’re looking for more left-handed bats, rather than less."

He’s not wrong. The Padres could use another lefty bat in addition to Soto. And if the Padres were to put Soto on the trade market, it would come after they've exhausted talks of a potential long-term future for him in San Diego.

It’s entirely possible that happens, and the Padres eventually pivot to looking at trade offers. But even still, there are worse things than putting one of the best hitters in the sport in the middle of your lineup in a contract year.

It ultimately comes down to Soto, and if he seems ready to hit the market next offseason, Preller at least conceded that that would change his calculus.

"Juan long-term [vs.] Juan on a one-year deal, that brings different dynamics," Preller said. "We understand what that means for our roster both short-term and long-term."