Among the uniformed personnel in attendance for new manager Craig Stammen’s introductory press conference, pitching coach Ruben Niebla arrived early and took a seat in the back row Petco Park auditorium.

Afterward, he joined pitchers Joe Musgrove, Jason Adam and Yuki Matsui for small talk along the wall. He smiled and shook hands with all the media members who approached him — one of four finalists for the job that went to Stammen — but politely declined to speak.

Monday was about Stammen, Niebla said.

Maybe so.

But the Padres’ new 41-year-old manager doesn’t think he’s going far without the Padres’ pitching coach.

“Honestly, he’s the guy I’m going to rely on the most — his experience,” Stammen said. “I think he’s one of the best coaches in our entire sport, not just pitching coaches, but coaches overall. And we’re going to put a lot on his plate. I’m going to put a lot on his plate, but I’m excited to work with Ruben. It’s going to be an extension of our relationship that started with me as a player and now we get to work hand in hand as manager (and) pitching coach.

“I’m excited about it. It’s going be a lot of fun.”

That relationship began in 2016 in Cleveland, where Niebla worked as a minor league pitching coordinator. Stammen had just been non-tendered by the Nationals and was working his way back from arm injury, though he would not return to the majors until the following year after signing a minor league deal with the Padres.

By the time Niebla joined Stammen in San Diego in 2022, Stammen was in his age 38 season. He threw 40⅔ innings that year, tried to return on another minor league deal the following season and retired later later in the summer of 2023, triggering the start of a post-playing career that saw Stammen serve as a special assistant that roved between the majors and minors the last two seasons.

“The last few years,” Stammen said, “I’ve seen his processes, kind of behind the scenes on how he’s able to get the best out of all of our players.”

Niebla has two years left on his contract and could see his role expand after joining Albert Pujols and former Padres catcher Nick Hundley as finalists. Niebla, Stammen said he and A.J. Preller, the Padres’ president of baseball operations, have already had a couple of “15-hour days” putting their heads together about the coaching staff that will come together shortly and the direction of the organization.

Asked if there could be an extra job title added to Niebla’s resume — the “associate manager” was essentially invented for Skip Schumaker when he was made a part of Jayce Tingler’s staff (2020-2021) — Preller said “we’ll be talking about that over the course of the next couple days.”

“When we make like the staff announcements … we’ll make sure that we have a lot of different areas covered and Ruben’s going to cover a lot of those areas,” he said

Preller added: “He’s going to have a big-time voice in it. He’s going to continue to get more opportunity, not just to help the pitchers and the pitching staff. I think Craig mentioned it. He’s a good coach. It’s not just a good pitching coach. And he’s got a lot of good perspectives that we even saw in this process … that we want to make sure we get through to that big-league clubhouse. Craig’s going to use him a lot.”

Extension talk

Stammen asked about Preller’s long-term status with the organization. All the candidates did, Preller said.

Toward that end, Padres chairman John Seidler was made available to discuss Preller’s future and Seidler’s vision for the team during the managerial interview process. While Preller appears to be headed to the general managers’ meetings without a resolution, he appears to be overly anxious about officially securing his future in San Diego beyond 2026.

“Like I’ve said before, I’m looking forward to being here for a long-time,” Preller said after Stammen’s press conference.

Asked if he expects a resolution this offseason, Preller said, “I don’t know. I’m under contract for next year. … Like I say it all the time, I love San Diego and the city and the organization. … We’re in a spot where we’ve got to go put a coaching staff together. We’ve got … free agency and trades are starting. We’re leaving here and few minutes to go to the GM meetings and kind of kick off the offseason. So I think that’s, that’s really the focus. And, you know, I’ll continue to have conversations with John about it.”

Notable

Adam said there’s a “chance” he’s ready for opening day. Adam, 34, sustained a season-ending ruptured quad tendon while attempting to field his position on Sept. 1. “I’m doing well,” Adam said. “Just getting strength back is the biggest thing. God willing, I should be pitching in spring training. I don’t know if I’ll be right on time. There’s a chance I’m ready for opening day. That’s what we’re striving for, but we’re not going to be stupid about it.”

• Adam been planning to stay at Stammen’s place in San Diego in 2026 until Stammen was hired as the manager and decided to relocate his family full-time to San Diego. “Yeah we were, but I’ll gladly give that up for him to be our manager,” Adam said. “I’m so excited. Great person. Great family. Just ask anybody about him, you’re going to get a glowing review. I think that says everything you need to know.”