As new Padres manager Jayce Tingler has traveled around the country to meet with players and gotten together with others in San Diego, he has heard one assessment more than any other.
Player after player has volunteered what an effect Ian Kinsler had on them.
And so it makes sense that the team will continue to employ Kinsler, though not as a player.
What had been considered a virtual certainty for some time became official Friday — that Kinsler plans to retire.
Kinsler, whose 1,999 career hits rank 288th all-time and whose 879 runs in the 2010s were second in the majors to Mike Trout’s 903, will serve as an advisor working with major league and minor league players in spring training and throughout the season.