The 2006 San Diego Padres season was the 38th season in franchise history. The Padres captured their second consecutive National League West crown, with a record of 88–74, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers by virtue of winning the season series 13–5 against the Dodgers. The 2006 season also marked the end of Bruce Bochy's tenure as manager of the team, after 24 seasons overall, 12 seasons as manager (1995–2006), winning 4 division titles (1996, 1998, 2005, 2006). The Padres were eliminated in the 2006 National League Division Series by the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, losing 3–1.
Offseason
November 18, 2005: Xavier Nady was traded by the San Diego Padres to the New York Mets for Mike Cameron. December 2, 2005: Pete LaForest was selected off waivers by the San Diego Padres from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. December 5, 2005: Brian Giles was signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres. December 7, 2005: Dewon Brazelton was traded by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the San Diego Padres for Sean Burroughs. December 22, 2005: Mark Bellhorn was signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres. January 4, 2006: Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka, and Billy Killian were traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Adrián González, Chris Young, and Terrmel Sledge. January 12, 2006: Alan Embree was signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres. February 3, 2006: Mike Piazza signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres. May 1, 2006: Doug Mirabelli was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Josh Bard and Cla Meredith.
Regular season
Opening Day starters
Played at Petco Park on April 3, 2006 against the San Francisco Giants.
San Diego 6, San Francisco 1
Season standings
National League West
NOTE: Although the Padres final record equaled that of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Padres record of 13-5 against the Dodgers awarded them of the official division title.
Record vs. opponents
Transactions
June 6, 2006: David Freese was drafted in the 9th round of the 2006 amateur draft. August 24, 2006: Russell Branyan was traded by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later and Evan Meek (minors). The San Diego Padres sent Dale Thayer (minors) (September 15, 2006) to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to complete the trade.
Game log
|- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 1 || April 3 || Giants || 6–1 || || || || || 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 2 || April 5 || Giants || 1–3 || || || || || 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 3 || April 7 || Rockies || 4–10 || || || || || 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 4 || April 8 || Rockies || 4–12 || || || || || 1–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 5 || April 9 || Rockies || 4–10 || || || || || 1–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 6 || April 11 || @ Marlins || 9–3 || || || || || 2–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 7 || April 12 || @ Marlins || 7–2 || || || || || 3–4 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 8 || April 13 || @ Marlins || 2–9 || || || || || 3–5 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 9 || April 14 || @ Braves || 4–5 || || || || || 3–6 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 10 || April 15 || @ Braves || 0–2 || || || || || 3–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 11 || April 16 || @ Braves || 4–3 || || || || || 4–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 12 || April 17 || @ Rockies || 5–2 || || || || || 5–7 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 13 || April 18 || @ Rockies || 2–3 || || || || || 5–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 14 || April 19 || @ Rockies || 13–4 || || || || || 6–8 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 15 || April 20 || Mets || 2–7 || || || || || 6–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 16 || April 21 || Mets || 2–1 || || || || || 7–9 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 17 || April 22 || Mets || 1–8 || || || || || 7–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 18 || April 23 || Mets || 7–4 || || || || || 8–10 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 19 || April 24 || Dbacks || 1–4 || || || || || 8–11 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 20 || April 25 || Dbacks || 0–7 || || || || || 8–12 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 21 || April 26 || Dbacks || 2–3 || || || || || 8–13 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 22 || April 28 || Dodgers || 0–3 || || || || || 8–14 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 23 || April 29 || Dodgers || 2–4 || || || || || 8–15 |- align="center" bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 24 || April 30 || Dodgers || 6–5 || || || || || 9–15 |-