The Padres have made one important decision — with many more still to follow this offseason.

San Diego hired Mike Shildt as their new manager, the team announced Tuesday.

Shildt, the former Cardinals skipper, signed a two-year deal.

“Mike is a proven winner as a manager at the Major League level, and he brings over two decades of experience in professional baseball to the position,” Padres president of baseball operations an general manager A.J. Preller said in a statement. “In his time here, Mike has displayed a strong baseball intellect, a passion for teaching the game, and has established relationships with players and staff at both the minor and Major League levels. We believe that Mike is the right person to lead the Padres forward in our continued pursuit of a World Series championship.”

Shildt’s hiring comes after the Padres let Bob Melvin leave for the Giants’ managerial opening earlier this offseason and as the team could be facing a rebuild.

There has been speculation around baseball that the Padres could deal star outfielder Juan Soto, with the Yankees prominently mentioned in the rumor mill.

“I think they’ve got a really good chance of going out and getting him,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan said recently of Soto and the Yankees.

The Padres finished with a disappointing 82-80 record last season after reaching the NLCS in 2022.

Cy Young winner Blake Snell and top closer Josh Hader are also among the team’s free agents.

The 55-year-old Shildt was a senior adviser for the Padres the past two years after previously managing the Cardinals.

Shildt was surprisingly fired by the Cardinals following the 2021 season after he went 252-199 in three-plus seasons with the team.

Shildt led the Cardinals to the playoffs in all three full seasons and the split was due to “philosophical reasons,” according to Cardinals president John Mozeliak.

Phil Nevin was among the other candidates for the Padres and he now becomes a possibility for the Mets’ bench coach position after he previously worked with new Mets manager Carlos Mendoza on the Yankees staff, The Post’s Mike Puma reported.