San Diego Padres: A New Hire and Injury Updates

After being fired as the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, former manager Doug Melvin will be re-united with new Padres' CEO Jeff Moorad and team president Tom Garfinkel, who were with Arizona as recently as the 2008 season.

Melvin is expected to accept an unspecified position with the San Diego Padres as soon as Wednesday.

According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, Melvin was in San Diego on Monday and Tuesday meeting with team officials, including team general manager Kevin Towers.

With Melvin's hiring come the rumors of him taking over as the manager of the San Diego Padres if current manager Bud Black can't turn this team around by the All-Star break or a few weeks after that.

You have to believe Black is looking over his shoulder with this hiring, and it is definitely suspicious when the team hasn't exactly named his position.  There's word that it could be an advisor or consultant to general manager Kevin Towers.

I'm not exactly sure what to think of this hiring other than the fact that Towers and the rest of the team's front office is trying to make a point to Bud Black.

They want this team to win and they want this team to turn things around, why else would they hire a guy who managed under Moorad and Garfinkel?

Melvin, after four seasons in Arizona, compiled a 337-340 record as the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Not exactly a record that jumps off the page at you and screams, "HIRE THAT GUY!"

But I'm sure if you ask fans who pour into Petco Park night in and night out, they'll probably tell you that a change is needed.  Although, that's what they say every year.

So, for now, Bud Black remains the manager of the San Diego Padres and for the second year in a row, has lost both of their star pitchers with Chris Young and Jake Peavy both being on the disabled list.

There's no timetable for the return of either pitcher but it's possible that Peavy could have to undergo season-ending surgery, but he's hoping that it's not an option at all. 

"You walk around pain-free in this boot, and it's immobilized, and you think you're going to get out of there and feel good, but it wasn't quite where we wanted it to be," Peavy told Amy Brittain of MLB.com.  "We're halfway through what trainer [Copp] told me would have to happen. Progression is good."

Peavy saw orthopedic specialist Steven Copp, who determined he would need to be in a walking boot for at least a month and then be re-evaluated to determine if he would need surgery. 

"We took the boot off, and I was able to move it around certain positions that have caused me pain," he said. "We did some resistance stuff to test the ankle. I'm not completely pain-free, but it's certainly significantly better than a few weeks ago."

Not only did the Padres lose both Young and Peavy to the DL, but they may also lose their first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who was taken out of the game with what the team called a strained right knee.

Adrian hasn't missed a game since August 2007, a string of 283 straight starts for the star first baseman.

If Adrian is given a few days off to rest, he will be replaced by rookie Kyle Blanks, who will move from left field to his natural position of first base. It could be interesting to see if Blanks seizes the opportunity and steals the spotlight for the Padres.

The Padres also confirmed on Wednesday that right-hander Shawn Hill underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2009 season and possibly most of the 2010 season. 

Hill has been on the disabled list since April 26 with inflammation in the elbow and after undergoing tests, they found no ligament damage. 

The team thought Hill could make his return a few weeks prior to the All-Star break, but during a bullpen session earlier this month, Hill felt the elbow tighten up on him and he was shut down for the remainder of the year.

Speaking of injuries, the Padres hopes for that veteran bat in Cliff Floyd has been a lost cause thus far as they put Floyd on the 60-day disabled list with a torn labrum. 

In 10 games for the San Diego Padres, Floyd has mustered just two hits in 16 at-bats with one walk and seven strikeouts.