Josh Byrnes is gone, and not to go all drama queen on you, but make no mistake: What you are now looking at is one of the most pivotal points in Padres franchise history.
Because what you presently are seeing is this organization's nadir. And, sadly, I'm not talking about the old Nater, Nate Colbert.
The combination of the worst hitting team in franchise history with a fallow farm system and the tragic deaths of icons Tony Gwynn and Jerry Coleman have violently T-boned this organization. Shredded metal, broken glass and exploded air bags litter the scene.
Because of damage done by the end of the John Moores era and, especially, by the absolute and disgusting disregard Jeff Moorad had for anybody but himself, the Seidler group took ownership already playing from behind.
Distressing thing is, clearly, the pit they've been attempting to climb out of was far deeper than they ever imagined.
There have been plenty of other trying times here before. These are the Padres. The franchise's near-move to Washington, D.C., before McDonald's baron Ray Kroc swooped in and saved the day, that was no picnic. Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams becoming a no-show on the first day of spring training in 1986 during a power struggle with Jack McKeon (Williams lost; he was fired), that's on the wall of low-brow, comedic moments.
But as the years passed and forward progress was made, some history was built. And for the past couple of decades, even when things were at their bleakest, at least Coleman and Gwynn were around to make folks smile, and remind everyone of better days and good times. Now, even that's gone.
What this franchise has endured since January is one body blow after another.
Which is why Padres ownership can't miss with the new GM hire.
Chairman Ron Fowler the other day called it hitting the "reset" button. It doubled as the "eject" button for Byrnes.
Clearly, with too many Judys and not enough Punches in a lineup that would make even Enzo Hernandez appear a slugger, there are many fingerprints on this mess. To blame it all on Byrnes is unfair.
Yet things long ago reached the crisis point, and not just for this season. How many players on this roster now can be considered part of the solution going forward? Among the position players ... hmmm. Jedd Gyorko, maybe, if you grade on a sophomore-slump curve? Anyone else? Anybody? We're talking major overhaul.
To throw yet another hitting coach overboard would have been willful ignorance, not to mention tone deaf. The Padres already have chewed through six since Petco Park opened in 2004.
To fire the manager would have been cliche. Bud Black may have his faults, but what is he supposed to do here? It's like the old joke: A pitcher is getting clobbered and, finally, the manager goes to the mound and, in removing the poor schmoe, offers these reassuring words: "Don't worry kid, it's not your fault. It's the scout who signed you."
I don't know yet whether this ownership group will wind up spinning gold or offering only the fool's gold of the past few years, but I do know this: For Padres fans, the fact that ownership opted to attack the root of the problem in replacing the man most responsible for putting these players onto the field should be read as an optimistic sign.
"I'm impressed they did what they did," one longtime executive told me this week. "I've never heard of that one before, keeping the manager and the hitting coach and firing the general manager."
Did they wait too long? Arguably, yes. A few weeks ago, maybe Tony La Russa could have been had. One thing we've learned about this group, though, is that it operates slowly and methodically. There are no rash, emotional, Steinbrenner-esque decisions here.
The relationship between Byrnes and owners, particularly CEO Mike Dee, had deteriorated significantly this year. The move was going to be made immediately following the ugly 1-7 trip to Philadelphia, New York and Seattle. Then came the unspeakably sad, unexpected death of Gwynn, and the timing simply would have been too awkward and disrespectful. So the decision was made to give it a few more days.
But with the July 31 trade deadline fast approaching, they needed to move. Once Dee and Co. decided that Byrnes was out, they surely weren't going to entrust him with responsibility regarding trade talks for Seth Smith, Huston Street, Joaquin Benoit, Ian Kennedy or anybody else.
Byrnes is a good man and a good baseball man and, yes, the Padres' inordinate number of injuries did him no favors. But there also is no getting around this year's abysmal offense and the rash of lousy contract extensions.
Into Tuesday night's game at San Francisco, the Padres were hitting .214 as a team with a .274 on-base percentage, both numbers on track to finish as the majors' worst since 1969, the Padres' expansion season and the year baseball lowered the mound.
The five worst club batting averages in the majors since 1969: The 1972 Rangers (.217), '69 Padres (.225), '72 Mets (.225), '81 Blue Jays (.226), '72 Padres (.227) and '71 Brewers (.229).
The five worst on-base percentages since 1969: The '72 Padres (.283), '69 Padres (.285), '81 Blue Jays (.286), '71 Angels (.290), '72 Rangers (.290) and '76 Expos (.291).
The Carlos Quentin deal (three-years, $27 million) has been a bust, but one glimmer of hope now appears: Quentin apparently has realized that his only chance to stay on the field consistently is as a DH, and sources say he is open to waiving his no-trade clause.
The Cameron Maybin deal (five years, $25 million) is a bust and the Padres likely are stuck with him. The Chase Headley situation has become the rare loser for both sides (the Padres missed their window to trade him when his value was high, and Headley should have seized a contract extension when it was offered).
Yasmani Grandal and Everth Cabrera are not even close to the same players as they were before failing performance-enhancing drug tests.
The Mat Latos deal with the Reds backfired, as Grandal, Yonder Alonso and Edinson Volquez (now with the Pirates) all regressed.
You're going to hear many, many names before the Padres settle on a new GM. Former Marlins GM Larry Beinfest, who was the chief architect of the Marlins' 2003 World Series title, already is set to interview next week, according to sources, and that's a very good start.
The farm system Beinfest built with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria pinching pennies was deep and rich. The club produced four NL Rookies of the Year under Beinfest: Dontrelle Willis, Hanley Ramirez, Chris Coghlan and Jose Fernandez. He acquired Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez from the Red Sox in the Josh Beckett-Mike Lowell deal. He acquired Nathan Eovaldi from the Dodgers in the Ramirez deal, and he snagged Dan Uggla in the Rule V draft.
Kevin Towers, the longest tenured GM in Padres history (1996-2009), has been floated, but as of Tuesday afternoon the Padres had not asked the Diamondbacks for permission to speak with him.
Meantime, the Padres intend to interview several young, assistant-GM types like the Red Sox's Mike Hazen, the Yankees' Billy Eppler, the Cubs' Jason McLeod, the Rangers' Thad Levine and the Athletics' David Forst.
One veteran not mentioned but worth interviewing: Eddie Bane, currently a special assistant to player personnel in Boston and a longtime Encinitas resident. Under his watch as pro scouting director for the Angels, they drafted Mike Trout, Jered Weaver, Mark Trumbo, Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin, Peter Bourjos and Garrett Richards. Years ago, the Dodgers drafted Paul Konerko under Bane.
Former Cubs GM Jim Hendry, currently a special assistant to Brian Cashman with the Yankees, would be interesting, too.
The process is expected to take some time. In the most likely scenario, a permanent GM will not be named until later this season, or possibly even shortly afterward. Should a candidate blow the Padres away, it could come sooner.
Short-term, the Padres are looking at the possibility of bringing in Merv Rettenmund as a hitting consultant. Probably the best hitting coach the Padres ever had, Rettenmund still lives locally and is "by far the most knowledgeable hitting guy around," one scout says. Rettenmund would not replace hitting coach Phil Plantier, with whom he has a close relationship, or assistant Alonzo Powell, but, rather, act as another set of eyes as the team continues to try and fix this disaster.
Roughly one year ago, as ownership waded into its still-new stewardship, Peter Seidler, Ron Fowler and Co. determined that the business side of the operation was in a worse state of disrepair than the baseball side. So they fired Tom Garfinkel, replaced him with Dee, and made a handful of other changes.
What they weren't expecting is that the bottom would fall out of the baseball side almost immediately thereafter. But here they are, faced with another telling decision in an enormously pivotal moment.
They do this right, hold the bacon. Maybe San Diego again can become a winning baseball town instead of, ahem, a breakfast town.
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Longtime national baseball columnist Scott Miller is a weekly contributor to FOXSportsSanDiego.com. Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottMillerBbl.
