Padres Begin Housecleaning, Fire Siegle

Saturday afternoon, Tony Siegle performed his last official act as vice president/personnel of the Padres:

He cleaned out his office.

Siegle was notified Thursday night by Jack McKeon, manager and vice president/baseball operations, that he had been fired. Siegle said he knew last Sunday he would be dismissed; that was the day McKeon was put in charge of all baseball matters, effectively stripping Siegle of his duties.

Siegle quit working for the Padres the moment he was told of McKeon’s promotion last Sunday afternoon. He stayed in his hotel room in Nashville, Tenn., for nearly 48 hours, leaving only for the major league draft, then received permission from McKeon to leave town Tuesday, three days before his original departure date.

Siegle did not show up for work the rest of the week, and the front office was told of owner Joan Kroc’s decision Friday.

“The way things were going, I just didn’t think it was going to work out,” McKeon said.

Padre President Dick Freeman, who originally was supposed to inform Siegle of Kroc’s decision, also is expected to be fired but might be allowed to stay until the team is sold, which Kroc has said will be soon. Other administrative positions are being evaluated.

Since Freeman and Siegle took command earlier this year, they lost Padre reliever Mark Davis to free agency; botched an opportunity to acquire pitcher Mark Langston of the Montreal Expos before he filed for free agency, and failed to sign their first pick in the June free-agent draft, Kenny Felder, who chose to attend Florida State.