Roberts Is Focus of Latest Rift : Baseball: He and Riddoch engage in shouting match before Padres’ 6-1 loss to Houston.

Second baseman Bip Roberts, who for so long cringed at the thought of leaving the Padres, wondered aloud Tuesday if perhaps it might be best if he were traded to another team.

Roberts and Padre Manager Greg Riddoch engaged in a heated 15-minute meeting Tuesday before the Padres’ 6-1 defeat to the Houston Astros in which Roberts was heard shouting through the closed door of the manager’s office. The topic of conversation focused on Roberts’ attitude.

“I love San Diego, man, the fans have been great, and I feel like I’m part of the community,” Roberts said. “But maybe it comes comes a time where that changes.

“Maybe it comes to a time where you say, ‘Wow, maybe I don’t fit in anymore.’ Maybe it’s that time.

“But I really don’t want to leave.”

Roberts might not have a choice. Riddoch and the coaching staff, according to sources, unanimously recommended to Joe McIlvaine, general manager, that Roberts be traded as quickly as possible. At least three players, sources said, have come into Riddoch’s office and privately complained about Roberts’ attitude.

“He’s killing us,” said one veteran, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He’s a friend of mine, but it’d be better off for all of us if he’s out of here. Maybe a change will do him good. I know it would do us good.

“Believe me, there’s a lot of guys that feel the same.

“This (stuff) has been going on all year, and it’s got to stop.”

Roberts, voted the Padres’ Most Valuable Player last season, said Tuesday he has been suppressing his feelings toward Riddoch and management all season. He blames management for ruining the team atmosphere by trading away such players as Roberto Alomar and Chris James. He faults Riddoch for not maximizing the team’s talent, resulting in a 50-56 record.

“I got a lot of things off my chest today that I’ve been holding in for a long time,” Roberts. “I can’t say too much because I might say something I’ll regret, but I’m really (teed) off.

“I’ve been harboring some (ill) feelings ever since last winter, and now I got to blow off some steam.”

The confrontation occurred Tuesday when Roberts arrived to the Astrodome and learned he was out of the lineup. He left Monday’s game in the fifth inning with a sprained left wrist, but was not asked about his condition Tuesday when Riddoch made out the lineup.

“That’s what really (teed) me off,” Roberts said, “the guy didn’t even ask me how I felt. He didn’t ask me if I was ready to play. He didn’t ask me how I felt, or anything.”

The reasoning was simple. Riddoch and the staff were upset Monday when Roberts took himself out of the game after going hitless in his first three at-bats. They doubted the severity of his injury and punished him by keeping him out of the lineup.

“If he’s healthy, we’ll put him in the lineup and we’ll try again,” said Riddoch, who refused to divulge specifics about the meeting.

Was it fruitful?

“Let’s hope so,” Riddoch said.

Will he be back in the lineup tonight?

“I don’t know,” Riddoch said.

Roberts believes he’s been unfairly labeled by the coaching staff as a malingerer. The back, shoulder and neck injuries that have kept him out of 18 games this season, he says, have been legitimate.

Yet, whether the Padre management believe the injuries have been justifiable or not, it’s become evident the Padres believe Roberts has become a malcontent. Roberts, on the other hand, believe the problem lies in the manager and coaches’ offices.

“The bottom line here is respect,” Roberts said, “but if a guy (Garry Templeton) who’s been here 15 years isn’t going to get it, how are you going to get it?

“The way I play, it just gets to a point where, hey, it’s mind-boggling how the game is. You play hard every day, but some people don’t think you’re giving it your all. I know I can look at myself in the mirror, and know I gave it everything I had.”

If anyone should be doubting their abilities, Roberts hinted, it should be Riddoch. Although he never mentioned his name as the root of the Padres’ woes this season, the implication was clear.

“There’s something that’s not right, something’s holding us back,” Roberts said. “It’s puzzling, it’s really puzzling. We have so much talent here.

“It’s really hard to put a finger on it.”

Roberts paused, smiled and said, “Maybe you know what it is?”

Perhaps Roberts’ won’t be happy again in San Diego until Riddoch is fired. Perhaps Roberts won’t be happy until the Padres take his name off the trading block, once and for all. Surely, Roberts said, it’ll be awfully difficult to be happy until the Padres start winning again.

“Maybe winning will take care of it,” Roberts said after the game when his anger subsided. “It’s nothing personal between Greg and I. There’s not a war between us. It’s just very frustrating. You just wonder what the hell is going to happen next. . . .

“I’ll shoulder part of the blame. I didn’t even show up the first half. When you lose, people start treating you in a different way, pointing fingers, and you get mad.

“But (Riddoch) apparently sees something I don’t know I’m doing. I’ll keep going hard, and if it’s not good enough, I don’t know what to do.”

There wasn’t a whole lot any of the Padres could do Tuesday against 21-year-old starter Darryl Kile of the Astros. The Padres had only two of their five hits after the second inning and failed to knock Kile (5-6) out of the game until the eighth.

The Astros ended any suspense in the first inning when they scored three runs off Padre starter Adam Peterson (3-4). They had a 4-0 lead and three extra-base hits through two innings, cruising to their ninth consecutive victory.

“It’s so frustrating,” said Roberts, who was brought into the game in the fifth inning, and singled and walked. “Look around, we’re all frustrated. It’s not just me.”