ANALYSIS : Padre Brain Trust Fouled by Relationship on Rocks : Baseball: Distance grows between General Manager Joe McIlvaine and Manager Greg Riddoch. The rift ultimately will result in the manager’s firing.

Britain has Prince Charles and Princess Diana. New York has Donald and Ivana Trump. Hollywood has Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving.

San Diego has Joe McIlvaine and Greg Riddoch.

The Padres’ marriage of McIlvaine and Riddoch is only one of convenience. It was doomed from the inception, and it will be terminated in a cruel, cold manner.

It’s only a matter of time: Riddoch will be fired as Padre manager. It could very well be within the next two weeks. It could take two months.

But it will happen.

Riddoch knows it. McIlvaine, the Padre general manager, knows it. There’s not a player in the Padre clubhouse who doesn’t know it.

“Everybody sees the friction between the two of them,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “There’s obviously something going on. There’s a battle there, like a war of words.”

It has reached such a point that if the All-Star game wasn’t in San Diego this year, it’s possible Riddoch would be fired during the break. But Padre ownership isn’t about to let anything soil the festivities, so no move will be made until the national spotlight passes.

It’s unknown who will replace Riddoch, but, according to one highly placed source, it figures to be either Las Vegas triple-A Manager Jim Riggleman or Padre pitching coach Mike Roarke.

Riggleman, 39, has been groomed for the job since he was hired two years ago from the St. Louis Cardinal organization. Roarke, 61, has been the communication link between McIlvaine and Riddoch.

Although it was only last week it became known Riddoch was in imminent danger of losing his job, one Padre owner said it became obvious a month ago that Riddoch would not return in 1993.

Padre chairman Tom Werner, according to the source, asked McIlvaine about a month ago if he would consider signing Riddoch to a contract extension through the 1993 season. The Padres were playing well at the time, clinging close to the lead of the National League West.

The answer was no.

“I knew then,” the source said, “that there would be a change in the works if the club started to struggle.”

It’s been evident for some time that the McIlvaine-Riddoch relationship was doomed. Although they remain cordial when speaking to one another, it’s been a cold war that never has thawed.

McIlvaine never trusted Riddoch. Riddoch never trusted McIlvaine.

McIlvaine believes Riddoch is out to get him fired. Riddoch believes McIlvaine is out to get him.

“It’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen,” one Padre executive said. “I don’t know how it’s lasted as long as it has. It’s like everyone’s being forced to take sides.”

The cruel irony is that Riddoch actually persuaded Werner to hire McIlvaine two years ago to replace Jack McKeon. But in two years as a management team, the two have gone weeks without communicating.

Werner has been caught in the middle of the cold war. Riddoch complains to Werner about McIlvaine. McIlvaine complains to Werner about Riddoch.

Ultimately, Werner will have to approve McIlvaine’s request to fire Riddoch. Werner, realizing that McIlvaine is in charge of baseball operations, reluctantly will grant it.

Although McIlvaine publicly refuses comment on Riddoch’s status, he always has maintained that Riddoch will remain manager as long as he continues to motivate his team and there is no clubhouse rift.

In the wake of the Padres’ 18-20 record since June 1--they have fallen from tied for first to third place, 6 1/2 games out--it has happened.

The team has been lethargic most of the month, and there has been unrest in the clubhouse. Riddoch not only is being constantly second-guessed by his players, but several players have lost respect for him.

“I think a lot of people think this just started when we started losing the last week,” one veteran said, “but that’s wrong. It’s been bubbling for a while, and now it’s surfaced.

“I really don’t know what Greg can do about it, but a lot of guys have lost respect for him. I’m not saying it’s impossible for him to regain that respect, but the way it is now, it’s going to be a tough job.

“Anyone can watch our games and see there’s a lot of strange things going on.”

In fact, several players voiced their complaints about Riddoch to McIlvaine. At least two players say McIlvaine openly sought their opinions of Riddoch.

“People can deny it all they want,” Gwynn said, “but I know guys have gone up to talk to the man . I know that for a fact.”

The biggest complaint the past month has been Riddoch’s use of the bullpen. When stopper Randy Myers became exiled, relievers were left in a quandary over when they were coming into a game. Everyone became a stopper; everyone became a middle man.

“That’s why we’ve decided to change that,” Riddoch said, “and use Myers and Tim Scott as co-closers. It was obvious it wasn’t working before, so we’ll try it this way.”

Will that end the constant grumbling in the clubhouse, or will it only temporarily stop the assault on Riddoch?

“I’m not going to jump on anybody’s side here,” Gwynn said. “The front office has a responsibility to get the players. The manager’s job is to win. The players’ job is to execute. If it doesn’t happen, someone’s going to pay the price.

“In spring training, everybody wondered how long Greg would last. Now that we’ve been struggling, here we go again. But that’s not our job to worry about what’s going to happen.

“There’s guys in here who don’t like the manager. There’s guys who don’t like the general manager. We shouldn’t let it affect how we play.”

The Padres, who have only 31 home games in the second half, must rely on their pitching if they want to escape the exhaust fumes of the runaway Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. The Padres are 25-12 in games started by Bruce Hurst and Craig Lefferts, but 23-30 in games started by everyone else.

They lost Ed Whitson before the season. Greg Harris won only two games before sustaining a broken finger that will sideline him until at least September. And Andy Benes (6-7, 3.76) has won only one game since May 22.

“It’s been a funny year,” McIlvaine said. “We felt going into the season that we’d be a team that would have a lot of trouble scoring runs but would get great pitching. But what we expected, the opposite took place.”

Of course, the events of March 28 are responsible for the about-face. That was the day the Padres acquired third baseman Gary Sheffield from the Milwaukee Brewers for No. 5 starter Ricky Bones and their two top prospects.

Sheffield is putting up MVP numbers, batting .321 with 17 homers and a league-high 60 RBIs. Already acclaimed as the finest third baseman in Padre history, Sheffield is as responsible as anyone for the Padres still hanging in the race.

“I don’t know where we’d be without him,” Riddoch said. “Actually, I don’t want to know.”

Said McIlvaine: “He very easily could be the MVP and the Comeback Player of the Year.”

The Padres, who already have the most potent offense in the league, should be further bolstered in the second half with the return of All-Star catcher Benito Santiago, who missed the past six weeks. In fact, Riddoch has been able to pencil in the names of Tony Fernandez, Gwynn, Sheffield, Fred McGriff and Santiago on his lineup card only 39 times this year.

“We’ve been like an engine that’s been sputtering all year,” Riddoch said. “Hopefully the second half, we can get back on all eight cylinders.”

If the Padres lose sight of the pack in the second half, there will be wholesale changes that transcend Riddoch and the coaching staff:

Santiago will be gone to the first team that makes a halfway decent offer. If they can’t make a trade, they’ll let him go as a free agent and gladly take two draft picks as compensation.

Although Lefferts has been the biggest surprise on the pitching staff, the Padres probably will attempt to trade him to a contender. Lefferts already makes $1.875 million, and since he’s eligible for arbitration this winter, his salary easily could exceed $3 million. The Padres won’t take that chance.

Myers, who has 15 saves but a 5.66 ERA, also will be made available. He’s eligible for free agency, and the Padres would like to see a tandem of Scott and triple-A reliever Jeremy Hernandez assume the stopper’s role.

Many of the Padres’ decisions--and perhaps Riddoch’s fate--could hinge squarely on their 10-game trip to Montreal, Philadelphia and New York after the All-Star break.

“That’s going to be a big, big road trip,” Gwynn said. “It’s going to be pivotal for a lot of things. That could make or break us.

“If we hang in there, and do all right, who knows? Winning is a cure-all for a lot of things.”

Maybe even a certain relationship.

*1992 ALL-STAR GAME

* In more ways than just his batting average, Philadelphia’s John Kruk is a heavy hitter. C3

* Mike Downey: Cecil (73 RBIs) Fielder of the Detroit Tigers was robbed when he wasn’t named to the AL All-Stars. C3

* Getting All-Star game tickets can be agony and ecstasy. Some unclaimed and returned tickets were scheduled to go on sale at 7 a.m. today. C11A

* Business was brisk on the second day of the All-Star FanFest. C11B