PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Piniella Expected to Resign as Cincinnati Reds Manager

If Padre Manager Greg Riddoch is looking for a job soon, he could send his application to another National League West club.

Cincinnati Reds Manager Lou Piniella, according to sources, is expected to resign at the end of the season. He probably will be replaced by Tony Perez, according to one source.

“I don’t know what I’ll do,” Piniella said. “I still have to talk to ownership. I talked to (General Manager) Bob Quinn about it once, but I told him to worry about his own situation first.

“I’ve been told I can come back if I want to, but who knows?”

Piniella, who managed the Reds to the 1990 World Series championship, has come under close scrutiny this season. He tackled Reds bullpen stopper Rob Dibble in anger after Thursday’s game, leading both to be reprimanded Friday by President Marge Schott and Quinn.

Piniella was angered when Dibble called him a liar after Thursday’s game against Atlanta. He ran into the clubhouse and tackled Dibble. The wrestling match lasted about 30 seconds, but there were no punches.

“Dibble told me before the game that he couldn’t get loose and his shoulder was stiff,” Piniella said.

Dibble said: “Lou’s full of (crap). He’s not telling you the whole story.”

That incited a melee, and the two made up on Friday.

“The whole thing’s been settled,” Dibble said at an impromptu press conference Friday. “I was wrong. It’s no big deal. I used to fight with my brothers.

“The problem is we’re too much alive. We both hate to lose and we have fiery tempers.”

Said Piniella: “It’s over with. Like I explained to Rob, it’s my obligation when I get a lot of questions from the media to be honest.

“The only person I’ve played hurt all year has been (third baseman Chris) Sabo. If somebody’s hurt, I just don’t run them out there.”

When asked if Piniella’s action could lead to his firing, Schott said: “Right now, I don’t think that’s a reason to fire anyone.”

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Tony Siegle, former Padre assistant general manager, was hired Friday as the assistant general manager of the San Francisco Giants.

Siegle, who was fired by the Padres after the 1989 season, had been the Giants’ minor league operations director.

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Although it would be tempting to rush prize outfield prospect Ray McDavid to the major leagues, Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine said he will resist the urge to promote him too quickly.

McDavid, selected as the top prospect in the Class A California League, will start next season in double-A Wichita and probably play in triple-A Las Vegas in 1994.

McDavid batted .271 with 23 homers, 88 RBIs and 38 stolen bases this season for High Desert.

“He’s still learning the game,” McIlvaine said, “and we don’t want to rush him.”

The Padres will not have to protect McDavid, 21, on the expansion list because he has less than four years of professional service after signing at the age of 18.

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Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn, who has missed the last nine games with a medial collateral sprain of his left knee, hopes to return to the lineup today. He has been fitted with a special knee brace that will restrict his movement, but might ease the pain.

“Mentally, it will help,” Gwwynn said. “Physically, I don’t know yet.”