DePodesta Lands Front-Office Job With Padres

The San Diego Padres hired former Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta as special assistant for baseball operations Friday.

DePodesta was fired by the Dodgers on Oct. 29, a month after they finished a 91-loss season.

He will report to Chief Executive Sandy Alderson and work with all members of the baseball operations department, including General Manager Kevin Towers.

Alderson is a former GM and president of the Oakland Athletics.

DePodesta, who is scheduled to join the Padres on July 13, has not reached a financial settlement with the Dodgers.

He had three years remaining on a five-year deal when he was fired, and the Dodgers are obligated to pay him the difference between his salary with the Padres and his Dodgers salary, estimated at more than $500,000 a year.

Towers is under contract through 2007.

Asked whether he was concerned that DePodesta could provide the Padres with inside information on the Dodgers, General Manager Ned Colletti said DePodesta has “no more insight than I would have on San Francisco. Neither one of us is playing many games.... I wish Paul all the best. I’ve never had anything but great dealings with him.”

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