Bud Black fired by San Diego Padres

The club president took over two years ago. The general manager took over last year. The team blew up its payroll and its minor league system last winter, in an effort to win now.

So, with the San Diego Padres under .500, who got the blame on Monday? Not the president, not the GM and not the players. The Padres fired Manager Bud Black, whose status had been tenuous ever since the team hired A.J. Preller as GM last summer.

The Padres issued a three-sentence statement Monday that made the change appear rushed rather than well-planned. The Padres said bench coach Dave Roberts would manage the team starting Monday night, with an immediate search starting “for an interim manager for the remainder of the 2015 season.”

If the Padres hire another manager in 2016, that would be four managers in less than a year.

The Padres are expected to consider their triple-A manager, Pat Murphy. The Milwaukee Brewers asked permission to hire Murphy for their major league coaching staff; the Padres refused, even though permissions for promotions in the industry are granted routinely.

This is Black’s ninth season as Padres manager. The Padres have had two winning records in that time, with no playoff appearances.

Of the three former Mike Scioscia coaches that started the season as managers, two have been fired — Black, and Ron Roenicke of the Milwaukee Brewers. Joe Maddon of the Chicago Cubs is the other.

“Bud is a great manager, a great baseball mind, a great friend,” Scioscia said. “I think it’s the nature of the postion, but I’m sure his phone is already ringing.”

The Padres (32-33) are six games behind the Dodgers in the National League West. The Padres have played four series against the Dodgers this season — most recently over the weekend — and lost two of three games each time.

The Padres are tied with the Dodgers for second in the league in runs but rank eighth in earned-run average, despite playing in pitcher-friendly Petco Park and despite winter moves that focused on improving the offense.

The players imported last winter include outfielders Justin Upton (13 home runs, .857 OPS), Matt Kemp (two homers, .629 OPS) and Wil Myers (five homers, .787 OPS), catcher Derek Norris (seven homers, .756 OPS), third baseman Will Middlebrooks (eight homers, .648 OPS), starter James Shields (7-0, 3.59 ERA) and closer Craig Kimbrel (16 of 17 in save opportunities, 3.60 ERA).