Sources: Red Sox official to be named Padres' GM

Jed Hoyer will be named as the next general manager of the San Diego Padres, according to CBSSports.com sources, with the official announcement expected to come Monday.

Hoyer, 35, Boston's senior vice president and assistant GM, will replace Kevin Towers, who was the longest tenured GM in the game until he was fired at season's end.

The hire will be the second time that Jeff Moorad, San Diego's chief executive officer, has gone to Boston to hire a GM. Current Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes, like Hoyer, was an assistant under Red Sox GM Theo Epstein in Boston when Moorad hired him in Arizona in 2005.

The Padres' job will be Hoyer's first as the man in charge (though he did serve a 44-day stint as Boston's "co-GM" in '05 when Epstein briefly left the organization.

Hoyer was hired by the Red Sox in 2003, when he was just 28, and has since become one of Epstein's most trusted assistants. A native of Plymouth, N.H., and a 1996 graduate of Wesleyan University, Hoyer has aided Epstein in all aspects of Boston's baseball operations department including player acquisitions and evaluations and contract negotiations.

Hoyer also is a student of blending scouting and quantitative analysis, which is part of what Moorad clearly meant when, in dismissing Towers after 14 seasons with the organization, he said he wanted a GM with more of a "strategic approach." At the time, he referred to Towers as a "gunslinger."

The Red Sox are noted for blending sabermatrics - statistical analysis - and scouting as well as any franchise in the game.

The Padres last season finished strong, compiling a winning record in August and September to go 75-87 and finish fourth in the NL West. Hoyer is said to have been impressed with the job manager Bud Black did as several other losing clubs, such as Pittsburgh, Washington and Kansas City, suffered through miserable Septembers.

* Torey Lovullo wants a chance to manage the Cleveland Indians after spending the last eight seasons working in the club's farm system.

"I'm familiar with the setting," Lovullo said yesterday, after interviewing a second time with general manager Mark Shapiro. "This team is a lot further along than some might believe."

Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly and Angels bench coach Ron Roenicke are expected to be brought in next week for interviews. Former managers Manny Acta and Bobby Valentine also have been interviewed, and Shapiro hopes to finish his search by the end of the World Series.

Unlike Valentine, fresh from a 6-year stint managing in Japan, Lovullo emphasized his desire to take the job if it's offered to him.

"I have prepared for this and am ready," he said, adding that playing for seven managers in eight seasons, including Terry Francona, helped mold his managerial philosophies.

Francona guided the Boston Red Sox to World Series titles in 2004 and '07.

"What you really learn is what not to do," Lovullo said. "You learn from them all, but Terry's ability to communicate and relate to players is special."

Francona was a special assistant to Shapiro between jobs with the Phillies and Boston.

Lovullo was a utility infielder who played eight seasons in the majors. His last season was in 1999, playing 17 games with the Phillies.

* Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti says it has been business as usual running the team despite owner Frank McCourt firing his wife as CEO of the club. Colletti said that he doesn't anticipate any cutbacks in resources as he tries to mold the team for the 2010 season.

The Dodgers, losers in five games to the Phillies in the NLCS, have the most potential players eligible for free agency with 16, including Manny Ramirez, who must decide if he will exercise his $20 million option for next season and return.

Colletti met with Frank McCourt, manager Joe Torre, and the coaching and baseball operations staff to discuss the recently concluded season and look ahead to next year. Frank McCourt fired his estranged wife Jamie as chief executive, and recently gave Colletti a long-term contract extension as GM. *