New manager and SDSU alum Bud Black is bringing on a couple more bodies [I misread the original article; big thanks to reader Matt for pointing out the error] former Aztecs to help round out the coaching staff. Craig Colbert and Bobby Meacham will be working under Black in 2007.

Colbert, manager at Triple-A Portland since 2004, is one of two candidates (third base coach Glenn Hoffman being the other) to replace Tony Muser as bench coach. Colbert’s hiring comes as a bit of a surprise — it was announced earlier this week that he would be returning for a fourth season as Portland’s manager.

Meacham spent 2006 as third-base coach for the Florida Marlins and is expected to move across the diamond for the Padres. Meacham, a former manager in the Angels organization, replaces Tye Waller in that capacity.

As for Waller, before becoming the Pads’ first-base coach, he was their director of player development. Among other things, he hired Darren Balsley as a minor-league pitching coach and advocated for opening the second base job to Josh Barfield.

Ducksnorts on the Radio

Regular reader and commenter Ryguy hosts a radio show and has been good enough to invite me to talk about the Padres and baseball in general. The show will run tomorrow (Sunday) morning from 8 to 10 a.m. PT on WMAR. You can catch the live webcast at their site.

My segment comes on around 8:20, but you’ll want to stick around for the entire show — they’ve got some great guests lined up, including Maury Brown, Richard Billingsley of the College Football Research Center, Ken Pomeroy, and Kenneth Massey.

So, if you’re up for a little hot stove and college football talk, be sure to swing by and give a listen Sunday morning. And thanks again to Ryguy for having me on the show!

Programming Note

This is my final live transmission for a while. I’m taking the week off for Thanksgiving, but I’ll have some things lined up for you while I’m gone — at the very least we’ll have an open thread every day. I’ll also have some stuff up at Knuckle Curve, and of course, there are any number of fine blogs you can go read over there on the right.

I’ll be back online November 29 with a pretty big announcement (I’m sitting on this one over vacation because it’s still kind of freaking me out — but trust me, it’s a good thing). Meantime, keep the conversation going and be good to one another.

Go Padres!