Moorad recently dropped his application to become the controlling partner of the Padres. He had two years remaining to complete his purchase of the team, but he appeared to be having trouble winning over MLB owners and obtaining their support. In the meantime, John Moores still owns the club.

One club source told Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter) that Garfinkel has been running club all along and the move doesn't hurt the club in terms of stability or strength.

• Padres CEO Jeff Moorad told Tom Krasovic of Inside the Padres that Josh Byrnes' deal as GM is for five years plus an option. Moorad said he and Byrnes tore up the eight-year deal they signed when they were with the Diamondbacks. Byrnes obtained a raise and an extra year of guaranteed salary under his new deal, Krasovic writes.
• The Padres are on the verge of signing a 20-year, $1 billion TV deal with FOX, according to Barry Bloom of MLB.com. The club would earn $30MM in 2012 and $70MM by the time the contract expires unless something changes before it's finalized, Bloom explains.
• Bloom also reports that the ownership transfer from John Moores to Moorad isn’t about to go through and could take a couple of years to become official.
• Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times says the Dodgers should sign Andre Ethier to a three-year contract in the upper-$30MM range if possible. Ethier will earn $10.95MM in 2012 before hitting free agency, and I doubt he'd agree to the terms Dilbeck suggests.

WEDNESDAY, 2:25pm: Both MLB.com's Corey Brock and ESPN's Buster Olney are reporting that San Diego is moving closer to naming Boston Assistant General Manager Jed Hoyer as their next General Manager.

Hoyer and Los Angeles Assistant GM Kim Ng have both been interviewed. It is unclear if anyone else has been interviewed, with San Diego staying quiet about the search.

Padres' CEO Jeff Moorad has said he'd like to name a GM prior to the World Series, so it is reasonable to expect an announcement sooner than later.

As for Kevin Towers, whom Hoyer would be succeeding, his destination remains unclear. Olney wrote last week that "it figures that Towers will take a job with the Yankees as a special assistant in the months ahead."

But Brock reports that Towers could "conceivably take a spot in the Red Sox front office — possibly as a special assistant or in the scouting department — if Hoyer is indeed hired by the Padres."