Omar Minaya to Become VP of San Diego Padres, Sources Say

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 24: New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya looks on from the dugout prior to the start of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on July 24, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Omar Minaya (2010 Getty Images)

Omar Minaya, Major League Baseball's first Latino general manager, is apparently back in baseball.

The former New York Mets' GM will be hired by the San Diego Padres, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. He will become vice president of the club, the source told The AP.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the agreement was not yet final.

Minaya was discussing a job with new Padres general manager Josh Byrnes that will give him a title along the lines of vice president of baseball operations. Minaya will remain based in New Jersey, his longtime home.

His salary will be offset from the approximately $1.4 million the Mets owe him next year in the final season of his contract.

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The Dominican baseball lifer became baseball's first Latino general manager when he took the post for the now defunct Montreal Expos. He became the Mets' GM two years later.

The Mets reached Game 7 of the National League Championship Series in 2006, only to lose to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The team suffered historic collapses the next two season and missed the playoffs.

Minaya was fired in Oct. 2010.

Minaya came under fire several times in New York. He fired manager Willie Randolph at 3:12 a.m. EST after a West Coast game, an episode later called the "Midnight Massacre"; his vice president of development and friend, Tony Bernazard, was fired after allegedly challenging Binghamton Mets' players to a fight; and Minaya – during the press conference in which he announced terminating Bernazard – publicly challenged a newspaper reporter by questioning the accuracy of his stories and suggesting that he was trying to get a job with the Mets.

Based on reporting by The Associated Press.