After playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles next Sunday, the Padres will delve into an offseason that figures to be as pivotal as the last. The front office must decide which direction to go managerially, where to upgrade or retool the roster, how to allocate resources through trades and free agency — all in an effort to overcome the disappointment of 2015.

The first acquisition might come off the field, albeit not far from it.

ESPN.com reported Sunday night that, “in another week or so,” the Padres will announce the addition of Don Orsillo, the outsted play-by-play voice of the Boston Red Sox, to their Fox Sports San Diego broadcast team.

The Boston Globe reported last week that the Padres were aggressively pursuing Orsillo.


How aggressively?

Sources outside the organization told the Union-Tribune that Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler and president and CEO Mike Dee flew to the East Coast this month to meet with Orsillo in person. A multi-year contract was offered, and Orsillo is expected to have the opportunity to broadcast a number of national games for FSSD’s parent company.

In the wake of Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Enberg’s announcement that he will retire after the 2016 season, Padres officials have declined to comment on their courting of Orsillo. The connection, however, is obvious.

Dee was a Red Sox executive from 2002 to 2009, the last seven years of which he served as the franchise’s chief operating officer. He is known to be an admirer of Orsillo, who has been the Red Sox play-by-play broadcaster for the New England Sports Network (NESN) since the 2001 season.


The Padres are not alone in their admiration. When NESN announced last month that Orsillo would not return for a 16th season - Dave O’Brien was named his replacement - it sparked immediate public backlash. A Change.org petition to keep Orsillo at NESN has garnered more than 62,000 signatures.

Orsillo called his final Red Sox home game Sunday. Hours before the broadcast, he tweeted, “Last Fenway Day! Thank u for letting me be a part of your family. I heard you all and will never forget #Donatangelo.” The tweet included a YouTube link to Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye.”

Between the seventh and eighth innings of a 2-0 victory over Baltimore, the Red Sox played a video tribute to Orsillo. With nearly at everyone at Fenway Park, including Red Sox players and coaches, standing and cheering, Orsillo gestured to the crowd from his booth and touched his heart.

Enberg, 80, has worked a reduced schedule this season and will do so again next year, possibly calling between 100 and 120 games. He and the Padres amicably agreed on a soft landing and a still-to-determined, emeritus role beyond 2016.


In both the baseball and broadcast industries, the 46-year-old Orsillo is viewed as a worthy eventual successor.

Padres bench coach Dave Roberts, whose stolen base during the 2004 World Series is part of Red Sox lore, has worked with Orsillo in the booth. After retiring as a player, Roberts joined NESN as a studio analyst and served as a fill-in color commentator during the 2009 season while Jerry Remy, Orsillo’s longtime broadcast partner, recovered from the effects of lung cancer surgery.

“Don was great to have by my side, and he made it pretty easy for me,” Roberts said Sunday morning. “The voice, the knowledge and the delivery, it’s just funny that you hear it and you listen to him. Then you’re in the booth, and you realize how hard it is. I definitely consider him a friend, and he’s one of the best in the game at what he does.

“I don’t know what the organization’s decision will be, but he’s definitely good at what he does, and as a fan, he’s fun to listen to. The energy, the insight, it’s as good as anybody in the business.”