"Part of Josh Byrnes downfall as Arizona's general manager in 2010 can be traced to the failure of the Diamondbacks bullpen.

Now Byrnes is being asked to rebuild the Padres bullpen for 2012, starting with replacing closer Heath Bell, as one of his first major tasks in his new role as the Padres general manager.

At least Byrnes will have another set of eyes joining the search.

"We've discussed at least nine names as potential closers," Byrnes said Friday in the wake of free agent Bell agreeing to a three-year contract with the Miami Marlins.

In other news of the day, the Padres signed former Montreal and New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya as senior vice president of baseball operations – the same position held by Byrnes before he succeeded Jed Hoyer as the general manager six weeks ago.

"Omar's role is going to be similar to what I did for Jed, helping put ideas together, scouting a bunch of stuff," said Byrnes."