SAN DIEGO -- There was never any doubt in Bud Black's mind that he wanted to return for a third season as manager of the Padres, just as there was never any reservations from general manager Kevin Towers that he had the right man for the job.

"This is," Black said Tuesday, "a great job."

One day after the Padres formally committed to Black as their manager for 2009 -- retaining four of his coaches in the process -- Black and Towers spoke to reporters at PETCO Park, wrapping up a miserable '08 season while looking ahead to '09.

"This is still the right guy to lead this organization," Towers said of Black. "I don't think that, based on the record, that we could hold him fully responsible for the outcome of the season."

The Padres, on the heels of a 99-loss season -- their most since 1993 -- are moving into what is expected to be a busy offseason that includes finding a new hitting coach, a new bench coach and upgrades for a roster that largely underachieved in '08.

"We were bad. ... Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be trying to save our bacon in the last week of the season, trying to prevent ourselves from losing 100 games," Towers said.

Towers and Black met for several hours Wednesday in Los Angeles and then again Sunday, along with Padres CEO Sandy Alderson. Black said he was not concerned that the Padres -- who picked up his 2009 option in Spring Training -- would let him go.

But, as he said, you never know.

"Anytime you go through a season like this, there's going to be speculation," Black said. "But I was never given any indication from Sandy or Kevin about not coming back. So, I knew I had another year left on my contract, I assumed they wanted me back."

Now comes the difficult part for the Padres: getting better. The team will look to fill the bench-coach job, vacated when Craig Colbert's contract was not renewed. The team will look to hire someone with Major League experience, either as a bench coach or manager, to assist Black.

The Padres are also looking for a hitting coach, as Wally Joyner resigned last week citing philosophical issues with the team and the organization's approach to hitting. That candidate could be hired soon, and the replacement will likely be an internal candidate.

On the field, Towers said he was as culpable as anyone for handing over a roster to Black that was short on experience from the bench and depth in the bullpen. That the team also missed on their evaluations of Jim Edmonds, Tadahito Iguchi and several relievers didn't help, either.

"From my standpoint, I could have provided a stronger bullpen and more depth to the bullpen," Towers said. "Maybe I put too much confidence in [Cla] Meredith and [Joe] Thatcher to replace [Doug] Brocail and [Scott] Linebrink.

"We had a tough time bridging the gap between the starters and [Heath] Bell."

The Padres' bullpen ERA in 2007 was 3.06, the best in the Major Leagues. This season, it ballooned to 4.44.

Towers said that while no budget has been established, it's expected to be down from the $73.6 million it was this season and maybe even lower than the $58 million it was in 2007.

That means the Padres will likely be more active on the trade front than in free agency. Towers would like to add arms to the bullpen, sign a veteran backup catcher and give Black better bench options.

Otherwise, the Padres plan on playing more of their top prospects in 2009, including outfielders Chase Headley and Will Venable and catcher Nick Hundley.

"It was a young club," Towers said. "At the end of the season, we were a completely different ballclub. I actually enjoyed the last month of the season more than the prior five simply because the young players had a chance to get their feet wet."