PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Recent Acquisition Gene Harris Goes AWOL From Triple-A Team

SAN DIEGO —  The Padres, who admittedly took a chance when they traded for pitcher Gene Harris of the Seattle Mariners, now apparently are suffering the consequences.

Harris, who twice quit the Mariners while threatening to try out for the NFL, has bolted from the Padres’ triple-A Las Vegas team and has not been seen in nearly a week.

Harris finally got in touch with the Padres on Tuesday, and said he was in San Diego to have his leg examined. He apparently injured his shin in a freak accident at the team hotel, and has pitched only one game in Las Vegas since leaving the Padres on June 26.

“He’s here getting looked at by doctors,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager. “There’s swelling in his leg. He insists his leg is hurt.”

McIlvaine confirmed that Harris was AWOL, but that there was no talk this time of leaving baseball for a tryout in the NFL.

“He’s just got to learn to go through the proper channels,” McIlvaine said, shaking his head.

The Padres have purchased the contract of veteran starter Jim Deshaies. The Padres negotiated a quick contract with Deshaies during the afternoon which is expected to pay him a pro-rated share of the minimum salary of $109,000.

He’ll make his Padre debut today against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Padres will make room on the roster by placing Dave Eiland on the disabled list.

Eiland sustained a sprained ankle Saturday night against the Montreal Expos while sliding home. The Padres figure he’ll miss only one start because of the upcoming All-Star break. He’ll be eligible to pitch again July 19.

Deshaies, 32, pitched the past six years for the Houston Astros. He was 5-12 with a 4.98 ERA last season for the Astros, yielding 156 hits in 161 innings.

The Padres have placed catcher Dann Billardello on waivers and he’ll learn Friday whether he’ll clear waivers.

Billardello, who batted .125 in 15 games, still will be paid his full $125,000 salary. He said that he won’t play at triple-A Las Vegas and instead will declare himself a free agent.

Although the Padres are thrilled that they are assured of having five players who will make the All-Star team this season, there will be a price to pay.

The Padres will be required to pay a $25,000 incentive to right fielder Tony Gwynn and first baseman Fred McGriff, who were voted to the All-Star game Wednesday. They are expected to shell out an additional $25,000 to third baseman Gary Sheffield, who’ll be announced as a reserve today.

Padre catcher Benito Santiago, who also was voted to the All-Star game, had no incentive in his contract for making the team. Shortstop Tony Fernandez also does not have an All-Star incentive in his contract.

Said McGriff: “Well, at least this makes up for the $1,000 I had to pay the league office for the brawl.”

Just how much has Gary Sheffield meant to the Padres this season?

Consider this: The Padres used nine different third basemen last season, batting a cumulative .194 batting average with 14 homers and 52 RBIs.

Sheffield has already surpassed those totals the first half of the season, batting .317 with 17 homers and 58 RBIs.

In fact, Sheffield is only seven RBIs shy of equaling the Padre record for RBIs by a third baseman, set by Graig Nettles with 65.

If you don’t think life has changed since Sheffield began tearing up the National League this season, just listen to his uncle, pitcher Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets.

“My dad came up to a game the other day, I look up in the stands, and he’s wearing a Padres cap,” Gooden said. “Can you believe it?

“I remember when were were in the World Series in ’86 and Gary came up. He was kidding, but he said, ‘There’ll be a day when people will start calling you Gary Sheffield’s uncle instead of calling me Doc Gooden’s nephew.’

“You know something, I think that’s already started.”

It didn’t take long for CBS-TV to jump off the Padres’ bandwagon. They dropped their scheduled telecast of the Padres’ game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, and instead will show the Dodgers-St. Louis Cardinals game.

The Padres, however, still will leave their game at the scheduled noon start.

The National League scheduling committee might consider having few home games in the month of June for the Florida Marlins.

In the last month, 57 of the scheduled 109 games in the Florida State League were rained out.