Jeff Moorad told the San Diego Union-Tribune that he is indeed firing Kevin Towers:
Strategic thinking is the crucial quality Moorad is seeking as he attempts to steer the Padres in a new direction following 14 years of Towers’ sometimes seat-of-the-pants stewardship. Moorad wants to rebuild his baseball operation from its foundation, to develop detailed short-, mid- and long-term plans, and he has decided that Towers is not the right fit for those responsibilities.
“The organization is indebted to Kevin for not only the 14 years he served as general manager, but for the fact that the club is well-positioned to go forward into the future,” Moorad told the Union-Tribune in an exclusive interview before last night’s game at Petco Park. “I think we need to build a better baseball operations department, better skilled at the areas we’re committed to going forward.
“I admire (Towers’) skills very much and respect his relationships that exist around the game. But I think over the next period of time, our focus is on more of a strategic approach to drafting and development that has a chance to compete in the division year-in and year-out.”
It took Towers nine seasons to put together a team that could post a winning record four years in a row. That team finished first twice, but one of those seasons they posted an 82-80 record, hardly something impressive. About the only clear-cut great move he made in recent years was bringing in Adrian Gonzalez.
David,
Without proper context, these statements are a bit misleading:
“It took Towers nine seasons to put together a team that could post a winning record four years in a row.”
Only nine seasons? It took the *franchise* 35 seasons to put together such a team.
“That team finished first twice, but one of those seasons they posted an 82-80 record, hardly something impressive.”
An 83-78 record isn’t impressive either, although it was enough to net the Cardinals a World Championship in 2006.
@Geoff Young: Geoff, Towers was supposed to be different. He was schooled in the Oakland way of doing things, finding value where others didn’t see it. He came in with a good team already in place, one that won the 1996 division and went to the 1998 World Series. He couldn’t sustain that team and it took him five years of poor finishes to get back. Nothing special about that. Give most competent GMs five years of high draft picks and they’ll do well.
On top of that you have the recent set of young players who regress instead of improve as they play in the majors. I liked many of his moves, I could see why he made them, but over all talent judgment seemed to be poor.
That undersells his contributions to the ’96 and ’98 teams. Towers went out and acquired John Flaherty, Chris Gomez, Greg Vaughn, Quilvio Veras, Sterling Hitchcock, and Kevin Brown, all of whom were instrumental to the success of one or both teams.
Which young players have regressed? I’ll gladly concede Khalil Greene, although it took a few years for him to bottom out. Jake Peavy? Adrian Gonzalez? Scott Hairston?
It is easy to take for granted his contributions, but Towers’ overall record here has been impressive in context:
pre-Towers: 26 seasons, 7 winning records, 1 playoff appearance
with Towers: 14 seasons, 6 winning records, 4 playoff appearances
@Geoff Young: I’d put Headley and Kouzmanoff in the regressed ledger. They’re certainly not improving as they reach peak age.
I understand why San Diego fans like him, and you’re right, he brought more winning to the club than his predecessors. I’m an outsider, and as far as I can see, he didn’t build a sustainable organization. He’s less disappointing than Shapiro and Ricciardi, but it strikes me that the Twins have done a better job over the last six years of finding talent at low cost and staying in the playoff hunt without a lot of money.
I think the numbers for Headley will tell you a different story, David. How has he regressed?
Pre-ASB vs. post-ASB slashes:
.232/.308/.366 (284 AB) vs. .296/.375/.427 (253 AB) by improving his BB/K ratio, hitting more 2B.
His 2008 slashes are .269/.337/.420 in 331 AB for the 3+ months he spent with the club.
Clearly he made improvement in the second half of this season. Yes, his overall number for 2008 and 2009 looks similar but upon closer look he’s been hitting much better lately. Now, about that defense, yeah, he’s no LF-er. I’d agree about Kouz’s hitting not improving, though, his defense has improved that he’s about average at 3B (no more talk of GG nonsense).
As for Kevin Towers, his draft records ultimately do him in. And the fact that he didn’t get the Snakes GM job while Moorad was over there pretty much told us what Moorad was leaning toward doing once he bought the Padres.
@Didi: I’ll wait until Headly improves over a full season. At his age, similar to last season, when last season was poor isn’t what I want to see.