Kevin Towers and San Diego pitching coach Darren Balsley are involved in a heated contract dispute. Towers is upset Balsley hired an agent, and Balsley is upset the Padres want him to live in San Diego full-time:

Towers insists Balsley live in the San Diego area year-round so he can work the pitchers during the offseason in exchange for a multi-year contract Balsley deserves.

That's a hang-up for Balsley, who was born in Newport Beach, Calif., about halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles, and grew up rooting for the Padres while attending Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego.

Balsley prefers Knoxville, where he has lived for the past 10 years.

"Working for the Padres and living out there would be ideal, but it's just not that easy," he said.

Balsley and wife Carrie are the parents of three children: Allison, 10; Sarah, 7; and Jacob, 5.

"At this point it would be difficult to move my family there," he said.

Balsley enjoys living in East Tennessee.

"My wife is from the South," he said. "I played here, I love Knoxville and it's a nice place to live."

There is another factor.

"The cost of living out there is outrageous," Balsley said.

I'm coming down on Balsley's side here. First of all, you hire an agent because they have expertise in contract negotiations. Sure, the GM doesn't want to deal with that, but too bad. And secondly, how many Padres pitchers live in San Diego full time? I would suspect many make their home somewhere else. I agree with the author of the piece that Towers wants to bring in new blood without looking like he just fired a successful coach.