Thoughts about Kevin Towers

[tuffydahog]

I was thinking about the d'backs since Kevin Towers took over for them and thinking about the moves he has made. He has made some good moves but he has also made some really bad moves. The trade of Jarrod Parker for Trevor Cahill, signing Jason Kubel, signing Cody Ross, and signing Brandon McCarthy. Just absolutely terrible moves from Kevin Towers.

I looked at Kevin Towers track record in San Diego. I was under the impression that he did a much better job there than he actually did. He was the GM of the padres for 15 years. In those 15 years, the padres won at least 90 games only two times. Two times in 15 years. The d'backs have had at least 90 wins five times in their first 15 years of existence. The padres teams averaged 78.5 wins a year during the time Towers was their GM. That is not even .500. That is pretty sad.

The padres made the playoffs four times in Towers' 15 year tenure. However, they only made it past the first round once, when they went to the world series in 1996, where they were swept. In the other three years of the playoffs, they were swept in the NLDS twice and lost the other one 3-1. So besides one year where the padres got swept in the world series, they never did anyone anything in the other 14 years when Towers was their GM, except get destroyed a few times in the first round. That does not bode well for the d'backs, unfortunately.



Just recently Towers said that "there is no way" that the dodgers will maintain their current pace the rest of the season.

Diamondbacks GM Towers still confident team can win NL West ArizonaSports.com


Now today Towers said that he feels he has the right team. "Makeup-wise and chemistry-wise, I like the guys we have in our clubhouse," said Towers. "Probably this year more so than some of my prior years here, I don't know how much I want to mess with that. "I think over the long run, these guys will persevere and end up hopefully on top of the division."

GM Kevin Towers on trade deadline: 'I like the guys we have in our clubhouse' ArizonaSports.com


So my interpretation of that is that he believes that the dodgers will cool off and the d'backs will turn it around. Okay, so if you are banking on the fact that you think the other team in the division is just going to stop playing well, then you have a losers mentality. Instead of saying, the dodgers are playing great and we have to match that, we are going to go out and improve our team, he just hopes out of nowhere that his team becomes amazing while at the same time the dodgers become bad again. I hate that mentality.



The 2011 d'backs won 94 games, but the main parts of that team were put into place by Jerry Dipito and other moves made prior to hiring Kevin Towers. Since Dipito left, the d'backs finished 81-81 last year are now barely above .500 at 54-51. An average team. Does anybody think that this current team has the starting rotation or talent to win the NL west? I sure do not. The only reason we even led the division most of the season is because the NL West is the worst division in baseball.



I really hope that I am wrong and the d'backs come back and play great, but I am not betting on it. Any organization that consistently starts Ian Kennedy every fifth day probably does not even deserve to win. What a shame.

 

[Orange602]

I've said this before, but I'll say it again. If the current team is the type of team that Towers wants to build, then I don't want him as the Dback's GM. If he seriously evaluated players like Kubel, Ross, and McCarthy as key pieces to a playoff team, then I seriously question his evaluating skills.

 

[Driaz]

I guess I'm going to have to disagree.....

I see nothing wrong with his comment saying the Dodgers will cool off......if they win 15 out of 17 games the rest of the way, it doesn't matter how many players we trade for we ain't winning the division.....

The Dodgers WILL cool down!

I always find it funny....everybody want's the GM to make a trade, but then they don't want them to trade away any good young talent......

No other MLB team is going to trade us say a Jake Peavy for Ian Kennedy and Jason Kubel......

If he is comfortable with the players he has and doesn't want to give up lower level talent at the current asking price, kudos to him for standing pat.....

I can't believe what the Rangers gave up for 7 starts of Garza.......hell, they didn't even want to give us that much talent for Justin Upton......

 

[tuffydahog]

I guess I'm going to have to disagree.....

I see nothing wrong with his comment saying the Dodgers will cool off......if they win 15 out of 17 games the rest of the way, it doesn't matter how many players we trade for we ain't winning the division.....

The Dodgers WILL cool down!

I always find it funny....everybody want's the GM to make a trade, but then they don't want them to trade away any good young talent......

No other MLB team is going to trade us say a Jake Peavy for Ian Kennedy and Jason Kubel......

If he is comfortable with the players he has and doesn't want to give up lower level talent at the current asking price, kudos to him for standing pat.....

I can't believe what the Rangers gave up for 7 starts of Garza.......hell, they didn't even want to give us that much talent for Justin Upton......

I said within the past couple of days that I would trade Skaggs and some other young players if it means getting a top of the rotation starter. I would like to hold on to Patrick Corbin, Archie Bradley, and Randall Delgado. I would be willing to include one or two of Skaggs, Owings, Holmberg, Davidson, or maybe some other pieces as well for a front line starter.

The rangers were smart to not give up a ton of talent for Justin Upton. Besides the first month of the season, Upton has been terrible. He batted .211 in may, .226 in june, and .263 so far in july. He has only had 4 hr's 28 rbi's since april 30. 4 hr's and 28 rbi's in three months. No one even talks about that trade anymore because Upton has been so bad.

On the other hand, Garza has been dominating teams and he is pitching like a number one starter. The point of that trade is to try to win a world series. If the rangers win the world series, no one will talk about what they gave up. Also if you look at the stats of the players the rangers gave up, their stats are not that good at all. Regardless, how many prospects actually turn out to be amazing. Justin Upton was supposed to be the best prospect ever and he is nothing but a colossal disappointment.

 

[Desert Glory]

I said within the past couple of days that I would trade Skaggs and some other young players if it means getting a top of the rotation starter. I would like to hold on to Patrick Corbin, Archie Bradley, and Randall Delgado. I would be willing to include one or two of Skaggs, Owings, Holmberg, Davidson, or maybe some other pieces as well for a front line starter.

The rangers were smart to not give up a ton of talent for Justin Upton. Besides the first month of the season, Upton has been terrible. He batted .211 in may, .226 in june, and .263 so far in july. He has only had 4 hr's 28 rbi's since april 30. 4 hr's and 28 rbi's in three months. No one even talks about that trade anymore because Upton has been so bad.

On the other hand, Garza has been dominating teams and he is pitching like a number one starter. The point of that trade is to try to win a world series. If the rangers win the world series, no one will talk about what they gave up. Also if you look at the stats of the players the rangers gave up, their stats are not that good at all. Regardless, how many prospects actually turn out to be amazing. Justin Upton was supposed to be the best prospect ever and he is nothing but a colossal disappointment.

I'm completely for going "all in" for a run in the playoffs but honestly this was just a really bad year for trading for a SP. Garza was the best option and he would have cost us Skaggs and Holmberg. For a guy that would have 100% not been here next year, that is way too much IMO. Lee is another good option but they would not take anything less than Bradley for him and I don't want that either.

The wild card really changed the trade landscape this year. Less sellers and more buyers is not good for the market. The best example is Jake Peavy, who has been horrible this year, but look at the attention and demand for him. If we want him, we have to give up Skaggs, which is crazy if you think about having to give a top prospect for a guy with a 4.28 ERA.

 

[Jonas_steven]

I'm completely for going "all in" for a run in the playoffs but honestly this was just a really bad year for trading for a SP. Garza was the best option and he would have cost us Skaggs and Holmberg. For a guy that would have 100% not been here next year, that is way too much IMO. Lee is another good option but they would not take anything less than Bradley for him and I don't want that either.

The wild card really changed the trade landscape this year. Less sellers and more buyers is not good for the market. The best example is Jake Peavy, who has been horrible this year, but look at the attention and demand for him. If we want him, we have to give up Skaggs, which is crazy if you think about having to give a top prospect for a guy with a 4.28 ERA.

There is talks of moving the trade deadline to the middle of August or even the first of September to compensate for the additional wild card spot. Obviously, teams can still trade after the deadline but this should really help to desperate teams who are in it and those who are out!

 

[Desert Glory]

There is talks of moving the trade deadline to the middle of August or even the first of September to compensate for the additional wild card spot. Obviously, teams can still trade after the deadline but this should really help to desperate teams who are in it and those who are out!

That would be the absolute best counter to what the wild card has done to the trade deadline. I saw plenty of experts saying before the year that the extra wild card was going to have that effect on the market but I didn't really believe that it would be this big. When Jake Peavy's asking price is what it is, then you know you have to do something.