Yesterday, The San Diego Padres Baseball Club, terminated their association with (re: fired) general manager, Kevin Towers, thus ending his 14 year career with the Padres. During Towers’ tenure, the Padres won 4 NL West titles and one National League pennant. They also finished last 5 times.
The Padres CEO, Jeff Moorad described Towers as a “masterful gunslinger.” The problem is that Moorad was looking for a general manager (re: someone with a plan) and Towers wasn’t it. People will come out of the woodwork now to say that Towers did a great job with an organization that was cash strapped. I would ask those people to look at the Padre’s farm system and identify the next player ready for the big leagues (take your time – I’ll wait) . He let Bruce Bochy (who turned around a Barry Bond-less Giants team) and future hall of famer Trevor Hoffman go getting nothing in return. Major League Baseball is full of former San Padres who Towers let go and flourished on other teams. In fact, no matter what teams reach the world series, there will be a former San Diego Padre on one of the teams released or traded during Towers’ tenure.
Towers’ release is a start. Let’s hope Moorad continues the house cleaning and then invests some real money in a GM who has a plan for success and doesn’t shoot from the hip.