Comments (0) Best General in Local Sports - 2011
Kevin Towers, Arizona Diamondbacks
There was a different vibe in the Arizona Diamondbacks' clubhouse this season, and it's because of new GM Kevin Towers. The former San Diego Padres GM, who finished his first regular season with the Diamondbacks, has put people in place — manager Kirk Gibson, along with clubhouse leaders like veteran pitcher Joe Saunders — who have turned things around for the franchise. Now, instead of looking at years of dismal, last-place finishes, Arizona fans have reason for hope. This year's team contended all season, after having finished at the bottom of the National League west in 2010. Towers was a proven winner in San Diego. In his two decades with the Padres, his last 14 helming the front office, Padres teams appeared in one World Series — losing to the New York Yankees in 1998 — and won four division titles. (Ironically, the only other time San Diego was in the Series was in 1984, when Gibson's Detroit Tigers beat them.) Now, here's an interesting twist: Towers came to Arizona after he was fired by Padres CEO Jeff Moorad, who disparagingly called him a "gunslinger." (Towers does favor cowboy boots.) Moorad headed the Diamondbacks before he bought the Padres in 2009. Once the D-Backs' pathetic 2010 season concluded, GM Josh Byrnes and manager A.J. Hinch — definitely not "gunslinger" types — were summarily fired. Guess what Moorad did? He hired both boobs for front-office jobs in SD. The result of all this was that Arizona won the NL West, and the Padres (true to Byrnes and Hinch's form) were in last place. Towers for the dismal duo definitely is a trade we endorse. Shoot 'em up, Kevin.
