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The Arizona Diamondbacks have had an atrocious season, and in an effort to turn things around, the team announced today that Kevin Towers, the former general manager of the San Diego Padres, will replace Jerry Dipoto as the D-Backs’ GM.
Dipoto was filling in for Josh Byrnes, who was given the boot by the team on July 1, following a dreadful start to the season.
Despite a record of 60-91 and no shot at the playoffs, the D-Backs aren’t the worst team in the National League right now.
That dishonor belongs to the Pittsburgh Pirates, with a record of 52-98.
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Clearly, Towers has his work cut out for him.
Luckily, he’s no novice when it comes to putting together decent teams on a tight budget.
As Arizona Republic sports columnist Nick Piecoro points out, Towers is responsible for the deal that sent Adrian Gonzalez to San Diego, which is widely regarded as one of the best deals in recent baseball history.
Towers spent 14 seasons with the Padres. In that time, the team won four NL West titles and went to the World Series in 1998, where they were crushed in four games by the New York Yankees.
In October 2009, Towers was fired by the Padres and spent this past season as a special assistant to the Yankees.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, sources say Towers will receive a two-year contract with the team. The fate of interim manager Kirk Gibson hasn’t been determined.
Our only advice to Towers (for now): show everyone in the D-Backs’ bullpen the door (Aaron Heilman included).
