Kevin Tower D'Backs era has been a disaster

[az jam]

This morning on the Wolf & Doug show they interviewed ESPN's MLB analyst Keith Law. He called the GM Kevin Tower D'Backs era a disaster and really slammed him for his trades. He said that there is very little to look forward to as KT has traded so many good prospects for older players that have underperformed. He also said that something is wrong on how the D'Backs develop their young pitchers. As soon as they struggle they are traded. He doesn't see any hope for a turnaround. The D'Backs had an excellent farm system and that is now in poor shape. Very depressing conversation.

 

[Phrazbit]

Yeah, I linked a Keith Law article over the winter and a few posters here think Law is a big dummy with an axe to grind.

The franchise was in impeccable shape only a few short years ago and the damage Towers has done in that brief time is astounding. He is the worst exec in the league.

 

[BC867]

'Currently losing to the Mets 9-0 -- 2-hit shutout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEX1dYyvmig

 

[Azlen]

Still a long way to go this season but thus far the D'backs starting rotation has the worst ERA in history.

The 2014 starting lineup has an ERA of 7.16. Number 2 is the 1996 Detroit Tigers with an ERA of 6.64.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...arroyo-have-had-a-really-bad-night-on-tuesday

 

[FArting]

Give these new coaches a chance let them work their magic.

Also we need to close the roof. Schilling wanted to close the roof when he pitched.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Towers problem is that he traded our youth at or near their lowest value instead of their highest. There were times we could have received AS-caliber major league ready talent for guys such as Parker, IPK, Bauer, Skaggs, Upton, Eaton, etc. The trades themselves on paper don't really look as bad as Law makes them out to be.

However the pitching staff he has scouted and acquired is absolute crap. No way we should be spending an upwards of $27 million or almost a third of our payroll so McCarthy, Cahill, and Arroyo can throw batting practice to the NL West.

 

[JS22]

Yeah, I linked a Keith Law article over the winter and a few posters here think Law is a big dummy with an axe to grind.

The franchise was in impeccable shape only a few short years ago and the damage Towers has done in that brief time is astounding. He is the worst exec in the league.

His refusal to back down on his stance on Goldschmidt is why most people hate him.

Although I think he is right regarding Towers.

 

[az jam]

Wolf & Doug interviewed KT on their morning show today (Wednesday). He really seemed overwhelmed with what has happened to the pitching staff. He had no answers. I think he knows that his head is on the chopping block.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Wolf & Doug interviewed KT on their morning show today (Wednesday). He really seemed overwhelmed with what has happened to the pitching staff. He had no answers. I think he knows that his head is on the chopping block.

I heard the entire interview... As I have said for the past 2 seasons, 2014 was my year in which I would hold KT accountable, as a I felt the impact of his moves would be best judged in this season.
Obviously, there can be no other score to give him at this point, other than an F. His moves have simply not panned out. Now, I don't believe the team is nearly as bad as it is playing. I mean, to have all 5 starters putting up career-worst performances is extremely rare. And that is where I hold Gibby and his coaching staff accountable - even more than KT.

And yes, of course KT knows his head is on the chopping block. As does Gibby... And in more stunning news, they also know the earth is round...

 

[Brian]

I heard the entire interview... As I have said for the past 2 seasons, 2014 was my year in which I would hold KT accountable, as a I felt the impact of his moves would be best judged in this season.
Obviously, there can be no other score to give him at this point, other than an F. His moves have simply not panned out. Now, I don't believe the team is nearly as bad as it is playing. I mean, to have all 5 starters putting up career-worst performances is extremely rare. And that is where I hold Gibby and his coaching staff accountable - even more than KT.

And yes, of course KT knows his head is on the chopping block. As does Gibby... And in more stunning news, they also know the earth is round...

I heard the interview as well. He said something to the effect of "We keep trying to get these pitchers to throw to the inner third, and they are hitting the outer half".

WTF?

How has hitting the inner third against Brandon Belt worked out for them? Is it 3 or 4 bombs he's hit right in the inner third?

Pitchers are feasting on our hitters low and away. They have gotten swings and misses in particular from Prado and Trumbo throwing there.

Pitch to the hitters weakness KT. It's not the same for all hitters and it's not as simple as the "inner third" which I've heard him mention MANY times now over the years. I know he's got to know that, but why does he keep saying it like it's just that simple?

 

[82CardsGrad]

I heard the interview as well. He said something to the effect of "We keep trying to get these pitchers to throw to the inner third, and they are hitting the outer half".

WTF?

How has hitting the inner third against Brandon Belt worked out for them? Is it 3 or 4 bombs he's hit right in the inner third?

Pitchers are feasting on our hitters low and away. They have gotten swings and misses in particular from Prado and Trumbo throwing there.

Pitch to the hitters weakness KT. It's not the same for all hitters and it's not as simple as the "inner third" which I've heard him mention MANY times now over the years. I know he's got to know that, but why does he keep saying it like it's just that simple?

He was speaking in broad/general terms... In general, pitchers who command the inner portion of the plate are typically the more successful pitchers. But of course, that also requires them to hit their other spots and not solely throw inside.
KT also mentioned that our pitchers are not executing their game plans and are not picking up the signs from hitters as to what they are looking for. Most hitters, based upon their body language and their swing, will give clues as to what type of pitch they might be looking for, as well as location... Most major league pitchers know this and adjust their pitching sequences accordingly. For all the wrong reasons, our guys are not doing this while opposing pitchers are doing it quite well against our hitters...

I'm not defending KT as, the results speak for themselves and ultimately, he will be held accountable... as should Gibby and the rest of the coaching staff.

 

[Brian]

He was speaking in broad/general terms... In general, pitchers who command the inner portion of the plate are typically the more successful pitchers. But of course, that also requires them to hit their other spots and not solely throw inside.


I'm not defending KT as, the results speak for themselves and ultimately, he will be held accountable... as should Gibby and the rest of the coaching staff.

I agree. I was just trying to say that it's not as simple as KT was saying, maybe he was trying to dumb it down for the audience.

Cahill's last start against the Giants he threw a fastball inside to Belt, and I literally yelled "oh-no" as it came in. We all know the end result.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I agree. I was just trying to say that it's not as simple as KT was saying, maybe he was trying to dumb it down for the audience.

Cahill's last start against the Giants he threw a fastball inside to Belt, and I literally yelled "oh-no" as it came in. We all know the end result.

Yea... I remember that too and felt the knot in my stomach as soon as the pitch hit his bat...

 

[BC867]

I found this article from Feb. 3rd about how long the Towers & Gibson contract extensions were for.

The only quote was "beyond the 2014 season". Not even other employees are aware of the commitment.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...ntracts-for-kirk-gibson-kevin-towers/5190309/

It will be interesting to see when the point will come that saving face and saving money by keeping them will be overridden by plodding along with the worst team in baseball and a lot of empty seats in the stadium.

The D'backs have developed a pattern of naming passive Managers from Melvin to Hinch to (who would have thought it?) Gibson.

Has this been an ongoing reaction to the obsessive control of Buck Showalter?

 

[Bert]

I heard the entire interview... As I have said for the past 2 seasons, 2014 was my year in which I would hold KT accountable, as a I felt the impact of his moves would be best judged in this season.
Obviously, there can be no other score to give him at this point, other than an F. His moves have simply not panned out. Now, I don't believe the team is nearly as bad as it is playing. I mean, to have all 5 starters putting up career-worst performances is extremely rare. And that is where I hold Gibby and his coaching staff accountable - even more than KT.

And yes, of course KT knows his head is on the chopping block. As does Gibby... And in more stunning news, they also know the earth is round...

I heard the interview as well. KT sounded defeated and resigned to his fate. Anytime someone starts dropping the "I just have to control what I can control." line you know that they know what's next... You could tell he feels truly perplexed, blindsided, dare I say betrayed by how badly this team is playing. (bad or badly BIM?) I almost felt sorry for him. Almost

 

[BC867]

This was written about the D-backs hiring of Dave Duncan in February.

Does anyone have insight into

(1) How the influence of one of the great Pitching coaches in history in Spring Training could lead to the worst results for a starting rotation ever.

(2) Is Duncan still a special assistant, overseeing our inexperienced Pitching Coach?

After 16 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Duncan took a leave of absence in January 2012 to be with his wife, Jeanine, as she battled cancer. She died in June, and Duncan decided in the fall he needed to get back to work. The Diamondbacks hired him in November, not long before they made Mike Harkey their new pitching coach.

Duncan’s new role calls for less day-to-day responsibility than a normal pitching coach. There’s less of the stuff he considers a “headache” — the planning, the minutiae — and more of the stuff he enjoys: observing pitchers, sharing philosophies, exchanging ideas.

The Diamondbacks seem to have almost turned their entire pitching operation over to Duncan. In a team meeting, Harkey encouraged the staff to take advantage of him as a resource. Since nobody, including Duncan, is sure how much he’ll be around once the season starts, pitchers have been trying to maximize their time around him.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/dia...hers-all-ears-when-dave-duncan-instructs.html

Edit: I just checked. The D'backs Front Office lists six Special Assistants to the GM. Dave Duncan is no longer one of them.

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=ari

 

[az jam]

I'm an old timer and have been a baseball fan for over 60 years. I've never seen a GM that has totally destroyed a team like KT has. Listening to Gambo yesterday (Wed), he basically said that he has not had a single successful trade or free agent signing. He has ruined one of the best prospect list in the majors.
This morning on the Doug & Wolf show, President D. Hall was still preaching crap that everything will be turned around we should be patient.

Gibby Ball was exciting when he took over and in 2011 made the playoffs and was named manage of the year. KT gutted that team. I'm finished with the D'Back sand looking forward to the NFL draft and seeing who the Cars pick.

 

[Lefty]

I would like the Kevin Towers supporters to dispute this article but I doubt they will because they have been very quiet the past couple of weeks, except 82, who has realized Towers needs to go.
http://insidethezona.com/2014/04/diamondbacks/

 

[Phrazbit]

I would like the Kevin Towers supporters to dispute this article but I doubt they will because they have been very quiet the past couple of weeks, except 82, who has realized Towers needs to go.
http://insidethezona.com/2014/04/diamondbacks/

The only beef I have with that entire article is this line:

Perhaps even scarier, the players he’s acquired aren’t the kind of players you build a team around. In an almost comical fashion, he’s instead traded the young, grow-your-own assets in exchange for these often aging, one-sided players. Rather than having a young, cost-controlled nucleus to build around, the Diamondbacks have allowed personal clashes and an over-aching narrative to define their team. Instead of adults being adults and professionals being professional, we’ve seen several instances of “I don’t like you, goodbye,” when it comes to promising, highly-drafted, highly-rated young players. This fatal flaw is almost so basic, it’s a wonder we didn’t see dreadful results coming sooner.

I'm no genius... but I, and others, did see it coming sooner. I've been harping on these false narratives KT creates in order to justify his backwards moves, his treatment of the entire farm system like a 5 dollar bill he found in his pocket and the lack of professionalism from the entire front office for well over a year.

And speaking of Billy Beane, he's known about KT's incompetence for a while now. IMO there is a reason we see these teams frequently dipping back into the same well for trades, they know how poorly the Dbacks have become at valuing their own assets and evaluating players on opposing rosters.

 

[FArting]

KT led the Padres to the World Series in 1998. Give him a chance.

All GM's make stupid moves. You live and die by the mistakes you want.

Dbacks are a first class organization. You want guys that want to be here.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I would like the Kevin Towers supporters to dispute this article but I doubt they will because they have been very quiet the past couple of weeks, except 82, who has realized Towers needs to go.
http://insidethezona.com/2014/04/diamondbacks/

Look - I'm not a KT apologist... He made his moves and as I've said, he will now hang by those moves. He did what every other GM does - he attempted to make the team better. But of course, he failed.

But what I've been mulling as I examine many of these moves is what role has Gibby played? Your article actually states that Eaton didn't "jive with manager Kirk Gibson..." I wonder the same about Upton & Bauer... And therefore, I really wonder just how much of an impact Gibby has had in these deals.
Again, I'm not defending or making excuses for KT. In the end, he's the boss and he very could've told Gibby to go pound sand, or, at least tried harded to find a way to bridge the gaps between Gibby and these players.
KT will be removed soon enough - there is no other option... However, I am seriously wondering if Gibby shouldn't be the first to go.

 

[Phrazbit]

KT led the Padres to the World Series in 1998. Give him a chance.

All GM's make stupid moves. You live and die by the mistakes you want.

Dbacks are a first class organization. You want guys that want to be here.

I dont care what KT did back in 1998, he eventually led the Padres to utter ruin. He "led" them EIGHT times to finishes of either last or second to last in the division, he selected arguably the worst #1 overall pick in MLB history. He left their farm system in such ruin that they are only now beginning to recover. In his last decade as the Pads GM its hard to come up with a single notable position player the Padres produced besides Jason Bay... whom he promptly traded for Brian Giles a much older, much more expensive player who played the same position. Bay quickly became an all-star while Giles quickly fell off a cliff (sound familiar?).

KT has made far more stupid moves than smart ones, he deserves to die (professionally speaking) as a result of them.

 

[BC867]

However, I am seriously wondering if Gibby shouldn't be the first to go.

Here is a recent quote from someone which indicates that Gibby lacks key management skills.

"I need to improve my communications skills."

The quote was from Kirk Gibson.

'Nuff said!

 

[JS22]

KT led the Padres to the World Series in 1998. Give him a chance.

All GM's make stupid moves. You live and die by the mistakes you want.

Dbacks are a first class organization. You want guys that want to be here.

Give him a chance?

He's had plenty and has done pretty much everything possible to ruin what was once a promising farm system. Only to replace them with overpriced vets.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

KT led the Padres to the World Series in 1998. Give him a chance.

In sports, there is an underlying "what have you done for me lately" mentality. A World Series appearance 16 years ago doesn't hold much water in the here and now. Also being quite frank, that World Series was as much Tony Gwynn and Bruce Bochy as it was KT.

All GM's make stupid moves. You live and die by the mistakes you want.

Dbacks are a first class organization. You want guys that want to be here.

Correct, all GM's make stupid moves. However when the stupid moves outweigh the good ones by a substantial margin, there is a major problem that needs fixed. Other than re-upping Goldschmidt at that price tag, the Kelly Johnson for Aaron Hill trade and the Trumbo deal (which I won't crucify), can any deal he has made really be called a win?