Kevin Towers in retrospect

[Diamondback Jay]

I think its fair to say, we are seeing the final days of Kevin Towers career as GM here are coming to an end. Even his biggest supporters here have begun to call for his head. Yet despite this, like all other GMs, Towers has had his highs and lows here.

While the verdict is still out on what Drury, Ahmed and even Delgado are capable of, I don't think its unfair to say KT sold too low on Upton. Also while Gregorious has been respectable, Towers also sold low on Trevor Bauer. The Ross and McCarthy signings sucked and I will never fully understand the logic behind the original Heath Bell deal.

On the flipside of that, Aaron Blair is an absolute stud who very well may wind up being in the majors in September, Braden Shipley has a ridiculous ceiling and so does Touki. Those three and Archie Bradley have the makings of a ridiculous starting rotation for many years to come. Also, go give the devil his due, Towers also DID sign Peralta off the scrap heap (at this point last season, DP was playing for the Amarillo Sox for Gods sake) and he has proven to be an absolute steal. Trade wise, the deal for Zeigler was a good one, so too was acquiring Aaron Hill for Kelly Johnson and I additionally believe the Kennedy trade was a good one for the team; even with Kennedy pitching well for San Diego.

Ultimately the mistakes made (the ones mentioned above just being a few) will be Towers' downfall and I have no doubt in my mind, he is done as soon as the season ends. I also don't question whether or not it is a bad move or the right one. After four seasons, the team underachieving in 2012 and 2013; then the wheels completely falling off in 2014, its time for a change. However, I would be remiss if I said Towers did all bad and ruined the franchise.

 

[82CardsGrad]

That's about as fair of any assessment on KT as can be offered... IMHO, his decisions (perhaps heavily influenced by Gibby) to move Upton and Bauer will haunt KT for the rest of his career. I actually give the guy kudos for having the guts to make those moves - when many other GM's would've sat tight given how high-profile the players are. However, we lost bigtime in the Upton trade (which included Chris Johnson), and Bauer is showing signs that he might (I'm still very skeptical of the nutjob) be getting his head together...

Anyway, KT needs to go and frankly, I'm a bit surprised that he is still here, given that the draft is over...

 

[Phrazbit]

He also did good with the Aaron Hill trade and the Goldy contract (which may be his biggest success). Also worth noting is the complete bust that Stryker Trahan appears to be.

Every GM has some good and bad moves, Towers has had more bad than good but what gets me the most about Towers is that some of his moves are completely inexplicable. The attempt to trade Upton to Seattle knowing he would veto it, which all it did was set a price level that the entire league got to see and could now bid underneath. The Cody Ross contract... no one, not even the Yankees, dishes out 9 mil a year for a 4th outfielder. The Cahill trade, people can talk about Parker and this being a battle of "turd vs turd", but when you're a franchise with a budget that kind of trade is mind boggling. And of course, the Trumbo trade. Again, people can try to marginalize what we gave up, but it does not change what Trumbo is and blatantly represented when we got him... a player with no position on this roster and who represented exactly what the team was so pleased with itself for getting rid of.

So yeah, all GMs screw up, but I cannot remember any other exec making so many moves in such a short time that made you say "Is this guy ****ing serious?"

One final, semi-related note; did anyone see his line about McCarthy the other day?

"A lot of it comes down to pitchers executing, as well. You know, if pitchers don't execute pitches, regardless of what you're calling -- you know, if they miss their spots, it's going to be poor results."
As the GM continued, he didn't hold back his seeming annoyance with his former pitcher's comments.
"McCarthy, you know -- it's always good to place blame on others once you leave the organization," he said.

A hilarious line coming from his front office. They've kicked several players in the teeth, through the media, on their way out the door, dragging their names through the mud in an effort to justify a trade. To then whine when it comes back the other way is hysterical.

 

[Diamondback Jay]

I do find irony in this considering he painted Bauer as a train wreck mentally and Upton as a lazy primadonna on their way out of town.

 

[AZ Native]

I think we got way too little in the Upton trade. I think anyone who ever witnessed Upton's lazy prima donna attitude knows why. I put that on Upton. If we could see it, so could the rest of the league. Still, like I said, we got too little in return.

 

[don7031]

The current result of the Upton trade is a bust in Delgado and prospects. In addition to Upton, the Braves also acquired a starting 3rd baseman in Chris Johnson. The Braves are competing for a playoff berth and the D'backs are years away.

 

[Mulli]

Funny how the Dbacks missed that attitude and made him the face of the franchise.

#uptown

Here is a tip:

If you don't like guys' makeup, don't draft them.

Bauer
Upton

Feel free to go another direction.

 

[Iceman]

The Dbacks organization needs an entire facelift, unfortunately. I see this is probably Gibson's last year here. I feel for Gibby because he is in such a bad spot. All of his players have either been traded or gone down to injury. Not much a manager can do when you have average players. I agree with don7031, we are for sure years away from becoming a contender again. Especially when the Dodgers and Giants keep getting better every year (plus they make good trades, unlike us!).

 

[Lefty]

The Dbacks organization needs an entire facelift, unfortunately. I see this is probably Gibson's last year here. I feel for Gibby because he is in such a bad spot. All of his players have either been traded or gone down to injury. Not much a manager can do when you have average players. I agree with don7031, we are for sure years away from becoming a contender again. Especially when the Dodgers and Giants keep getting better every year (plus they make good trades, unlike us!).

Not only bad trades but over paying free agents who are past their prime.

 

[AZ Native]

Funny how the Dbacks missed that attitude and made him the face of the franchise.

#uptown

Here is a tip:

If you don't like guys' makeup, don't draft them.

Bauer
Upton

Feel free to go another direction.

Both were drafted for their immense talent and potential. Justin was drafted out of high school. He was very young then and when he was brought up.

Not everyone is going to act like Goldy or Fitz but Justin just never seemed to mature (to me).

I thing Bauer was about 20 when drafted. He pretty much dug his own grave bad mouthing Montero and telling the press he would pitch how he wanted. I know I am paraphrasing, but that is what I remember.

You draft talent and potential and hope they mature as major leaguers.

 

[Mulli]

Both were drafted for their immense talent and potential. Justin was drafted out of high school. He was very young then and when he was brought up.

Not everyone is going to act like Goldy or Fitz but Justin just never seemed to mature (to me).

I thing Bauer was about 20 when drafted. He pretty much dug his own grave bad mouthing Montero and telling the press he would pitch how he wanted. I know I am paraphrasing, but that is what I remember.

You draft talent and potential and hope they mature as major leaguers.

Organizational failure for not developing them as they grew up. Grumpy Gus Manager can't manage kids?

 

[Phrazbit]

Organizational failure for not developing them as they grew up. Grumpy Gus Manager can't manage kids?

Players dont start off gritty. He wants the ones who have developed their grit through years of failure.

 

[AZ Native]

Organizational failure for not developing them as they grew up. Grumpy Gus Manager can't manage kids?

At what point do you hold the players accountable? I see both sides but the players have to share the blame for their actions. They need to be accountable too.

 

[Mulli]

At what point do you hold the players accountable? I see both sides but the players have to share the blame for their actions. They need to be accountable too.

Hold accountable of course. Trade for cents on the dollar not so much. Which of this years' squad will need to be traded for immaturity?

 

[Lefty]

Trumbo has one home run since April.

 

[BC867]

Trumbo has one home run since April.

He said that (because of his low batting average -- 15th on the D-backs -- and on base percent -- 11th) he has concentrated on being more of a contact hitter since coming back.

It seems he has been doing better since being inserted in the cleanup spot regularly, but I'm not sure. He didn't hit cleanup when Goldy was healthy and batting 3rd (under Gibson's philosophy of separating his two top power hitters).

In the past, he was a 1B/3B. It is difficult to say how much playing out of position affected his hitting as a D-back.

As I hoped for before his acquisition, I would much rather have seen a left-handed hitting OF than a righty infielder in LF.

 

[DWKB]

Since peaking with an OPS of 703 on Aug 17, Trumbo has put up a line of .200/.310/.280 in his last 29 PAs.

 

[Mulli]

Since peaking with an OPS of 703 on Aug 17, Trumbo has put up a line of .200/.310/.280 in his last 29 PAs.

Oh sure, easy to say that now...

:/

 

[DWKB]

Oh sure, easy to say that now...

:/

I'm saying the hot streak appears to be over and to get to that .250 AVG at the end of the season some predicted would require him to hit .282 for his last 110 ABs.


Edit: Since ASB 2012 his line has been .232/.297/.419 for a 716 OPS in 1190 PAs.

 

[Mulli]

I'm saying the hot streak appears to be over and to get to that .250 AVG at the end of the season some predicted would require him to hit .282 for his last 110 ABs.

I know what you are/were saying.

:chaaampionship:

 

[Diamondback Jay]

Hold accountable of course. Trade for cents on the dollar not so much. Which of this years' squad will need to be traded for immaturity?

Exactly. Holding the players accountable is one thing. Selling ridiculously low on them is a completely different bird.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Exactly. Holding the players accountable is one thing. Selling ridiculously low on them is a completely different bird.

Has anyone seen what Prado has been doing in New York? Incredible... along with McCarthy, they alone have been virtually entirely responsible for keeping the Yankees in the post season hunt.
I find it seriously "coincidental" that there continues to be a stream of players who, after leaving the Dbacks, become what we had hoped they would be.

 

[Iceman]

Has anyone seen what Prado has been doing in New York? Incredible... along with McCarthy, they alone have been virtually entirely responsible for keeping the Yankees in the post season hunt.
I find it seriously "coincidental" that there continues to be a stream of players who, after leaving the Dbacks, become what we had hoped they would be.

Yankees organization obviously knows talent, while our Dbacks organization doesn't. Well, does at first, then gives them all away!

 

[Kel Varnsen]

They're probably more comfortable without all the grit.

 

[Dback Jon]

Has anyone seen what Prado has been doing in New York? Incredible... along with McCarthy, they alone have been virtually entirely responsible for keeping the Yankees in the post season hunt.
I find it seriously "coincidental" that there continues to be a stream of players who, after leaving the Dbacks, become what we had hoped they would be.

Prado with his normal second half output. His OPS was 200 points higher in 2013 in the second half than the first half of the season.

So this has zero to do with Dbacks vs Yankees, everything to do with Martin Prado.


Oh - and for the record, Prado did finish 2013 with 12 more RBI's than Upton did, and was close in OPS and WAR.