XX Sports Radio: Kevin Towers Interview

by jbox on Sep 30, 2008 3:40 PM PDT

XX Sports Radio: Kevin Towers (MP3)

Kevin Towers is happy the season is over
Need to get back to the 4 seasons prior to this year
The Padres certainly know where the gaping holes are (that's what she said)
Peavy, Young and Baek are in the rotation for next year
Bullpen and bench take precedence over 2nd base
Kevin Towers blames himself for not giving Buddy enough "bullets" off the bench and the bullpen wasn't deep enough
The buck still stops at Kevin Towers. Sandy Alderson says the General Manager has the final say on player moves. KT welcomes information from other sources such as Alderson and the Scouts.
"I chock this up as a bad season for ol' KT too"
KT still sees the commitment with Buddy Black as a long term one, even though his contract expires after next year.
We all have to believe and we all have to be on the same page so there are no mixed messages when players reach the big league level.
No player is untouchable on this Padres roster right now.
Teams have already contacted the Padres about our valuable players.
The Padres will be more active on the trade front, rather than the free market front
KT is not talking about the players that other clubs are interested in.
Giles is the one real professional hitter they have on the roster. They are leaning towards exercising Giles' option.
They'd like to sign Trevor before he becomes a free agent.
The only reasons why they wouldn't sign Giles is if it was a budget issue or if they had someone else that would play the outfield. He doesn't see Venable as that type of player yet.
2009 is certainly not a rebuilding year. KT doesn't believe in rebuilding. They are going to let young players play. He is hoping that the young players step up. He doesn't see the Padres acquiring big names.
Minor League talk
Nobody has given KT the budget number. He expects to get it in the next few weeks. It will below this years low 70's.
The Padres are in a much better situation than they were after the 2003 98 loss team.
The hitting coach and batting coach will come with a knowledge of the Padres system with a lot of experience.

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Comments

If they are not re-building

then why is Beak a slam dunk to be in the rotation next year? 6-10, a 4.79 ERA and the inability to win at Petco does not scream starting pitcher for a contending club….

by Grey Suit on Sep 30, 2008 3:49 PM PDT reply actions

I'd like to see Baek get another shot

If he could get a little of whatever he had outside of Petco into Petco, then he’d be a perfectly fine 4 or 5 guy.

by Dex on Sep 30, 2008 5:29 PM PDT up reply actions

We are gonna be SO bad next year

by Winfield's Ghost on Sep 30, 2008 5:00 PM PDT reply actions

I hope I’m proven wrong but it sounds to me that they have already given up 2009. No big names, let the young players play and hope they step up? Sounds like the recipe for another steaming pile of turd season. You have 2 starting pitchers, 2 third basemen and a good first baseman. Maybe you sign Giles again and you have a decent obp right field with a noodle for an arm. That’s a lot of other positions that need to “step up”.

by fairweather on Sep 30, 2008 5:43 PM PDT reply actions

The only reassuring thing in this interview is their plan to make more trades than signings

The good FAs are way out of our price range, and those in our price range are terrible. So the only way I could see this team contending is to swing some deals.

Apart from that though, next year sounds like more of the same to me.

"If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself." - Bob Dylan

by JollyWaffle on Sep 30, 2008 6:15 PM PDT reply actions