"There is a case to be made for sweeping changes in part of the Padres' baseball operations. Both amateur scouting and player development have been poor for much of the past decade and, for that, Towers bears some responsibility.

But given his body of work over the past 14 years -- heck, his body of work over the past eight months -- what Towers deserved was a "thank you" and a contract extension, not a firing."