Kevin Towers: "I'm sure there are a couple relievers that are on the hot seat right now"

by jbox on May 6, 2009 2:25 PM PDT Comment 12 comments

XX Sports Radio: Kevin Towers Interview (MP3) by Darren Smith

Kevin Towers likes to celebrity watch from his seats behind home plate in Dodger Stadium. It's hard for him to hide his emotions when things aren't going well for the Padres, sometimes he'll have to leave his seat.
The Dodgers are a good team: "It's my 14th year, probably the best offensive Dodger club in some time. Do they have enough pitching? We'll have to wait and see."
Josh Geer reminds Towers of Brian Lawrence. He knows which pitch to throw to keep guys off balance. Geer will pitch in a way to give your ball club a chance to win. Geer has no fear. He and Eckstein are winning type players. Geer has won his entire career. He locates well and changes speeds well. He has the ability to limit damage.
Headley has discomfort from the left hand side, when he hits right handed he's okay.
It's tough to keep Hairston's bat out of the line up. We'll probably start seeing him a bit more than Gerut.
The Padres think Baek needs at least one more rehab start. When Baek comes back he's going into the rotation. Geer or Correia will go to the pen or to AAA. Balsley likes Correia a great deal, but it's tough to bounce Geer if he keeps throwing like he does.
Kevin Towers is meeting with Grady Fuson this weekend about getting Kyle Blanks into the outfield in the next couple of weeks. "This kids time should be here real soon". They need him in the line up to protect Adrian Gonzalez.
Darren Smith asks what it takes to get a manager in the hot seat. "The hot seat comes from fans, talk radio, it comes from newspapers." Darren fires back that Padres employees sometimes feed info to the media. Then he asks if anybody is on the hot seat now. KT responds: "I'm sure there are a couple relievers that are on the hot seat right now, I just haven't had enough time to really think about it"
Asked about dumpster diving for players. "Those dumpsters are running dry"

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I'm surprised

that KT thinks Blanks is only a couple weeks away from playing outfield in the major leagues, especially considering that he’s just started taking fly balls out there and it took Headley a lot longer than that, and he still has work to do.

If this does happen, I wonder if we’ll see Kouz get benched and Chase put back at 3rd. Because they sure as hell aren’t going to bench Headley.

by maestro876 on May 6, 2009 2:30 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I think he meant

that he’d get into the outfield of AAA in a couple weeks and then to the Majors “real soon” after that. That’s how I interpreted it.

by jbox on May 6, 2009 2:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also, don't forget

Super Two is probably in effect. Look for a Savioresque situation again.

Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play

by Axion on May 6, 2009 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This time around

You could make a legitimate claim that the guy is blocked. Our defense has already been one of the worst in the league, it’s tough to say that Blanks would be an upgrade to the big league team if he started at a position he has never played with regularity.

I think there is another consideration with Blanks vis a vis his Super Two status. In all likelihood, the best possible outcome with Blanks is to trade him so that he can play 1B or DH somewhere. If that is the plan, then the team won’t care about how much he costs in 2011.

Memo to baseball managers: You manufacture runs by NOT making outs, not by making them on purpose.

by Wonko on May 6, 2009 3:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good points

The cost of Adrian is 2011 is another thing to consider.

I just figure it goes back to the motto of, “if you can hit, they’ll find a place for you.”

Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play

by Axion on May 6, 2009 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

In this day and age

Where defensive metrics are getting pretty good that motto only works if “you are killing all you hitting value with your glove.”

Adrian costs $5.5 million in 2011. Which is basically nothing for a top 5 1B.

Memo to baseball managers: You manufacture runs by NOT making outs, not by making them on purpose.

by Wonko on May 6, 2009 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hate it whether I leave out the negations in my sentences

In this day and age

Where defensive metrics are getting pretty good, that motto only works if "you aren’t killing all your hitting value with your glove."

Memo to baseball managers: You manufacture runs by NOT making outs, not by making them on purpose.

by Wonko on May 6, 2009 3:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I read between the lines and interpreted something close to what your saying.

When he says, “This kids time should be here real soon” he means that if there was an obvious place for him to play then he could be ready to contribute at the major league level. He’s also the organization’s only internal option for helping the team offensively. Practically every other Padres offensive prospect is either hurt or sucking.

Memo to baseball managers: You manufacture runs by NOT making outs, not by making them on purpose.

by Wonko on May 6, 2009 3:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Can I assume re: Blanks

They’re seriously looking to trade Kouz? He’s not a fast starter but there’s no reason we couldn’t get something solid for him in return. Move Headley back to 3B and Blanks to LF (potential God help us all)

And no way Correira doesn’t go to the bullpen. Hell he should go to AAA but since that’s not an option he deserves to be demoted asap. And I don’t know why they’re not moving some relievers in from AAA unless they really want to give them this much time to prove they can’t do it

by TheAxManCometh on May 6, 2009 2:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Why would someone want Kouz?

Trades require both parties to agree on something. Let’s not be Cubs fans and think that people will take our trash and give us gold for it.

Based on Baek and Silva’s rehab starts, I’m not sure that Correia isn’t a better option in the rotation for the time being.

They aren’t sending the relievers to AAA because they have no one to replace them with. Plus, you have a sample size issue where these guys’ performance so far may not represent what they will do in the long run.

Memo to baseball managers: You manufacture runs by NOT making outs, not by making them on purpose.

by Wonko on May 6, 2009 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs