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

• Padres been getting decent pitching but have had problems scoring. It will be nice to have David Eckstein and Henry Blanco back.
• At the end of the year hopefully the Padres will get Young and Peavy back.
• "Hate to lose, hate to lose the way that we do".  If the Padres weren't suffering from injuries than they would be performing better than they are.  "I'm sure it's not fun for the fans".  The Padres are going through the growing pains.
  
• "Hopefully we can find something positive here in the upcoming months to give of us a little bit of momentum going into the off season, because this feels a lot like Groundhog Day and a lot like last year.
• Towers says the injuries are a result of "Two years of bad luck", it's not the fault of trainers or team doctors.  It's nothing they could have prevented.
  
• Addressing his quotes in the UT, Towers thinks Adrian Gonzalez is at the point where he is frustrated as well.  He's at the stage where he wants to win.  Adrian looks at the young players and talk of Peavy moving and realizing that there isn't a chance of winning in the foreseeable future.
• It's highly unlikely anything will happen before the deadline in terms of trading Adrian.  At the end of the season Towers will sit down with Moorad, Garfinkel and Black to see what they need to do to turn the team around.  They might talk about locking him up in a long term deal, but they'll discuss that at the end of the season.
  
• Even if Adrian Gonzalez thinks it's best to move him, he'd have to realize the backlash the Padres would face moving such a popular player. 
  
• To convince Adrian to stay in a long term deal, they'd have to show him the talent of the young players.  In the next two months those guys will have to start producing.  It will give the fans and Towers some hope.
• Kyle Blanks will probably start playing a lot more. Towers talked to Black about it after the game.  They will make a move in the next couple days when Eckstein comes back.  More than likely it will be an outfielder and you'll see Blanks out there more often.  The move will more than likely be a younger player with options.
  
• The PTBNL in the Scott Hairston trade will be named the last week in July.  There were two players they identified that they would choose from.  The one they are leaning towards has been mentioned (Sean Gallagher).
• Cla Meredith was passed up by other guys in the bullpen (Mojica, Gregerson and Adams).  He wasn't pitching in a significant role.  His velocity dropped from 90mph to 84mph.  He didn't have the sink he once had.  Lefties were hitting .300 against him.  He was arbitration eligible next year and he'd still probably be a 11th or 12th pitcher.  With Edgar Gonzalez going down they thought Oscar Salazar would give them a right handed bat off the bench and be more valuable for the team.
• Towers responds to Krasovic's assertion that players had tuned out the hitting coach. "Being named a hitting coach for the San Diego Padres in Petco Park is literally a death sentence.  It has not worked out for many  that have been here." There is a huge age difference between Jimmy Lefebvre and the players.  The players need to look in the mirror. "If they tune him out than they are evidently not tuning in the right person right now because it's not working either."
• Towers says that Moorad and Garfinkel are evaluating all the Padres employees.
• Tony Gwynn and Everth Cabrera are two of the better players and they didn't come from the Padres system. 
• On Mat Latos: "Liked it, liked the stuff, nice to see 98 pop up there on the scoreboard the first pitch of the game."  He probably could have gotten out of the game with just the solo home run.  The first start was a good one.  He thinks he'll be better against the Nationals.  He'll have a pitch count of 75 to 90.  He has the ability to throw 90 pitches in 7 innings.  Keeping a player from doubling their innings from one year to the next makes sense to Towers.
• The bullpen has been the best part of the club this year.  They just need to figure out how to score some runs.  "We're not doing it now, so we're going to have to find a way."
• Things are moving slow with Donovan Tate.  His agent is working to sign other players first.  The local area scout is keeping in contact with Tate.
• Towers isn't getting many calls because they don't have many active players that are playing well.