SuperMatt
01-24-2008, 11:37 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080124/news_1s24sullivan.html
GM's new deal proof Towers, CEO adapting
Kevin Towers works a crowd as well as any executive in baseball. He is chatty and candid and colorful and charismatic.
But when his time is short and his hotel's lobby is crowded, the general manager of the Padres will sometimes place a cell phone to his ear and commence a pretend conversation in order to decoy those who might delay him.
You can't run a big league club for 12 years without a certain amount of ingenuity, and Towers has been tested more than most. Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of one of the most resourceful trades of his tenure: the deal that sent minor league catcher Sean Mulligan to Cleveland for $75,000 and a used treadmill.
Yesterday, the Padres confirmed that Towers' contract has been extended two more seasons, through 2010. Though Sandy Alderson is running the place now, Towers no longer feels as if he's running in place. After years of boom-and-bust cycles, the Padres have moved off baseball's treadmill and toward its fast lane.
"I think we're really in the best position we've been since I've been here," Towers said yesterday afternoon at Petco Park. "A lot of that comes from the international presence that we're going to have, our spending ability in the free-agent draft as well as internationally, and the upper-level prospects we have in our system. . . . "
"We've gotten to a point to where we're competitive at the big league level and we've got a strong farm system. To me, that's a sign of a good organization."
The Padres still don't spend enough on player payroll to suit many of their customers, but their infrastructure is stronger than ever and their competitiveness has recently been keen. If it's still hard to say how left field will be filled or whether Mark Prior can be salvaged, it's impossible to point to any other period in the franchise's history and find a more consistent product over a three-year span.
For all of the friction that was forecast for the Alderson/Towers front office, the fact is that the two men have blended like a Beach Boys harmony. Towers says Alderson is at his best when things are going badly, a cool head in a crisis. Alderson says he does not believe in a trading "knack" but readily acknowledges that Towers' baseball "instincts" and "straightforward" style have produced some fortuitous deals.
The analytical Harvard lawyer and the seat-of-your-pants scout have found common ground in two division titles and one excruciating near-miss. Less than three years since Alderson took over as the Padres' CEO, Towers has become the longest-tenured general manager in his sport - with a fresh commitment spanning three more seasons.
What at first appeared to be an irreconcilable culture clash has evolved to mutual advantage.
"It was never my intention coming in here to make wholesale changes in front-office personnel," Alderson said yesterday. "It's never been my style, notwithstanding what some umpires might argue. Clearly, I have a point of view and have had some experience with a particular approach. But I'm always open to new ideas as well.
My sense is Kevin also was open to new ideas and, to some extent, a new way of doing things. I think over the past three years we've seen that people with different backgrounds and a common goal and a respect for the different points of view of other people can actually build a much better mousetrap."
If Alderson's affinity for statistical analysis exceeded the Padres' previous emphasis on numbers-crunching, Towers is nothing if not adaptable. Since Larry Lucchino promoted him to the GM job in November 1995, Towers has outlasted more regimes than has the librarian of Congress (James H. Billington).
Charisma has something to do with his survival. When his talent pool was a puddle and his budget an embarrassment, Towers' personal charm probably caused some media types to pull their punches. When touted prospects underperformed or trades backfired - and especially during the draft disaster involving Matt Bush - Towers' financial constraints made for a convenient scapegoat.
Yet even had Alderson been predisposed to find fault, Towers succeeded in transforming his roster without a backward step. The 2006 trades that brought the Padres Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Young, Josh Bard and Cla Meredith can be classified as heists.
When you're trying to impress a new boss, nothing works like a windfall.
"I always felt I could read people pretty well," Towers said. "After (Alderson's) first year of being here, I (could) trust him. To me, trust is big. If he had an issue with me, if he felt I may not be here long, I think he would have told me."
When the Arizona Diamondbacks asked Towers to interview for their GM vacancy following the 2005 season, his hope was that Alderson would simply deny the permission. Since the Padres had won a division title in the first year of their coexistence, Towers thought Alderson might respond with a reassuring, "How dare you ask?"
When that didn't happen, and Towers went off to explore Phoenix, "I didn't know what to think." At the time, he couldn't have thought he would become baseball's longest-tenured GM.
"Sometimes," Towers said, "I have to pinch myself."
Sometimes, opposites attract.
GM's new deal proof Towers, CEO adapting
Kevin Towers works a crowd as well as any executive in baseball. He is chatty and candid and colorful and charismatic.
But when his time is short and his hotel's lobby is crowded, the general manager of the Padres will sometimes place a cell phone to his ear and commence a pretend conversation in order to decoy those who might delay him.
You can't run a big league club for 12 years without a certain amount of ingenuity, and Towers has been tested more than most. Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of one of the most resourceful trades of his tenure: the deal that sent minor league catcher Sean Mulligan to Cleveland for $75,000 and a used treadmill.
Yesterday, the Padres confirmed that Towers' contract has been extended two more seasons, through 2010. Though Sandy Alderson is running the place now, Towers no longer feels as if he's running in place. After years of boom-and-bust cycles, the Padres have moved off baseball's treadmill and toward its fast lane.
"I think we're really in the best position we've been since I've been here," Towers said yesterday afternoon at Petco Park. "A lot of that comes from the international presence that we're going to have, our spending ability in the free-agent draft as well as internationally, and the upper-level prospects we have in our system. . . . "
"We've gotten to a point to where we're competitive at the big league level and we've got a strong farm system. To me, that's a sign of a good organization."
The Padres still don't spend enough on player payroll to suit many of their customers, but their infrastructure is stronger than ever and their competitiveness has recently been keen. If it's still hard to say how left field will be filled or whether Mark Prior can be salvaged, it's impossible to point to any other period in the franchise's history and find a more consistent product over a three-year span.
For all of the friction that was forecast for the Alderson/Towers front office, the fact is that the two men have blended like a Beach Boys harmony. Towers says Alderson is at his best when things are going badly, a cool head in a crisis. Alderson says he does not believe in a trading "knack" but readily acknowledges that Towers' baseball "instincts" and "straightforward" style have produced some fortuitous deals.
The analytical Harvard lawyer and the seat-of-your-pants scout have found common ground in two division titles and one excruciating near-miss. Less than three years since Alderson took over as the Padres' CEO, Towers has become the longest-tenured general manager in his sport - with a fresh commitment spanning three more seasons.
What at first appeared to be an irreconcilable culture clash has evolved to mutual advantage.
"It was never my intention coming in here to make wholesale changes in front-office personnel," Alderson said yesterday. "It's never been my style, notwithstanding what some umpires might argue. Clearly, I have a point of view and have had some experience with a particular approach. But I'm always open to new ideas as well.
My sense is Kevin also was open to new ideas and, to some extent, a new way of doing things. I think over the past three years we've seen that people with different backgrounds and a common goal and a respect for the different points of view of other people can actually build a much better mousetrap."
If Alderson's affinity for statistical analysis exceeded the Padres' previous emphasis on numbers-crunching, Towers is nothing if not adaptable. Since Larry Lucchino promoted him to the GM job in November 1995, Towers has outlasted more regimes than has the librarian of Congress (James H. Billington).
Charisma has something to do with his survival. When his talent pool was a puddle and his budget an embarrassment, Towers' personal charm probably caused some media types to pull their punches. When touted prospects underperformed or trades backfired - and especially during the draft disaster involving Matt Bush - Towers' financial constraints made for a convenient scapegoat.
Yet even had Alderson been predisposed to find fault, Towers succeeded in transforming his roster without a backward step. The 2006 trades that brought the Padres Adrian Gonzalez, Chris Young, Josh Bard and Cla Meredith can be classified as heists.
When you're trying to impress a new boss, nothing works like a windfall.
"I always felt I could read people pretty well," Towers said. "After (Alderson's) first year of being here, I (could) trust him. To me, trust is big. If he had an issue with me, if he felt I may not be here long, I think he would have told me."
When the Arizona Diamondbacks asked Towers to interview for their GM vacancy following the 2005 season, his hope was that Alderson would simply deny the permission. Since the Padres had won a division title in the first year of their coexistence, Towers thought Alderson might respond with a reassuring, "How dare you ask?"
When that didn't happen, and Towers went off to explore Phoenix, "I didn't know what to think." At the time, he couldn't have thought he would become baseball's longest-tenured GM.
"Sometimes," Towers said, "I have to pinch myself."
Sometimes, opposites attract.