The 5.5 Hole

Leading a small-market team - you know, the type with the a payroll that could barely cover one player on the Yankees roster - to four play-off appearances in 14 years (including the 1998 World Series) would normally be a celebrated accomplishment.  I'd be willing to bet Pirates fans would sell their souls (or their Barry Bonds rookie cards) for such a run.  However, Kevin Towers, with the Padres ownership falling apart, was given his walking papers.  In 2009, Jeff Moorad took over as CEO of the club, and began the long process to take over ownership as well.  His first move?  Fire the General Manager that saw the club to its most prosperous period. 

This piece is not an indictment of Jeff Moorad, nor is it a second-guessing of moves made two years ago.  It is simply an examination of Towers and his highly underrated talents.  There's never been a question about Towers' reputation in baseball.  "Well respected," "a friend," and "talented" are often the terms used to describe Towers.  However, no matter what level of success he achieved through player development, trades, and free agency, Towers is rarely on anyone's short list of best GM's in the game.  He'll always be considered one of the better GM's, but has never been linked to any high-profile vacancies.

And that's just fine with the Diamondbacks.  Hired mid-season in 2010, Kevin Towers began re-shaping an organization that had little identity outside "that team that beat the Yankees."  What it seems the Diamondbacks are realizing in Towers is his unique ability to understand a clubhouse's dynamics along with player evaluation skills that allow him the buy low and sell high with the best of them.  Now, they have rewarded his talents.  The Diamondbacks extended Towers' contract through the 2014 season with a mutual option for potentially two more years. 

Towers began the quick re-building and turnaround of the Diamondbacks almost instantly.  And he didn't quit.  He ridded the team of fan favorites like Mark Reynolds and Kelly Johnson.  He introduced new favorites like Ryan Roberts (the Tat Man), and Paul Goldschmidt (the Double-A Bomber - Nickname courtesy of The 5.5 Hole).  He also backed the beloved Kirk Gibson as manager, and changed Gibson's title from interim-manager to just manager.  Towers brought new life to the Arizona pitching staff, including the addition of J.J. Putz to the bullpen.  But even before re-tooling a Diamondbacks team that had the worst bullpen in baseball, Towers was working wonders with San Diego.

On December 16, 1997, Kevin Towers sent three prospects to the Florida Marlins for a dominant pitcher named Kevin Brown.  This was part of a win-now philosophy rarely employed by Padres teams.  And it worked.  Kevin Brown went 18-7 with 257 strikeouts, and he helped the Padres win the National League pennant.

On December 20, 2005 Towers pulled off another huge pitching acquisition (although it would be over-shadowed by some guy named Adrian Gonzalez.  More on that in a bit).  The Padres were hoping to repeat as the Division Champs in 2006, so Towers went searching for starting pitching help.  The Rangers were in need of pitching help of their own.  Towers sent an injury-prone Adam Eaton, a decent Akinori Otsuka, and a prospect to Texas.  In return he got Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young.  Excluding his shortened 2010 season, Young averaged an ERA+ of 103.5.  Pretty solid considering Adam Eaton averaged an ERA+ of 72.83 and Akinori Otsuka was out of the game after the 2007 season. 

Beyond the pitching moves, which Towers became known for, he brokered some pretty huge position player deals.  Now we can talk about Adrian Gonzalez.  In what will likely go down as the greatest trade in Kevin Towers' career, former first-round pick Adrian Gonzalez came to the Padres in the Eaton and Otsuka deal.  Gonzalez didn't get much of a chance in Texas with Teixeira at first and batted just .227 during his rare time in the 2005 season.  However, once reaching the Padres, he averaged a triple-slash of .288/.374/.514.  He smacked 131 home runs in five season and made the All-Star team in 3 of his 5 season in San Diego. 

Before Gonzalez, Kevin Towers brought in many role players such as Mike Cameron, Greg Vaughn, Steve Finley, and Woody Williams.  Obviously none of these players are of the caliber mentioned above, but considering the payroll Towers was working with in San Diego, his contributions as a whole were impressive. 

So with another Division Crown under his belt, a team that should see little competition next season from anyone save for the Giant, and the added desire to move deeper into the play-offs it's no surprise the Diamondbacks extended Towers' contract.  Perhaps an extended run of postseason success will raise Towers' stature across baseball, but for now I'm sure he is happy quietly weaving success on the west.

The fans are barely out of downtown after last night's finale, yet hitting coach, Randy Ready, is already gone. The Padres announced today Ready would not be returning to the Padres for 2012.

It's unfortunate. Petco Park was built to allow the Padres to compete with a less than enviable payroll. It was designed so that even mediocre (read: cheap) pitchers could excel. The offense was of little concern because, hey, the Padres can't afford offense anyway. However, the club seems strangely surprised by the lack of offense every season. This year's victim was Randy Ready.

Here's where the Padres ranked in runs scored since Petco Park opened:

2004: 8th
2005: 13th
2006: 13th
2007: 9th
2008: 16th
2009: 15th
2010: 12th
2011: 15th

Two finishes better than 12th out of 16 NL teams in eight years. This seems more like what the Padres had planned for when building Petco rather than a failure of any one hitting coach.

In the two and a half years as the Padres hitting coach, Ready oversaw the continued development of Adrian Gonzalez, the increased efficiency of Chase Headley, the temporary resurgence of Yorvit Torrealba, and the turn around of Cameron Maybin. For his part the Padres showed him the door. Unfortunately, the organization failed to evaluate Ready, or any other hitting coach, in a manner that suited the club's unique style.

The fact is, Ready helped the Padres to a rather respectable 195-208 record in his time with the club. Excluding this season his record is even better at 124-117.

The Padres seem to have, at the hitting coach position, the same syndrome the Marlins have at manager. The can't-get-a-new-one-quick-enough syndrome. With the club's commitment to spend more on winning, one can only hope they will show some commitment at the hitting coach position.

Jake Peavy was nothing more than a southern boy who could throw hard. The Padres drafted him in the 15th round of the amateur draft and sent him to play rookie ball. They didn't know what they had at the time. They only hoped they knew.

Peavy quickly dominated the rookie league in Arizona and Idaho posting a combined 9-1 record, 1.17 ERA, 103 strikeouts, and only 24 walks. All this was in 84.2 innings pitched at the ripe old age of 18. He continued his success in class-A ball in 2000. He pitched 132.2 innings, struck out 164, and had a 3.09:1 strikeout to walk ratio. He was well on his way to proving he may have been worth a bit more than a 15th round pick.

2001 saw Peavy's promotion to both high-A ball and double-A ball. Between the two leagues he went 9-6, had a 2.97 ERA, and a ridiculous 188 strikeouts in 133.1 innings pitched. That happened to be Peavy's last full year of Minor League baseball.

2002 and 2003 were adjustment years for Peavy as he pitched for the Padres in the "show." He had ERA's of 4.52 and 4.11 respectively. Then 2004 happened. Jake Peavy turned himself into an ace. Peavy went 15-6 with a 2.27 ERA, capturing the ERA title for that year. He struck out 173 batters and posted his first above 4 WAR at 4.5. The following year Peavy led the Padres to a division crown and led the league in strike outs. However, injuries that would soon plague his career began to slow him down. He broke a rib celebrating the division title, then during the off-season nagging injuries led to mechanical adjustments. But he still managed to finish with 215 strikeouts in 2006.

In 2007, Peavy finally garnered the national attention that had been paid to him for years by those in San Diego. He won the pitcher's triple-crown by leading the league in wins (19), ERA (2.54), and strikeouts (240). He was the unanimous Cy Young award winner for 2007 and looked to be well on his way to a career of total domination. Peavy tried to stave off a trade from the cash-strapped Padres, but even with a strained tendon from running bases, he was eventually dealt to the White Sox in July of 2009.

Strained ankle and all, Peavy became a member of the Chicago White Sox. He finished the 2009 season strong, going 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA for the White Sox. But Peavy's injury struggles would follow him into the 2010 season. In July of 2010, Peavy suffered a detached muscle in his upper back, an injury never before seen in Major League Baseball. No one was quite sure if or when Peavy would return. But he did. He struggled through another injury-plagued season this year, but finished strong.

Jake Peavy's start last night, in which he went 6.1 innings striking out nine and giving up no runs, is expected to be his last of the season. He will be given the entire off-season to get healthy and hopefully return to 100%.

Whether Peavy can do so remains up in the air. He has only started 30 or more games in a season three times in his career. He's seen more than his fair share of injuries. Yet, at only 30, he'll be 31 mid-way through next year, Peavy still has time. He's never completely lost the ability to strike people out. Peavy's swinging strike rate for his career is 11.2%. It dropped off in 2009 to 8.3%, but showed signs of recovery this year with a rate if 9.2%.

An off-season of rest, focus, and training will hopefully bring Jake Peavy back. This may very well be his last chance to regain the stuff that made him so nasty. This may be his last chance to regain the form that saw him rack up the second highest K/9 ratio and the second lowest ERA in baseball between 2004-2007.