ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Kevin Towers: A good man who built a bad team

Sep 5, 2014, 6:08 PM | Updated: Apr 28, 2015, 2:00 pm

Follow @doug987FM...

Kevin Towers was demoted this week.The Diamondbacks are looking for a new general manager. If you never had the chance to get to know Kevin Towers, I think you would have enjoyed knowing him.

It’s easy to forget, but he took one of the worst bullpens in baseball history and transformed the team into a 2011 division champion that would have made the NLCS if not for a vitriol-wielding, dishonest, cheating disgrace to the game. Following 2001, Towers engineered three enormous trades for the Arizona Diamondbacks. I disagreed with all three trades at the time, yet that never changed my respect for Kevin Towers.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it: KT traded major prospects and projected hopefuls. Trading for Didi Gregorius, Martin Prado and Mark Trumbo did not make, or, at least, has not made, the Diamondbacks better. The jury is still out on whether or not he lost all three trades, but it would take a herculean effort to prove he has a chance to win any of them. When you make major trades and go .500, you normally get put on notice as a GM. When you’re on notice and you raise the payroll to the highest level in franchise history just to have a disastrous season, almost every franchise will fire you. The Diamondbacks are no different.

I got a text late Thursday night letting me know Towers had been fired. Just like everyone else, we got word Friday morning that Towers had not been fired, but re-assigned. We all knew it would happen, but I was still surprised. I thought it would happen next week before Monday Night Football or maybe in a few weeks before ASU/UCLA. When the news went public, I checked my email and Twitter feed. I didn’t get what I thought I would.

I’m sure there are zero Diamondback fans that wake up in the morning hoping to earn my respect, but I was really impressed with the local reaction. Almost every tweet or email I received seemed happy the saga of “what will happen” was over. However, only a couple attacked Towers personally. I was happy to see that because Kevin Towers gave everything he had to the Diamondbacks, even when it was clear that the end was near.

It’s rare in any walk of life to find someone who knows their job will end soon without letting it affect their determination to succeed at their profession. There will be quite a lot of things said over the next couple weeks about the former Arizona GM, but I think it boils down to a simple narrative: Kevin Towers is a good man who didn’t get it done.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Lourdes Gurriel Jr....

Alex Weiner

Diamondbacks keep good times rolling with 14-run inning, Opening Day rout of Rockies

What the Diamondbacks accomplished in the third inning against the Rockies on Thursday night was completely new for those in the ballpark. 

2 hours ago

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. flips his bat during Arizona Diamondbacks' 2024 Opening Day...

Arizona Sports

Diamondbacks score 14 runs in a single inning to beat Rockies on Opening Day

The Arizona Diamondbacks set franchise marks with 13 hits and 14 runs in the third inning of their 2024 Opening Day game against the Rockies.

5 hours ago

Blaze Alexander...

Alex Weiner

Blaze Alexander did all he could to make Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster

Diamondbacks infielder Blaze Alexander put together a spring that made it too difficult for the team to send him back to the minor leagues.

9 hours ago

Ketel Marte celebrates...

Tyler Drake

Ketel Marte to lead off Arizona Diamondbacks’ Opening Day lineup

The Arizona Diamondbacks' Opening Day lineup is set ahead of their matchup against the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.

12 hours ago

Jordan Montgomery throws a pitch...

Tyler Drake

Hall: Diamondbacks’ addition of Jordan Montgomery ‘made a lot of sense’

The Diamondbacks' addition of Jordan Montgomery puts a bow on a rotation that should be in the conversation for the top spot across MLB.

13 hours ago

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno...

Arizona Sports

Roundtable picks: One Diamondbacks young player to watch in 2024

Which Arizona Diamondbacks player should continue an upward trend in 2024? Gabriel Moreno, Brandon Pfaadt and Alek Thomas are possibilities.

14 hours ago

Kevin Towers: A good man who built a bad team