Written by Amit Lal
| 23 September 2010
After evaluating Interim GM Jerry DiPoto, Dodgers' Assistant GM Logan White, and the Angels' Scouting Director Eddie Bane, the Diamondbacks decided on former Padres' GM Kevin Towers. Towers led the Padres from 1996 to 2009, and directed the club to playoff appearances in 1996, 1998, 2005, and 2006. Most of the current division-leading Padres team was also assembled by Towers. During his tenure in San Diego, Towers was known for his ability to assemble a quality pitching staff (especially the bullpen) and for his ability to improve the team through trades. On the negative side, Towers has also been criticized for some poor draft choices over the years. In this article, we'll take a look at Kevin Towers' trade history as a GM.
Here is a summary of most of the key trades made by the Padres during the Kevin Towers era:
| Date |
Traded |
Acquired |
Grade |
| 07/96 |
BFlorie, MNewfield, RVillone |
Greg Vaughn, GParent |
A |
| 11/96 |
Dustin Hermanson |
Quilvio Veras |
B- |
| 12/96 |
Scott Sanders |
Sterling Hitchcock |
B |
| 12/97 |
SHoff, Derrek Lee, RMedina |
Kevin Brown |
B |
| 08/98 |
Brian Loyd |
Randy Myers |
F |
| 12/98 |
Joey Hamilton |
CAlmanzar, WWilliams, P.Tucci |
B- |
| 02/99 |
Mark Sweeney, Greg Vaughn |
DJackson, RSanders, JHarris |
C+ |
| 03/99 |
Andy Sheets, Gus Kennedy |
Phil Nevin and Keith Volkman |
A |
| 11/99 |
Andy Ashby |
Adam Eaton, Carlton Loewer |
B- |
| 12/99 |
W.Joyner, R.Sanders, Q.Veras |
Bret Boone, Ryan Klesko, JShiell |
B |
| 03/01 |
MClement, EOwens, OOrtiz |
Cesar Crespo and Mark Kotsay |
B |
| 08/01 |
Woody Williams |
Ray Lankford and cash |
D |
| 07/02 |
Steve Reed, J.Middlebrook |
BJones, JReynolds and Jason Bay |
B |
| 08/03 |
Jason Bay, OPerez, CStewart |
Brian Giles |
C |
| 11/03 |
Mark Kotsay |
Terrence Long, Ramon Hernandez |
B |
| 11/05 |
Xavier Nady |
Mike Cameron |
C |
| 01/06 |
Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka |
Ad. Gonzalez, TSledge, CYoung |
A+ |
| 05/06 |
Doug Mirabelli |
Cla Meredith, Josh Bard |
A |
| 07/06 |
Brian Sikorski |
Mike Adams |
A |
| 11/06 |
Josh Barfield |
ABrown, Kevin Kouzmanoff |
B |
| 11/06 |
Jon Adkins, Ben Johnson |
Heath Bell and Royce Ring |
A |
| 06/07 |
Andrew Brown |
Milton Bradley and cash |
C |
| 07/07 |
Scott Linebrink |
WInman, JThatcher, SGarrison |
B |
| 07/07 |
Leo Rosales |
Scott Hairston |
C |
| 12/07 |
David Freese |
Jim Edmonds |
C |
| 12/08 |
Khalil Greene |
Mark Worrell, Luke Gregerson |
A |
| 05/09 |
Jody Gerut |
Tony Gwynn, Jr. |
C |
| 07/09 |
Scott Hairston |
Ryan Webb |
B |
| 07/09 |
Cla Meredith |
Oscar Salazar |
C |
| 07/09 |
Jake Peavy |
CRichard, APoreda, ARussell |
B |
It's clear that Towers has an outstanding trading record. His most famous trade is the acquisition of 1B
Adrian Gonzalez and P
Chris Young for pitchers
Adam Eaton and
Akinori Otsuka. But going all the way back to 1996, his acquisition of players like Greg Vaughn and Kevin Brown were instrumental in the Padres' first World Series run. Later in his career, his key moves were in the bullpen, acquiring pitchers like
Heath Bell,
Cla Meredith,
Mike Adams, and
Luke Gregerson for little in return.
Over his entire career, there were very few trades that turned out badly for Towers. One was the acquisition of Randy Myers, which was really a Waiver Claim rather than a trade. The Padres put in a Waivers claim on Myers to block him from going to the Braves, only to get stuck with Myers and the $12M left on his contract. Other than that, the only trades that were clearly a negative were sending away
Woody Williams for Ray Lankford, and the
Jason Bay-
Brian Giles deal. Even then, Giles had a few very good seasons for the Padres.
Next, we'll take a look at the Padres' drafts under Kevin Towers.
