Feb 12, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks executive vice president & general manager, Kevin Towers looks on during camp at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
The dust is starting to settle after the Arizona Diamondbacks hired the hall of famer Tony La Russa to be organizations first ever Chief Baseball Officer. Of course this is the big story around this team, but its also the big story in Major League baseball and in the National Media. This hiring is starting to also have an impact on the organization. President Derrick Hall has acknowledged time and time again that he is thrilled to have a mind like La Russa’s on board to evaluate the team, and Manager Kirk Gibson said he is glad to have him on board.
However, the most interesting part of this hiring is how it will affect General Manager Kevin Towers. With La Russa heading up the baeball operations and making all the baseball decisions, many believe that Towers is now just a lame duck and a G.M by name only.
However Towers spoke to Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Doug and Wolf show this morning and says that he doesn’t want to be a “pseudo” GM. “I certainly don’t want to be a pseudo-GM,” he said. “The front office role will be new to him and I’m hoping I can help him too, like the daily calendar and what’s important in June and July. These are some of the good players in our system — no different from what Jerry Dipoto did for me in my first year here.”
Towers was on a scouting trip when the move was made so he hasn’t had a lot of time to figure out what his responsabilites but he looks at it as he now is reporting to Tony instead of Derrick Hall for baseball moves, and he is hoping that he can just work with Tony in the future:
“I’m hoping that we help one another and as we get to talk that he’ll have the confidence in the very near future to let me run the club as I have been but everything will go through him and be shared with him. You’d like to think that our vision and everything is on the same page.”
La Russa has already acknowledged that he will take his time evaluating this team, and it seems like Towers and Gibson’s futures wont be decided till after the season. He has alreaday said that he wants to visit all the minor league teams first.
If La Russa feels like Towers is not the right man for the job and if Tony feels like Towers doesn’t fit the direction that he wants to go in, than Towers will be gone, but if Towers and La Russa can work together than he might stay. Of course most fans would want Towers to be gone but we shall see. This is ceartinally going to be something to watch going forward.