D-BACKS’ TOWERS TIRES OF THE TALK, READY FOR RESULTS
Baseball can be unbearably complex, constructed on layers of nuance, dissected by metrics and algorithms.
Or it can be alarmingly simple: Does your lineup cause flop sweat? Does your bullpen rattle? Is your rotation populated by horses or mules?
For all of his critics, Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers addressed all three primary questions entering the 2014 season. The haymaker combination of Mark Trumbo and Paul Goldschmidt gives teeth to a batting order that was once a set of dentures, waiting to be put in a glass at night.
The rotation has depth, especially if Archie Bradley is along for the ride. The bullpen should be much improved, forged by
addition and subtraction.
Yet, local optimism seems tempered, especially at a time of gross optimism, when every team is going to the playoffs. Maybe it’s because the Dodgers are the new Yankees, the financial behemoth standing in our path.
Or maybe it’s because Towers has drained the well of blind faith, the goodwill that came with the 2011 playoff berth and all those division titles he pieced together in San Diego.
“I hear some of (the criticism), but I like expectations,” Towers said. “It means people care. I like it that people get pissed and say, ‘Hey, you’re at .500. We want a winner.’ Good. I want a winner, too.
“I don’t mind that at all. I’ve never looked for the gravy train. I don’t mind pressure. I thrive on it, more than anything. Put my back up against the wall. That’s fine.”
The defiance is breathtaking, but with Towers, that’s part of the problem. His sound bites are always full of passion and conviction, so much that fans notice any obvious contradictions. Not to pour salt into wounds, but here are some examples:
» Trading a former 21-game winner, Ian Kennedy, for pumpkin seeds, and then firing the pitching coach.
» Condemning strikeouts to validate the Justin Upton trade, only to acquire a big-hit, big-miss bat like Trumbo’s.
» Overinflating Adam Eaton, and then trading him after one injury-plagued season.
» Over-the-top public support of Heath Bell, only to shed another top prospect (David Holmberg) just to get rid of Bell’s contract.
But all of this just means that Towers gets it wrong, too. It means he’s guilty of playing the spin-control game, of embellishing his own players. Meanwhile, a smart general manager fails fast, cleans up his own mess, reverses field if necessary. Towers has done that fairly well. At any rate, here’s the good stuff: » The five-year, $32 million contract extension signed by Goldschmidt in 2013 could rank among the best deals in history, giving the team flexibility to spend elsewhere. It’s such a bargain that the Diamondbacks will be monitoring the slugger’s general happiness, aware that lesser players are signing for much bigger dollars.
» Fans love tape-measure home runs, and the addition of Trumbo will bring excitement to Chase Field. It will also generate real fear in the other dugout, something that was sorely lacking in 2013.
» In the recent past, the Diamondbacks have been susceptible to bad losses and periods of impotence partly because their lineup never threatened the No. 4 and No. 5 starters of the world, allowing them to pitch in a comfort zone, where anyone can be effective.
» Bronson Arroyo upgrades the rotation, even if he’s a very pricey No. 3 starter, which he must be for the team to make the playoffs. In this scenario, Arroyo is slotted behind Patrick Corbin and Bradley, and ahead of Wade Miley and three potential No. 5 starters.
» And with all due respect to J.J. Putz, the new closer (Addison Reed) will bring a much-needed new energy to the position.
“We have to get out of the mind-set that we’re a .500 club,” Towers said. “If you think that, you will be that. If you think you can’t compete with the Dodgers, you won’t compete with the Dodgers.
“You have to have the mind-set that, ‘I don’t care if they spend $400 million. We’re going to go out and beat their ass. I know that he (pointing to Manager Kirk Gibson) thinks that way. And I believe our players are not happy with what went down last year. So now we have to go out and do it. We have to show we want to compete. Talk is talk.”
Besides, for Towers, the talking no longer works. That much is obvious. At least until he wins his sixth division title.