Padres Shun Towers, Hire David Post as Special Assistant to GM

When the Arizona Diamondbacks fired Kevin Towers as their GM last week, there was speculation that the Padres would bring him back to San Diego. Towers, who served as the Padres GM for 14 years, from 1995 – 2009, is considered an experienced front office man with excellent scouting ability, and many felt that his experience would complement the relative youthfulness of current Padres GM A.J. Preller. Towers’ name was thrown around quite a bit as a potential Special Assistant to the GM.

The chances of that happening just decreased considerably.

According to a report by Dennis Lin of padres.mlb.com, the Padres today hired David Post as Special Assistant to the GM. Post’s specialty is also scouting. His major league resume includes 2-3 years with the Marlins as a scout, and he has been with the Astros since 2007, serving as a national crosschecker.The crosschecker is a top-level scouting position.

Post is known as a tireless worker, a trait that Preller is known for favoring. If the Padres scouting is not successful in the upcoming years, it will not be for lack of effort.

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According to Lin, Post will take part in scouting at the amateur, professional, and international levels.

It appears the Padres, and Preller in particular, are looking forward, and only forward. Preller is his own man, and he doesn’t seem to be showing any inclination to look at the Padres’ past in making his decisions about the future. And as the Padres are still looking for their first World Series title, that seems like a good direction to go.

Although Towers was a capable GM who led the Padres through their best years, it is great to see Preller filling his staff with outsiders who are well-respected in the larger world of baseball. It’s time for the Padres to stop being perennial patsies, and take the steps to get into the annual dogfight for the World Series championship. And so far, it looks like A.J. Preller may be just the man to lead them there.

Perhaps we are right at the beginning of a new golden age of baseball in San Diego.

Keep the Faith.