Kevin Towers

Kevin S. Towers

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• School Mira Costa College, Brigham Young University

• Born November 11, 1961 in Medford, OR USA
• Died January 30, 2018 in San Diego, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Kevin Towers was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 1982 amateur draft. He pitched through 1989, all in the Padres' chain, but his playing career peaked out at AAA due to injuries.

Towers started scouting for the Padres in 1990. He was the Padres' Scouting Director in 1994-1995, and was General Manager of the Padres from November of 1995 until October 2009. He frequently traded with former boss and then Detroit Tigers GM Randy Smith.

In 2011, he succeeded Jerry DiPoto as General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, He was fired on September 5, 2014 by new team Chief Baseball Officer Tony LaRussa, although he was offered to remain withing the organization in another capacity.

He died of thyroid cancer at the age of 56 in January 2018.

Preceded by Randy Smith

San Diego Padres General Manager 1995-2009

Succeeded by Jed Hoyer

Preceded by Jerry DiPoto

Arizona Diamondbacks General Manager 2011-2014

Succeeded by Dave Stewart

Record as General Manager

Draft Picks

1st Round Picks

• 1996: 15th overall SS Matt Halloran - Chancellor High School
• 1997: 27th overall SS Kevin Nicholson - Stetson University
• 1998: 9th overall 3B Sean Burroughs - Wilson High School (Long Beach)
• 1999: 20th overall OF Vince Faison - Toombs County High School
• 1999: 28th overall P Gerik Baxter - Edmonds-Woodway High School
• 1999: 29th overall P Omar Ortiz - University of Texas, Pan American
• 1999: 41st overall P Casey Burns - University of Richmond
• 1999: 49th overall P Mike Bynum - University of North Carolina
• 1999: 51st overall C Nick Trzesniak - Victor J. Andrew High School
• 2000: 9th overall P Mark Phillips - Hanover High School
• 2001: 14th overall IF Jake Gautreau - Tulane University
• 2002: 13th overall SS Khalil Greene - Clemson University
• 2003: 4th overall P Tim Stauffer - University of Richmond
• 2004: 1st overall SS Matt Bush - Mission Bay High School
• 2005: 18th overall P Cesar Carrillo - University of Miami
• 2005: 35th overall P Cesar Ramos - Long Beach State University
• 2006: 17th overall 3B Matt Antonelli - Wake Forest University
• 2006: 35th overall OF Kyler Burke - Ooltewah High School
• 2007: 23rd overall P Nick Schmidt - University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• 2007: 40th overall OF Kellen Kulbacki - James Madison University
• 2007: 46th overall SS Drew Cumberland - Pace High School
• 2007: 57th overall C Mitch Canham - Oregon State University
• 2007: 63rd overall P Cory Luebke - Ohio State University
• 2007: 64th overall OF Danny Payne - Georgia Institute of Technology

Other Notable Selections

• 1999: 15th round (472nd overall) P Jake Peavy - St. Paul's Episcopal School
• 2000: 2nd round (49th overall) 3B Xavier Nady - University of California
• 2001: 4th round (120th overall) 2B Josh Barfield - Klein High School

Significant Trades

• December 21, 1995 traded Bip Roberts and Bryan Wolff to the Kansas City Royals for Wally Joyner and Aaron Dorlarque
• March 22, 1996 traded Raul Casanova, Melvin Nieves and Richie Lewis to the Detroit Tigers for Todd Steverson, Sean Bergman and Cade Gaspar
• June 18, 1996 traded Brad Ausmus, Andujar Cedeno and Russ Spear to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Gomez and John Flaherty
• July 31, 1996 traded Marc Newfield, Ron Villone and Bryce Florie to the Milwaukee Brewers for Greg Vaughn and Gerald Parent
• November 21, 1996 traded Dustin Hermanson to the San Diego Padres for Quilvio Veras
• December 6, 1996 traded Scott Sanders to the Seattle Mariners for Sterling Hitchcock
• December 16, 1996 traded Willie Blair and Brian Johnson to the Detroit Tigers for Joey Eischen and Cam Smith
• April 22, 1997 traded Hideki Irabu, Gordon Amerson, Homer Bush and Vernon Maxwell to the New York Yankees for Ruben Rivera and Rafael Medina
• June 13, 1997 traded Fernando Valenzuela, Scott Livingstone and Phil Plantier to the St. Louis Cardinals for Danny Jackson, Mark Sweeney and Rich Batchelor
• August 13, 1997 traded Rickey Henderson to the Anaheim Angels for George Arias, Ryan Hancock and Stevenson Agosto
• December 16, 1997 traded Derrek Lee, Rafael Medina and Steve Hoff to the Florida Marlins for Kevin Brown
• June 20, 1998 traded Carlos Reyes, Mandy Romero and Dario Veras to the Boston Red Sox for Jim Leyritz and Ethan Faggett
• August 6, 1998 traded Brian Loyd to the Toronto Blue Jays for Randy Myers
• December 12, 1998 traded Joey Hamilton to the Toronto Blue Jays for Woody Williams, Carlos Almanzar and Peter Tucci
• February 2, 1999 traded Greg Vaughn and Mark Sweeney to the Cincinnati Reds for Damian Jackson, Reggie Sanders and Josh Harris
• March 29, 1999 traded Andy Sheets and Gus Kennedy to the Anaheim Angels for Phil Nevin and Keith Volkman
• November 10, 1999 traded Andy Ashby to the Philadelphia Phillies for Adam Eaton, Carlton Loewer and Steve Montgomery
• December 22, 1999 traded Quilvio Veras, Wally Joyner and Reggie Sanders to the Atlanta Braves for Bret Boone, Ryan Klesko and Jason Shiell
• February 23, 2000 traded John Vander Wal, Geraldo Padua and James Sak to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Al Martin
• March 28, 2001 traded Matt Clement, Eric Owens and Omar Ortiz to the Florida Marlins for Cesar Crespo and Mark Kotsay
• December 11, 2001 traded Ben Davis, Alex Arias and Wescar Serrano to the Seattle Mariners for Brett Tomko, Tom Lampkin and Ramon Vazquez
• August 26, 2003 traded Jason Bay, Oliver Perez and Corey Stewart to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Brian Giles
• November 26, 2003 traded Mark Kotsay to the Oakland A's for Terrence Long and Ramon Hernandez
• January 6, 2004 traded Kevin Jarvis, Wiki Gonzalez, Dave Hansen and Vince Faison to the Seattle Mariners for Jeff Cirillo and Brian Sweeney
• December 20, 2004 traded Jay Payton, Ramon Vazquez and David Pauley to the Boston Red Sox for Dave Roberts
• July 30, 2005 traded Phil Nevin to the Texas Rangers for Chan Ho Park
• January 6, 2006 traded Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka and Billy Killian to the Texas Rangers for Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez and Terrmel Sledge
• May 1, 2006 traded Doug Mirabelli to the Boston Red Sox for Cla Meredith and Josh Bard
• November 8, 2006 traded Josh Barfield to the Cleveland Indians for Kevin Kouzmanoff and Andrew Brown
• July 25, 2007 traded Scott Linebrink to the Milwaukee Brewers for Will Inman, Joe Thatcher and Steve Garrison

Significant Signings

• December 29, 1995 signed Rickey Henderson as a Free Agent from the Oakland A's
• January 7, 1998 signed Mark Langston as a free agent from Anaheim Angels
• December 9, 2003 signed Akinori Otsuka from the Chunichi Dragons through the Posting System
• March 30, 2004 signed Andy Ashby as a free agent from the Atlanta Braves
• January 30, 2006 signed Mike Piazza as a free agent from New York Mets
• December 13, 2006 signed Greg Maddux as a free agent from Los Angeles Dodgers
• December 20, 2006 signed Marcus Giles as a free agent from Atlanta Braves

Further Reading

• Steve Gilbert: "Former D-backs, Padres GM Towers dies: San Diego won NL pennant in 1998; Arizona made 29-game turnaround in 2011", mlb.com, January 30, 2018. [1]
• Gabe Lacques: "Former Padres, Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers dies at 56", USA Today Sports, January 30, 2018. [2]
• Bob Nightengale: "Kevin Towers' ultimate baseball legacy: 'If you were in his orbit, you were happy'", USA Today Sports, January 30, 2018. [3]
• Ryan Posner: "Towers revered as friend, mentor to many: Life of former Padres, D-backs GM celebrated at Petco Park ceremony", mlb.com, February 25, 2018. [4]

Related Sites

• Kevin Towers at the SABR Bio Project
• Article on Towers' firing by the Diamondbacks