This morning while reading the online version of the San Diego Union-Tribune, I came across a very interesting article written by Tom Krasovic. I decided to voice my thoughts as well from a fan’s perspective. Though in doing so, I will dig back to 1999 season through the current season. This will enable my viewpoint to be very fair and subjective.

After 1998 World Series showing against the New York Yankees and the vote for the new stadium, the Padres Front Office began to show some inconsistencies that became the downfall for the franchise which would show up later in the years, 2007 to be exact. It kinda resembles what ex-Fed chairman Greenspan did with the US economy back in 2002 that allow a housing bubble to occur for only to have a financial crisis to occur years later, 2008 to be exact.

Back to the Padres, well after winning the public vote for a new stadium to be built in downtown, in 1999 the Padres lost several key players Steve Finley, Greg Vaughn, and Kevin Brown. During that following off-season (winter of 1998), Padres’ GM Kevin Towers told the public the franchise will be going to more of a speed and defensive team. Therefore, there was an injection of athletic and agile players like Damian Jackson, Reggie Sanders, and Eric Owens. Speed was the name of the game, and remarkably that team was within a few games of 1st place heading into July. In fact, the team had a 14-game winning streak from 18 June through 2 July. The fans felt the synergy from the excitement of the players, Eric Owens was stealing bases and even home once. The Padres finished that year with a record of 74-88 and then came the off-season where GM Towers indicated the Padres are going with more power.

The off-season for the 2000 season, began with a mega-trade with the Atlanta Braves where the Padres had acquired Bret Boone and Ryan Klesko. Though, keep in mind that this is the 5th year after John Moores and Larry Lucchino had purchased the Padres. It also marks the 5th year that Kevin Towers is the GM and yet no impact players from the farm system has arrived. Well, technically speaking one did arrive though Towers had traded Derek Lee to Florida for Kevin Brown back in 1997. The Padres finished the year with a 76 – 86 losing record, Boone had a good year though he didn’t finished the season due to an injury. Nevin and Klesko on the other hand, flourished displaying the power that Kevin Towers had predicted. That same power had only produced TWO more wins from the previous season, so basically you can call it a washout in terms of progressing.

The season that set the tone for the franchise, 2001. Larry Lucchino had resigned from the Padres as the CEO and pillars began to crumble. Good baseball people were leaving the Padres, the new ballpark was in a legal battle with the City and it was the beginning of that Roids-Era. In the same token, the United States faced a dramatic time in it’s history in our own backyard. The baseball season had paused for a few days and many people were reflecting on what took place in America. The 2001 Padres had improved and finished out with a 79 – 83 record. Once again, Nevin and Klesko flourished and had career years hitting 41 and 30 hrs while driving in 126 and 117 runs.

In 2002, the Padres finally produced one of their own in 3rd baseman – Sean Burroughs. Yay ! Atleast someone came up through the minors from Towers group. In this same year, Oliver Perez had broken through as well though the Padres finished with a horrible record of 66-96. In July of 2002, a player from AA made a start against the New York Yankees, that player was Jake Peavy. A reflection of turmoil and dysfunctional front office. In that same year, Kevin Towers fired long time Padres’ player/coach Tim Flannery, saying “We all need to be held accountable, from the front office to the coaching staff to the players. I felt we needed to make a couple of changes.” This had completed Towers 8th year as a General Manager and so far only produced two winning seasons – 96 and 98.

In 2003, the Padres had another farm-hand prospect made the ballclub, Xavier Nady. Also, Towers had found a diamond in the rough with the pick-up of 2nd Mark Loretta. But as usual the Padres had regressed and ended up with a record of 64 – 98. In August, Towers sent Perez and Jason Bay to the Pirates for OF Brian Giles. One move that blemished Towers trading record as well of those with the Cardinals, Kevin made.

From 2004 through the present, the Padres had broken in Petco Park with 4 out of 5 winning seasons. Not bad, though the franchise was limited and handcuffed with the long-term/limited trade deals with Klesko, Nevin, and Giles. All in total, from 1995 through 2008, Kevin Towers had produced 6 winning seasons and 8 losing seasons. In the same time span, Padres’ Owner John Moores had 6 CEO’s and when it comes to speaking of a dysfunctional organization in terms of baseball operations. You have to look at the leader at the top, in any organization, successful or unsuccessful one, the leader sets the tone. You can’t just have CEO after CEO and expect to have a robust and consistent stable franchise. In all fairness, the Padres fans have been very critical of Sandy Alderson but let’s not forget what has been happening since 1995. You have to look at the whole tenure of Moores and Towers, in order to be fair.

Despite the instability or the dysfunctional status of the Front Office, I am just glad that there is baseball in San Diego to talk about. Otherwise, it would be very sad to see baseball leave this town. Remember, there are many cities who would love to have baseball in their towns to get their minds off the current events of the world. In all fairness, I do hope Moorad brings stability to the organization, one voice is all we need and the same vision, that is to compete for a world championship. If Arte Moreno can lower beer prices in Anaheim and win championships, I think Moorad can do the same for the San Diegan’s and bring a championship as well.

I thought about sharing a video that would make us all laugh during these times, it’s a good one from the Late George Carlin on the difference between Baseball and Football. Have a wonderful day, Padres’ Fans !