A week after the Arizona Diamondbacks announced the hiring of former Padres general manager Kevin Towers as their new GM, it appears as if they’ve decided on a manager. John Gambadoro of KTAR in Phoenix reported on Wednesday that the Diamondbacks and interim manager Kirk Gibson were working on a two-year deal. FOX Sports Arizona says the same thing and that any deal would not be reached until the season ends. On top of those reports, KT did an in-game interview on ESPN during their Wednesday night game between the Diamondbacks and Giants that showed his feelings.
Towers spoke positively about Gibson when asked about the managerial situation. “The little I’ve been around Gibby so far has been real positive,” Towers said. “I like the look in the eye, the fire in the belly — he’s intense. He played underneath Sparky Anderson, Jim Leyland, Tommy Lasorda — those are the guys that taught him the game of baseball. Those are the kinds of managers that I want. So far, really good.”
It clearly sounds like Gibson will be back as the team’s manager and that’s not a bad thing. I thought firing Josh Byrnes was the wrong move for them, but Towers is an extremely competent GM who knows how to work on a tight budget. That will be the situation in Arizona, and his top priority will be building a pitching staff. The mid-season acquisition of Daniel Hudson helps enormously, and if Brandon Webb can bounce back from injury, they’ll be much closer towards having a good rotation. The offense, despite its astronomical strikeout numbers, is pretty set. Now Towers needs to do what he did so well in San Diego — assemble a strong bullpen.
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