Padres executive admits team is awful
It is always refreshing to hear somebody in sports management be honest. So much of media relations is about spin and providing a positive perspective, but San Diego Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler had no time for any of that nonsense on Wednesday during a radio interview with ESPN.
San Diego is currently sitting at 20-33, dead last in the National League West and 12 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants. Fowler has apparently seen enough and took dead aim at multiple players, while also making broad statements about all involved with the team. Per ESPN:
“It’s been embarrassing,” Fowler said. “I don’t know how else to put it. Our performance on the road trip, 1-7, was pathetic.
“I’m a very competitive individual. I think I’ve won a lot more than lost in my life. This baseball experience has been very frustrating, very embarrassing.”
Give Fowler all the credit for calling his players on the carpet. Fowler stood by his coaching staff and that is something he has to do unless he’s completely willing to pull the plug, but he wasted no time firing away at the millionaires on the field.
While nobody was expecting the Padres to make the playoffs in the highly competitive National League, San Diego should be much better than it is. This is a team with one of the more talented starting rotations in the sport with James Shields and Tyson Ross at the top, along with Andrew Cashner (injured at the moment) in the middle. The lineup isn’t great but certainly has some punch in Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Alexei Ramirez and Derek Norris.
Instead, the Padres are still one of the worst offenses in the league, scoring less than 200 runs. Only the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves are also under 200 runs scored in the NL. San Diego has also been dealing with some rancid pitching, making it a complete mess. Fowler spared no words when talking about Shields, who has been a major bust since coming to the Padres before last season.
“To have a starter like Shields perform as poorly as he did yesterday is an embarrassment to the team, an embarrassment to him,” Fowler said.
Fowler was talking about the 10 earned runs allowed by Shields in 2.2 innings, helping his ERA to expand to 4.28. It’s been nothing but a miserable experience for the Padres over the better part of the decade. The offense has been ridiculously lousy and the pitching always disappoints.
At some point, the time comes to blow up the entire team. The Padres need to trade away every expensive player, hoard any young assets they can get and move on from this roster, because it’s a brutal failure.
