The SnakePit Interview: Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers, Part 1

Gawd. I just shoved a spitting rinkhals down my pants.

AZSP: Do you think there is such a thing as a “closer’s mentality,” that makes a pitcher particularly appropriate for use in the ninth inning?

KT: No. To close is difficult. It’s very hard to get those last three outs. J.J. had had a lot of success in Seattle - though he hadn’t done it for a couple of years, he had been highly successful at one time or another. David Hernandez, he reminded me of a young Heath Bell, they had similar routes to the big leagues, came up as starters, ended up back in the ‘pen. Big, strong lower half, overpowering fastball and someone we thought had the right head on his shoulders, could handle the last frames of the game, which he did a great job of, during J.J.‘s absence when he was on the DL.

AZSP: You mentioned good clubhouse guys. When you’re adding players like Putz or Blanco, how do you assess their impact within the clubhouse?

KT: A few of those guys, I’d had in San Diego, so I knew what they were all about, what they brought to the table. With Willie Bloomquist, even though I’d never had him, I saw him a lot when he was in Seattle. We talk to players, talk to coaches: I think we did our due diligence in checking on these guys’ character as well, the type of people we brought in. J.J. was another guy I saw a lot in Seattle when he was over there, and heard a lot of good things about him. To me, the character evaluation is as important, almost more important, than skill evaluations. I think we’ve got some really good people here, that came in and really help changed that culture.