Fuson finds a perfect fit as Padres' opinion guy
By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | ∞
PEORIA, Ariz. ---- When Grady Fuson's tumultuous tenure with the Texas Rangers ended last summer, one of the first people to call and offer condolences was Padres general manager Kevin Towers.
The phone conversation served as a nice pick-me-up for Fuson, an esteemed talent evaluator who left his post as the Rangers' assistant general manager when team ownership reversed course and elected to retain GM John Hart.
"It was funny because, somewhere in the back of my mind, I sat at home thinking, 'God, I wish he'd call again,' " Fuson said. "But as I looked at their organization, I knew that the jobs were taken."
Fuson spent the fall listening to sales pitches from about 10 clubs before the call he had hoped for finally came in January. It was Towers, the former pitcher Fuson had scouted at Brigham Young in the early 1980s, offering to create a position as his special assistant with an emphasis on scouting and player development. Fuson jumped.
"Nothing really tickled my fancy until Kevin called," said Fuson, who has been on the job for almost a month.
The marriage of the Padres and the 48-year-old Fuson is a natural one. On the personal side, he's a San Diego native who attended Kearny High and whose 84-year-old father still lives in the Kearny Mesa home where Grady grew up.
On the professional side, he has long-standing relationships with most of his new colleagues. His friendship with Towers blossomed beyond the fields of the Western Athletic Conference to the diamonds of the Northwest League.
Fuson managed Oakland's Single-A affiliate in Medford, Ore., while Towers was the pitching coach for the Padres' Spokane, Wash., team in 1989 and '90. Fuson and Padres scouting director Bill Gayton worked together for more than a decade in the Athletics' organization. He has known Padres assistant GM Fred Uhlman since Uhlman's time as a Baltimore Orioles scout in the '80s.
Just as important is that Fuson meshes with the Padres from a philosophical standpoint.
"Like every other club, they've stepped out for a year or two and tried to spend money (on free agents), and it probably didn't work out the way they thought," he said. "But it looks to me like they're really starting to put an emphasis on trying to build from within and the importance of scouting and player development. And that's kind of what I've been doing my whole life."
Indeed, Fuson built his sterling reputation in baseball circles on a virtual assembly line of draft picks turning into productive major-league players for the A's, who are consistent winners despite a tiny budget in relation to most American League rivals. In seven years as the club's scouting director, from 1995 to 2001, his department was responsible for selecting ace pitchers Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito; star third baseman Eric Chavez out of Mt. Carmel High; and shortstop Bobby Crosby, last year's AL Rookie of the Year.
"You have to remember that winning at the big-league level is what this business is all about," Fuson said. "You can have the greatest farm system in the world and all the accolades. If it's not subsidizing the big-league club, what's it really worth?
"That's certainly always the goal, to have the kind of run we had in Oakland. I think we were getting close in Texas."
Towers praises the work Fuson has done for the Padres so far and predicts that it won't be long until he gets his shot at a GM position. After his experience with the Rangers, Fuson is in no hurry. Lured from the A's in 2002 with the understanding that he would take over for Hart after three years, he found himself dangling in the wind when Texas began winning and owner Tom Hicks changed his mind.
Fuson said he felt burned by the situation.
"There was a lot of confusion based on what the owner wanted to do and the things he was telling me and the things that John was telling me," he said. "It kind of blew up."
Fuson has used his first several weeks to, as he puts it, "learn the lay of the land." After spring training, he will spend the next two months helping Gayton prepare for the June draft. Then comes a summer full of evaluating the organization's minor-league teams.
"This job that I have right now is different than I've ever had, and it's kind of refreshing," Fuson said. "I don't have to hire people, fire people, tell people what to do. I'm just an opinion guy.
"I'd like to stay here as long as Kevin wants me."
Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.
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