Preserving pitching the right move for Padres

By: SHAUN O'NEILL - Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 1, 2006 1:32 AM PDT ∞

Preserving pitching the right move for Padres

In the feeding frenzy that is baseball's trade deadline, the Padres merely nibbled on some plankton.

July 31 came and went, and general manager Kevin Towers pulled off only one underwhelming deal. Todd Walker arrived from the Chicago Cubs to get a crack at third base, a position he last manned in 1997.

Are the Padres better today than 24 hours ago? Perhaps slightly. Just as important, they aren't any worse.

A GM earns money not by how many headlines he can grab ---- if so, Steve Phillips would be working somewhere other than Bristol, Conn. ---- but by how many good decisions he can make. This time of year, those good decisions come from keeping a cool head and making shrewd choices about when to join the frenzy and when to recognize there's nothing more than chum in the waters.

"I think what happens now, with all the coverage of the deals, with talk radio, it becomes a frenzy. You almost feel like you have to do something or we're sending our fans a wrong message, that we're sitting on our hands," Towers said. "Well, we're not sitting on our hands. It just doesn't make sense to do something unless it significantly increases our chances to win."

Towers did not make a marquee trade Monday ---- the last day for teams to make deals without first sending players through waivers ---- but he had a busy day. He made a move for future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux but said the Chicago Cubs asked for the organization's top two prospects (pitcher Cesar Carrillo and catcher George Kottaras, presumably). Then Towers went to the final minute on talks that would have sent setup reliever Scott Linebrink to the New York Mets.

When time came for Towers to earn his money, he made an unpopular but wise decision: status quo. That means Linebrink stays.

Last week, Towers said no to a trade for Wilson Betemit, who would have plugged the third-base hole nicely. The Atlanta Braves then dealt Betemit to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Padres' division rival and one of the big feeders Monday. Previous talks with the Boston Red Sox regarding veteran Mike Lowell were not fruitful.

As the clocked ticked down to the 1 p.m. deadline Monday, Towers was faced with an intriguing offer. The Mets had just picked up ex-Padre Oliver Perez from the Pittsburgh Pirates and were looking to spin him, along with right-handed reliever Heath Bell.

Towers pondered the advantages of a 2-for-1 deal involving only pitchers ---- and the chance that pitching coach Darren Balsley might be able to rediscover Perez's old magic ---- but ultimately he stuck with Linebrink.

"I don't know how long I've said I do not want to break up our bullpen," Towers said. "I think the reason we're in first place is our bullpen."

Intuitively, it doesn't seem right to keep a one-inning specialist and reject a nine-inning everyday player. I doubt I would have resisted Atlanta's offer of Betemit. But in analyzing his own team and its sputtering competition in the National League West, Towers has come to the correct conclusion: It was more important to keep the pitching staff intact than it was to make mild improvement to the lineup.

Third base is a gaping hole, even though Walker is an offensive upgrade. No matter. Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Barfield are no flukes, and they have the offense on the upswing. There are enough bats to get by. And there weren't any arms to spare.

Chris Young, Woody Williams and Chan Ho Park have been operating at or above 100 percent of expectations. There's not any more that they can give. Jake Peavy figures to give the staff a boost once he starts pitching like Jake Peavy. The bullpen has been effective, but has nobody other than Linebrink and Trevor Hoffman to rely on in the final innings.

Towers has numbers to back up his belief that the bullpen will prove decisive in the pennant chase. The Padres have winning records in games that are tied after six, seven and eight innings. They are 20-14 in one-run games, and one-run success is paramount. Since Petco Park opened in 2004, 31.6 percent of Padres home games have been decided by a single run.

Sure, a third baseman can pop a homer to turn a one-run affair into a two-run game. A good bullpen, however, is a known commodity in the tight ones.

"We're in this to win," Towers said. "and Linebrink will help us win more games. You can have a position player go cold for two, three weeks and overcome it. If your bullpen goes cold, you're done."

But if your GM stays cool, you're very much alive.

-- Contact staff writer Shaun O'Neill at (760) 740-3546 or soneill@nctimes.com.