The San Diego Padres’ recent failures aren’t sitting well with executive chairman Ron Fowler.
The Padres’ front office held a “town hall” meeting earlier this week to talk fans off the ledge. Fowler, who isn’t afraid to voice his opinion, took aim at San Diego’s jettisoned high-price veterans Matt Kemp and James Shields for not meeting the organization’s expectations.
“I’ll be damned if we’re going to pay high-priced talent to sit on their butts and not perform,” Fowler said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Padres entered last season with high expectations but finished in fourth place in the National League West with a 74-88 record. This year has provided similar misery for the Friars, who entered Friday in fourth place with a 47-61 record.
Recognizing that things weren’t working, the Padres traded Kemp to the Atlanta Braves and Shields to the Chicago White Sox before the Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline. Getting rid of the underachieving former All-Stars wasn’t enough, though, especially with Kemp saying in a letter on The Players’ Tribune that his reputation for being selfish, lazy and a bad teammate was unwarranted.
“We made a conscious decision to ship them out because we want people that are prepared to improve,” Fowler said. “If you’re making a lot of money and you think you’re already there, you’re not going to get better.
“… They had a bad attitude. You saw Kemp’s letter. Talk about a bunch of B.S.”
Fowler, as you might recall, is the same guy who eviscerated the Padres back in June, calling them “miserable failures” and saying that one of Shields’ poor performances was “an embarrassment to the team.”
Thumbnail photo via Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports Images
