Towers Says Betances is Better Than Banuelos

From Ken Rosenthal:

Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers, who spent last season scouting with the Yankees, offers yet another ringing endorsement for the Yanks’ top pitching prospects — and actually likes right-hander Dellin Betances even better than lefty Manny Banuelos.

Betances, 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, “might be King Felix," Towers says.

Banuelos?

“Teddy Higuera in his prime,” Towers says, “but with a better arm.”

"Might be King Felix"? Those are words that are bound to make every Yankees fan happy.

If you're not familiar with Higuera, here are his career numbers. From 1985-1988 (his prime) he went 69-38 with a 3.25 ERA. Injuries, including back surgery in '88 and a torn rotator cuff in '91, put a quick end to his career.

Yanks Introduce Towers

Here's the beginning of today's press release from the Yankees introducing Kevin Towers:

The New York Yankees announced today that Kevin Towers has joined the organization as a Special Assignment Scout. Based in San Diego, he will work directly with General Manager Brian Cashman, Vice President of Amateur Scouting Damon Oppenheimer and Senior Director of Pro Personnel Billy Eppler.
He begins his 29th season in professional baseball in 2010, including 26 seasons in the San Diego Padres organization and two with the Pittsburgh Pirates....

If you'd like to read the rest, head over to Yankees.com.

And here's an interesting bit of info from SteveB over at Pride of the Yankees:

This news is also something that will be avoided like the plague in Boston. You see, Kevin Towers is also close friends with the current Red Sox' GM, Theo Epstein, who worked directly under Towers for about six years before getting the Red Sox job. In fact, Epstein wanted to hire Towers to do the same kind of job he has with the Yankees, but Towers is reportedly turned off by Red Sox President Larry Lucchino, who was also the Padres' President during 1995-2001, and was therefore once Towers' boss. What goes around comes around, as they say.

I did not know that. Always love hearing about new ways the Yankees screwed the Sox.

Towers To Be Introduced Next Week

According to Tom Krasovic, the Yankees will introduce former Padres GM Kevin Towers on Tuesday as their new special assistant to the general manager.

Towers willl start with the Yankees next week in Tampa after being introduced on Tuesday. He'll scout amateurs and professionals. Also, he'll be a sounding board to Cashman, a longtime friend.

According to the article a Padres official has said that the Yankees will pay towers $50,000, while the Padres will fork over more than a million in remaining salary. As I said the first time I heard about this, having as many good baseball minds around the team can only be a good thing.

Nightengale: Yanks To Hire Kevin Towers

From Bob Nightengale (hat-tip to MLB Trade Rumors):

The Yankees may be done with their player roster, but before spring will announce the hiring of former Padres GM Kevin Towers

Towers may actually turn out to be the Yankees most valuable signing this week.

Towers To Join Yanks Without Formal Title

From Buster Olney:

While former San Diego general manager Kevin Towers is expected to work for the Yankees in the year ahead, he will not be given a formal title; rather, he will be utilized as a consultant. The title matters, because Towers is being paid by the Padres for the next year, and if the Yankees were to give him some bells-and-whistles title, they would be more at risk to have to pay him out of their own pocket

Those cost cutting Yankees just keep on keepin' on. Oh well, whatever works.