Towers explains contract renewal process

A lot has been made regarding today’s announcement of the contract renewal for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.  In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t seem that the Padres and Adrian’s agent, John Boggs, were too far apart.  So I thought I’d seek out Executive Vice President/General Manager Kevin Towers at the Peoria Sports Complex and get him to shed a little light into the whole process of renewing contracts at this time of year.

First, a little reference material.  Major League clubs can control a player for up to six years.  Players with 0-3 years of service time are not eligible for arbitration and may negotiate with their club but the club has the final say on the contract.  Players with 3-6 years of service time are the ones who qualify for arbitration.  With 1.108 days of service time, Gonzalez is referred to as “one-plus” player and is not eligible for arbitration.

I met up with Towers prior to the Padres-Mariners game at Peoria Stadium and first asked him how the club arrived at their offer of $391,500 for Gonzalez.

“We put together a grid for our 0-3-year players who are not arbitration eligible,” said Towers.  “We put that grid together based on performance and service time.  It slots players according to service time and performance, and even recognizes players who play in other organizations.  So we certainly took into account what Adrian did in 2005 with Texas.  That’s how we arrive at our number in our sloting system.” 

I read that people wondered why the Padres didn’t just give Gonzalez what he was seeking as it was a relatively small sum as compared to the multi-million dollar deals being thrown around these days.   One reason, Towers says, is considering how a deal today will impact any future negotiations.

“We’ve always tried to be very, very consistent with our players over the years,” said Towers.  “What fans need to know is that for a long period of time there was a set minimum salary.  It’s changed over the last two Collective Bargaining Agreements.  There have been increases that are built in due to the bargaining that went on between Major League Baseball and the Players Union. 

“When Jake Peavy, Sean Burroughs and Khalil Greene all signed their deals, they were coming from different minimums.  There was only a $16,000 increase in the minimum when we did Khalil’s one-plus contract.  There was a $50,000 increase in this last CBA, which is a raise.  Regardless of how you get it, it’s a raise and the ballclubs have to pay that raise.  One thing that I think is lost here is that if Adrian had signed our offer at $391,500, he would have received the largest raise for a one-plus player in franchise history.  In the end, it was his choice to accept the renewal.”

In talking with Towers, I got the sense that he’s committed to keeping Adrian Gonzalez in a Padres uniform for many years to come.  He simply does not take his 2006 MVP first baseman for granted.

“We have Adrian here for four more years before he can elect free agency,” said Towers.  “We can still enter into a multi-year contract with him if we choose to do so and he is interested.  And it’s probably something that we will explore.  We’re not the only organization that has had a renewal.  We’ve been fortunate enough over the years where we’ve only had a couple.  A lot of clubs have two or three each and every year.  In no way does this mean that we don’t have interest in Adrian or don’t value what this guy means to the club. 

“People should not read into this renewal and think he’s not going to be a Padre after the 2007 season.”

Well, that’s good enough for me.  I know there are no guarantees in life, but it’s nice knowing that we all can get comfortable watching Adrian Gonzalez play for his hometown San Diego Padres in 2007 and beyond.

FJ