Feeney Still Hasn’t Decided About His Future
NEW YORK — Padre President Chub Feeney, amid mounting criticism about delays in determining the future of several Padre players, coaches and even the manager, apparently has not determined his own future.
Although he reached a verbal agreement with owner Joan Kroc on March 21 to oversee the club through 1990, Feeney said in an interview Tuesday that he has yet to decide whether he will return in 1989.
“I have not decided that yet, no,” Feeney said. “I prefer not to get into that now, everything is going fine and I just want to keep if that way. I don’t want to start another commotion. I don’t want to open a can of worms.”
Asked about the legality of breaking a contract, Feeney said: “I don’t have a contract. I’ve never had a contract.”
Kroc, who has refused an interview request since Aug. 5, refused again Tuesday.
“As far as I know, she’s not doing interviews,” said Nancy Trestick, Kroc’s secretary.
Having no public vote of confidence from his boss can’t make things easier for Feeney, who has been in the middle of one stir or another since joining the club June 10, 1987. He has been criticized for verything from lack of aggressiveness in trades, to unwillingness to spend money for free agents, to even forgetting the names of his players and coaches.
He came under fire for firing Manager Larry Bowa this season after only 46 games. But just as new Manager Jack McKeon has been succeeding, Feeney has been criticized by some players and in the media for requesting that McKeon give up either his manager or general manager position.
Yet through it all, the Padres have won, going from 15-44 when Feeney arrived to 50-53 over the rest of the season and then 64-67 this season.
“A lot of criticism I get is unfair,” Feeney, who celebrates his 67th birthday today, said Tuesday. “You look at our record when I came here and our record now. . . . I think that record speaks for itself. That is the bottom line.”
Yet with the Padres playing so well since McKeon took over May 28--48-37--many on the club are saying the bottom line is the future. And Feeney has yet to act upon that future, having requested that every pressing matter wait until September.
Among those matters are the futures of McKeon, the coaching staff (particularly pitching coach Pat Dobson), soon-to-be free-agent pitchers Eric Show and Andy Hawkins, and infielder Tim Flannery, whose could become a free agent if the Padres don’t pick up an option year in his contract.
“I just don’t want them thinking contracts when they should be thinking about baseball and winning,” said Feeney, who for the first time since taking over did not accompany the team on a trip to New York. And Feeney, the former National League president and Giant general manager, said he would not be in San Francisco next week either.
