Jerry Dipoto Trade/Signing Report Card (So Far)

[Angelsjunky]

Let's take a look:

 

Key:

A Great - a stellar trade or signing that significantly improved the ball club.

B Good - a solid trade/signing that somewhat improved the team.

C OK - evens out - might have improved the club, but at an equal cost; or a decent signing. 

D Dud - a poor trade that hurt more than helped, and/or the players traded away were better.

F Terrible - a disaster.

 

TRADES

 

Chatwood for Iannetta: C

Iannetta isn't sexy but he's solid, at least he was in 2012-13. Chatwood was very good last year but there are reasons to believe he won't be more than a #4.

 

Mathis for Mills: C+

I know, it got rid of Mathis, but Mills hasn't exactly added anything.

 

Amarista and Roach for Frieri: B-

Say what you will of Fuentes Part 2 Frieri, he was very good in 2012 and solid in 2013. No reason he can't at least be a good setup guy going forward.

 

Segura, Pena, and Hellweg for Greinke: D

Not an F because Greinke was pretty good. But the Angels lost their best non-Troutian prospect for a rental, and Segura is a pretty good player.

 

Santana for Sisk: D

Who predicted this would come back to haunt us? Santana has rediscovered himself. We could include Haren in this category, at least somewhat, in that Dipoto replaced these two with Blanton and Hanson.

 

Walden for Hanson: F

I can't justify anything else. It isn't like Walden is great, but he's pretty good and Hanson was terrible.

 

Morales for Vargas: C

Classic even trade.

 

Wells for Sneed and Cayones: B

The team wasn't exactly improved by this move, but Dipoto gets props for getting something back (money) on Wells.

 

Geltz for De la Rosa: B

De La Rosa was very good for the Angels last year. We'll see about this year.
 

Downs for Rasmus: C+

Good because it saved a couple million and Rasmus seems decent, but until he proves himself at the major league level its just a C+.

 

Callaspo for Green: B-

This is hard to grade. I really liked it at the time, but Green is still rough at 26 years old and Callaspo has been very good for the Athletics. So far I'd give the edge to the A's but long-term its the Angels.

 

Bourjos and Grichuk for Freese and Salas: D

I didn't like it when it happened and nothing I've seen so far makes me like it now. There's still time, obviously.

 

Trumbo and Schugel for Santiago and Skaggs: B+

The trade that might save Jerry's job. Loved it then, still love it, although its so early that I can't give it an A. Yet.

 

Romine for Alvarez: C+

Too soon to tell. I like this trade in principle, but Romine has some value so we need to see something from Alvarez. Could be a B by year's end.

 

FREE AGENTS

Albert Pujols: D

A disaster so far. Not an F because Albert was OK in 2012 and is showing some signs of life this year.

 

CJ Wilson: B

CJ has been a good pitcher for the Angels but not quite as good as he was for the Rangers. Still, he's been the most reliable pitcher on the team since he came, so that's worth something.

 

Ryan Madson: F

This yielded nothing.

 

Sean Burnett: D

This hasn't yielded much yet, but I suppose there's hope.

 

Joe Blanton: F

Just a waste.

 

Josh Hamilton: D

What a shame about his injury. Even if he comes back as scheduled, who knows how long it will take him to get back into it. He obviously still has time to turn this around, but so far he's a D.
 

Joe Smith: B

Excellent so far, but its early.

 

Raul Ibanez: C

A low risk/reward signing, so not much up or down potential on this grade.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

Obviously not all transactions are equal in weight, and this doesn't include extensions and such, but just eye-balling it and I think Jerry gets in the D+/C- range. I certainly wouldn't grade him as C or higher.

 

[nando714]

Don't we have a thread like this already?

[Michael Pellicciotti]

As I said in another thread he's the Jekyl and Hyde of GMs...some transactions are A's some are F's. Overall a C, so I agree with you.

[Tyler]

A - 4 - 0
B - 3 - 7 = 21
C - 2 - 6 = 12
D - 1 - 6  = 6

F - 0 - 0

39 / 22 = 1.77

 

A C overall would be extremely generous.

[yk9001]

Don't we have a thread like this already?

 

 

Basically, a new one after every loss.

[Chuck]

Basically, a new one after every loss.

 

Yep.

 

And if we won last night, the grades would be different or this thread wouldn't exist.

 

We're two weeks into the season guys! Ugh! 

[Tyler]

Yet we're calling for a platoon for Freese?

[Chuck]

Yet we're calling for a platoon for Freese? 

 

Bourjos wouldn't even be starting if he was here. It was worth the risk in trading for a viable 3B. 

 

Not Dipoto's fault he's sucked out of the gate. You make changes as necessary as a GM, not sit on your hands and wait for something to happen and lose ball games.  

[Tyler]

And the Angels problem is their bullpen, which is why I suggested getting Cishek. 

[Chuck]

And the Angels problem is their bullpen, which is why I suggested getting Cishek. 

 

Would be nice to have him, but not what you were offering

[DW711]

Joe Smith (especially if he's made closer at some point) deserves an A.

[Guest]

I stopped reading after I read the part about Iannetta being solid.

[Richard]

That Frieri trade is closer to an A than a C.

[TEvans]

Bourjos wouldn't even be starting if he was here. It was worth the risk in trading for a viable 3B. 

 

Not Dipoto's fault he's sucked out of the gate. You make changes as necessary as a GM, not sit on your hands and wait for something to happen and lose ball games.  

 

I think the issue here is that when the trade happened, there wasn't a lot of support for the idea that Freese was an upgrade over anything in house...and that the Angels traded away some of their arguably best trade bait for someone who isn't going to upgrade the pitching staff... But that may just be my opinion.

[QuinlansMinion]

Morales for Vargas is a C?  That was a garbage trade and still is.

[Chuck]

Morales for Vargas is a C?  That was a garbage trade and still is.

How about more like a B? Vargas was pretty solid for us. Not his fault he got a blood clot. 

 

Morales wasn't the greatest last season either. 

[mtangelsfan]

I am fairly unhappy with Dipoto at this point but any kind of rating of him has to include the Trout extension which is an A+

[Jay]

One way to look at things is to go back to the beginning of JD's tenure and look at each transaction with 20-20 hindsight.  That's not exactly fair, IMO.

 

Another way is to say the past is the past, is the team getting better?  Are they better or worse today than last year?  If the team is better we can say 'B' or higher, if worse, we can say 'D' or lower.

 

My assessment is the team is about the same, at least from what I have seen so far.  That gives Dipoto a 'C' grade for now.   Which is disappointing because most of the problems continue to be pitching, same as last year.  And pitching should be JD's area of expertise.

[Inside Pitch]

It's hard to grade some of his moves, stuff like moving Wells for anything didn't really result in any tangible net gains on the playing field and yet that move may rank right there with the Trumbo deal when it comes to wow factor.

[Chuck]

Again, way too early for a report card. Maybe mid-season, maybe at the end of the season. But we did these in ST for goodness sakes. 

[OregonLAA]

Smith: A

Frieri: B+

Mathis: A

Wells: A

[Erstad Grit]

I'd upgrade the Romine trade, I think we got a steal but I get we need time to conclude that.

 

I think Ibanez will perform close to Trumbo making both deals an A.

 

I'm not even a Dipoto fan. 

[Halofan]

I would give him a D to a F... To over look the pitching like he has is hard to get over... Especially the bullpen which has been so bad for so  long....

[Angelsjunky]

Yep.

 

And if we won last night, the grades would be different or this thread wouldn't exist.

 

We're two weeks into the season guys! Ugh! 

 

I find this statement rather disrespectful, Chuck. You've "known" me (in an internet) context for, what, a decade? Am I really that fickle?

 

Now I might not have started this thread if the Angels were, say, 9-4. So I agree with you there. But the grades would be the same if the performances had been the same. I'd hope that you'd give me that much respect, at least. Also....

 

 

Again, way too early for a report card. Maybe mid-season, maybe at the end of the season. But we did these in ST for goodness sakes. 

 

You said this last year. The report card isn't just for the year, but Dipoto's tenure as Angels GM - so its not too early for that. He's been here, what, two and a half years now?

[Chuck]

I'm not giving him an overall grade

 

I prefer to wait till the End of the Year before I scream $hitcan his A$$..For the simple fact I believe Arte cleans house if we don't make it to the Playoffs.

 

Or, shall I say nicely bumps Sven to the Assistant to the VP of Baseball Operations or some bs title like that...

Yep