Next Order Of Business...

[totdprods]

With Scioscia stepping down, this raises the question...will 2019 be Eppler's last season? I believe he signed a four-year deal in Oct. '15.

Do we see an extension this winter, or an announcement of previously-undisclosed options being picked up?
Even more radical, a promotion to President of Baseball Ops with a new GM (Chavez?) stepping in, similar to the structure of other clubs?

I imagine Arte is pleased with Eppler so far, so surely he'll be locked in past this next season at some point.
 

[Tank]

i think the next order of business is hiring a new manager.

[mulwin444]

I think Eppler is extended.  He's done a great job positioning them for being competitive in the near future.

[totdprods]

4 minutes ago, Tank said:

i think the next order of business is hiring a new manager.

You don't think Arte would like to set up his new manager with some job security by extending Eppler and giving them some sort of window?

[Tank]

Just now, totdprods said:

You don't think Arte would like to set up his new manager with some job security by extending Eppler and giving them some sort of window?

it would probably make sense to extend eppler as part of the overall plan.

[nando714]

Is arte making the hire or eppler

we've seen arte go rogue before 

[Tank]

Just now, nando714 said:

Is arte making the hire or eppler

we've seen arte go rogue before 

if only there was someone here who could find out, like if they went out to lunch with arte this week and could ask him then report back to the board, like usual...

[kevinb]

1 hour ago, mulwin444 said:

I think Eppler is extended.  He's done a great job positioning them for being competitive in the near future.

Totally 3 years no playoffs and no playoffs in sight. Guy needs a 10 year deal.

[Tank]

6 minutes ago, Kevinb said:

Totally 3 years no playoffs and no playoffs in sight. Guy needs a 10 year deal.

*sigh*

[ukyah]

2 hours ago, Kevinb said:

Totally 3 years no playoffs and no playoffs in sight. Guy needs a 10 year deal.

 

you're so far off on this take that you keep spitting out that you're making yourself out to be a fool. seriously, this is some flat earther stuff. you look bad, man.

[Stradling]

3 hours ago, Kevinb said:

Totally 3 years no playoffs and no playoffs in sight. Guy needs a 10 year deal.

Keep preaching, it does nothing but strengthen the case of you being pretty dumb.  WADR. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

3 hours ago, Tank said:

*sigh*

I have given up, too. 

[WeatherWonk]

Personally, I think the jury is still out on Eppler. I dont know that he is a slam-dunk extension.

He's improved the RATING of the farm system, according to the pundits. That really hasnt translated into much at the big league level yet.

He's been in charge since July 1 of 2015.

But the Angel's record over that time is 13 below .500. The second half of 2015, he was five over .500. But that was pretty much Dipoto's team.

We mostly know why he's under .500;  injuries. But we never had any depth in the injury areas,  either. That could be Arte's reins, though.

His biggest pluses are acquiring Simmons, Barria and Upton (still remains to be seen if his contract will be worth it) and Ohtani. Three of those are BIG pluses.

Here are some of his other signings or trades where personnel made the big leagues. How did they work out?

Shane Victorino, David DeJesus, David Murphy, Daniel Nava, Craig Gentry, Cliff Pennington, Edward Paredes, Al Alburquerque, Tim Linecum, Andrew Bailey, Jesse Chavez, Ricky Nolasco, Luis Valbuena, Ben Revere (twice), Danny Espinosa, EYJ, Yusmeiro Petit, Doug Fister, Michael Bourn, Cam Maybin, Noe Ramirez, Brandon Phillips, Francisco Arcia, Ian Kinsler, Chris Carter, Chris Young, Taylor Cole, Andrew Bailey, Huston Street, Bud Norris, Blake Parker, Zack Cozart, Rene Rivera, Jose Fernandez, Jabari Blash, Akeel Morris, Miguel Almonte, Junichi Tazawa, Williams Jerez,  Ty Buttrey.............

He put Ronald Torreyes on waivers, who was taken back by the Yankees. 

He traded CJ Cron for Rengifo. 

He signed Kole Calhoun to an extension through 2019 with a team option for 2020.

Seems like his balance sheet is more in the red than in the black, to me.  Petit pitched well for us. Maybin was OK for a very short period. Norris was pretty good for a while. Parker has been good and bad. Jury still out on Taylor Cole and Cozart and Jose Fernandez and Buttrey.

Calhoun? Lots of opinions there.

If the farmhands don't materialize, how successful has he been?

The farmhands need to materialize.

 

 

[totdprods]

7 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

He's improved the RATING of the farm system, according to the pundits. That really hasnt translated into much at the big league level yet.

What's to say that wasn't the plan?

Personally, I kind of think the Angels have been intending to treat the last few seasons as a rebuild and any moves made under the guise of winning were simply fan service to keep casual folks interested. Eppler intended to build a strong farm, reverse the many organizational wrongs, and set this org up for long haul sustainability like he witnessed in NY. 

They had a core that was good enough on paper to compete for at least the WC any given season had they stayed healthy, and while they made moves to 'win' - Maybin, Upton, Kinsler, etc., - it never came at the expense of the 'rebuild'.

You can argue against it saying that if it was a 'rebuild' they would have been true sellers at one point, but the few people they could have sold were usually injured, or were part of that 'good enough' core to allow them to give off the perception they were contending each year.

[totdprods]

7 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

Shane Victorino, David DeJesus, David Murphy, Daniel Nava, Craig Gentry, Cliff Pennington, Edward Paredes, Al Alburquerque, Tim Linecum, Andrew Bailey, Jesse Chavez, Ricky Nolasco, Luis Valbuena, Ben Revere (twice), Danny Espinosa, EYJ, Yusmeiro Petit, Doug Fister, Michael Bourn, Cam Maybin, Noe Ramirez, Brandon Phillips, Francisco Arcia, Ian Kinsler, Chris Carter, Chris Young, Taylor Cole, Andrew Bailey, Huston Street, Bud Norris, Blake Parker, Zack Cozart, Rene Rivera, Jose Fernandez, Jabari Blash, Akeel Morris, Miguel Almonte, Junichi Tazawa, Williams Jerez,  Ty Buttrey.............

And what did he give up to acquire all of those guys? Many of those guys could be deemed as productive players - albeit fairly unexciting ones.

To me, the Angels have been rebuilding since Eppler was hired, and I personally think he's done an incredible job. The farm has improved immensely and he's brought in some huge talent (Upton, Ohtani, Simmons) without giving up anything painful other than Newcomb, who was worth it and he's brought in a ton of useful cheap talent (Briceno, Pena, Bridwell, Parker, Cole, Ramirez, multiple pitchers really) for literally nothing. 

When time comes, as we saw with Simmons and Upton, he'll make those big impact moves. I think at the time those were convenient, but not part of a big plan to go all-in.

[DMVol]

7 hours ago, WeatherWonk said:

He's been in charge since July 1 of 2015.

Wut?  He was hired after the 2015 season....

 

Here are some of his other signings or trades where personnel made the big leagues. How did they work out?

Shane Victorino, David DeJesus, David Murphy, Daniel Nava, Craig Gentry, Cliff Pennington, Edward Paredes, Al Alburquerque, Tim Linecum, Andrew Bailey, Jesse Chavez, Ricky Nolasco, Luis Valbuena, Ben Revere (twice), Danny Espinosa, EYJ, Yusmeiro Petit, Doug Fister, Michael Bourn, Cam Maybin, Noe Ramirez, Brandon Phillips, Francisco Arcia, Ian Kinsler, Chris Carter, Chris Young, Taylor Cole, Andrew Bailey, Huston Street, Bud Norris, Blake Parker, Zack Cozart, Rene Rivera, Jose Fernandez, Jabari Blash, Akeel Morris, Miguel Almonte, Junichi Tazawa, Williams Jerez,  Ty Buttrey.............

Those guys were acquired by the previous front office, including the interim guys (with Stoneman in charge)....

 

 

 

[WeatherWonk]

I thought I read that he took over July 1st, 2015. I then looked at transactions on baseball reference that were after that date. Was that incorrect?

[arch stanton]

That’s the day Dipito quit. Stoneman was interim through the end of the season after that 

[Blarg]

Eppler's hiring was annnounced October 4th, 2015, a few days after the season ended. 

[AngelsFaninGA]

He'll be extended so it's a moot point, but I'd personally wait to see how he addresses the pitching this year. If we go dumpster diving and the pitching falls apart yet again I wouldn't want him back. 

[WeatherWonk]

2 hours ago, DMVol said:

 

Thank you for correcting this. 

[WeatherWonk]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

And what did he give up to acquire all of those guys? Many of those guys could be deemed as productive players - albeit fairly unexciting ones.

To me, the Angels have been rebuilding since Eppler was hired, and I personally think he's done an incredible job. The farm has improved immensely and he's brought in some huge talent (Upton, Ohtani, Simmons) without giving up anything painful other than Newcomb, who was worth it and he's brought in a ton of useful cheap talent (Briceno, Pena, Bridwell, Parker, Cole, Ramirez, multiple pitchers really) for literally nothing. 

When time comes, as we saw with Simmons and Upton, he'll make those big impact moves. I think at the time those were convenient, but not part of a big plan to go all-in.

Both of your replies are well thought out. Thanks for the responses.

No, he didnt give up much of anything for those players. I dont think any team would have.  I was addressing how effective these players were, on the big league roster. That's part of the reason he has had three straight losing seasons. But the injuries outweighed their contributions, for sure.

2019 feels like a real pivotal year to me. Now that Trout has gone on record as feeling that being on a winning team is "huge" in deciding what he does after 2020, I think we need a winning, contending season. That's not likely to be generated from within. Our blue-chip prospects probably wont enter the bigs until 2020, if estimates are correct. And few are impact players immediately. Hard to say about Ward.

We need to spend. And I hope that doesnt mean more castoffs that are stopgap players. Been there, done that.

[Angel Oracle]

This is essentially year 2 coming up of the rotation recovery from extensive DL stints.

Heaney looks to be able to pitch 190-200 innings, Skaggs and Barria hopefully 162 innings, Pena maybe 140 innings.  

Shoe is a question mark (better fit in rotation or late innings?).  Tropeano is a giant question mark with that shoulder.   Ohtani is back in the rotation in 2020.  

Canning, Suarez, and Sandoval will all be knocking on the door.    A lot of options out there to sign or trade for.

 

Bullpen wise, the locks would seem to be Cole, Buttrey, Robles, Parker, and Alvarez.    Middleton and JC Ramirez are maybe back by July.

BadRock probably needs to be traded to get a fresh start.   Anderson needs to work A LOT on command.    Jerez needs A LOT of work, period.  

Rhoades and Stevens are knocking on the door. 

Robertson could look really nice as a mentor/closer for 2-3 years.   Shoe and Robertson could be a very nice filling out of the pen. 

[Dick B Back]

The next real order of business is get rid of Bedrosian.

[hangin n wangin]

On 9/30/2018 at 6:02 PM, Kevinb said:

Totally 3 years no playoffs and no playoffs in sight. Guy needs a 10 year deal.

I would argue that even the best GM in the world, whoever you think that is, wouldn't have made the playoffs in the last 3 years with all the injuries we have went through and with the cap situation we have.

Eppler has done a lot of good for the organization in the short time he's been here, especially for the future of the organization. He's been a bright spot in the organization which hasn't had many bright spots in recent years.