The Billy Eppler appreciation thread

[Scott34]

In just 3+ years, the guy has completely turned the entire franchise around.

• He inherited the worst farm in baseball - it is now likely top 5 with a legitimate Mike Trout lite in Jo Adell.
• He made some huge moves that changed the face of the MLB team - Simmons, Ohtani, Upton.
• His dumpster diving skills have returned huge dividends - Goodwin, La Stella, Robles, Smith, etc etc.
• He brought on a manager who seems to really work well with this club and who isn't afraid of new concepts like the opener, using your best reliever in the 7th or 8th.

Eppler's contract is up after this season. They have to re-sign him. 

[GrittyVeterans]

He's a good GM. Time will tell if he can parlay it into a WS contending team

[robblin17]

I agree. Next off-season is going to be huge and there is no way they bring in another GM. It's just a matter of time before Eppler's contract is renewed/extended.

With that being said, next off-season we will have some money to spend and Eppler will need to make some big time moves to turn this team into a true contender. 

[mulwin444]

I'll allow it...

[tdawg87]

[totdprods]

271-289 record though. 

Kidding, I think he's done great.

[TroutAdell]

He also gave big money for a washed up Harvey, a journeyman, Cahill and Cody Allen. While the Angels have been better they will held back by these ridiculous signings. DFAing Allen was a great move the other two must also be dumped. 

[totdprods]

2 minutes ago, robblin17 said:

I agree. Next off-season is going to be huge and there is no way they bring in another GM. It's just a matter of time before Eppler's contract is renewed/extended.

With that being said, next off-season we will have some money to spend and Eppler will need to make some big time moves to turn this team into a true contender. 

He's built this team to be at a perfect place for that this offseason. It's cheap enough with a good farm and flexible payroll. He can opt to spend, opt to trade, opt to stay the course one more year and any would be within reason.

[Docwaukee]

they have an option on him for 2020 but I'd like to see him around for at least another 2 and possibly 3 years after this one.  

I would disagree that our farm is top 5.  Especially by seasons end when Rengifo, Canning, Suarez all graduate.  But the fact that those guys are 1st year core players is huge.   We've got some high ceiling talent that needs some time so we could be top 10 again very soon but right now I'd put us middle of the pack.  Pitching depth has come out of no where and there could be some upper rotation guys in there.  Maybe not ace level but better than middle.  Still have strong OF depth.  MIF has some high ceiling guys but not a ton of depth and they all have a ways to go.  

Agree on his dumpster skills.  

Ausmus is meh for me so far.  Growing on me a bit but still meh. 

He's done some really nice things to establish a solid core by locking up Trout and adding Ohtani, Simmons.  

His short term free agent deals and trades for 1yr guys have kinda sucked for the most part.  He needs to stay away from reclamation projects or guys looking to 'rebuild' value.  

[totdprods]

Just now, TroutTrumbo said:

He also gave big money for a washed up Harvey, a journeyman, Cahill and Cody Allen. While the Angels have been better they will held back by these ridiculous signings. DFAing Allen was a great move the other two must also be dumped. 

Those were all lotto tickets and not part of the plan. If they panned out, great, but no harm done. 

I don't think he ever hinged the season on any of his rebound players. He brought them in hoping they'd either play well and boost the team's WC chances, or play well enough to recoup trade value for the rebuild. And if it helped the casual fan buy in to the belief they were competing along the way, then that would be a small victory in itself.

[Taylor]

Somewhere, merlincat just got a boner.

[robblin17]

3 minutes ago, TroutTrumbo said:

He also gave big money for a washed up Harvey, a journeyman, Cahill and Cody Allen. While the Angels have been better they will held back by these ridiculous signings. DFAing Allen was a great move the other two must also be dumped. 

How will they be held back? They are one year deals. 

[totdprods]

5 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

His short term free agent deals and trades for 1yr guys have kinda sucked for the most part.  He needs to stay away from reclamation projects or guys looking to 'rebuild' value.  

More and more I'm starting to believe there's no way Eppler could be that bad at rebound vets. 

I really think he went into each offseason with a price he was prepared to pay for fill a need with a cheap vet - i.e., Victor Alcantara, or 1yr./$9m - and tried to nab a vet for those terms that he felt could wind up eventually being decent trade bait later in the year. It was just the price to pay for a potential trade piece at the deadline, and he gambled on guys he felt might get him the likes of Meyer, Sandoval, Buttrey...it was just another planned part of the rebuild, but they never wanted to say it publicly.

I don't think his expectations were ever that high for guys like Espinosa, Maybin, Escobar, Allen, Harvey etc. and it was truly just shopping for staples. This is what I have to spend, this guy should work, won't hurt the long-term. On to the next. And I can see how an argument can be made that it was a poor strategy, but we don't know enough of the master plan or big picture to really know how much that should be criticized.

Edited June 19, 2019 by totdprods

[Docwaukee]

5 minutes ago, totdprods said:

More and more I'm starting to believe there's no way Eppler could be that bad at rebound vets. 

I really think he went into each offseason with a price he was prepared to pay for fill a need with a cheap vet - i.e., Victor Alcantara, or 1yr./$9m - and tried to nab a vet for those terms that he felt could wind up eventually being decent trade bait later in the year. It was just the price to pay for a potential trade piece at the deadline, and he gambled on guys he felt might get him the likes of Meyer, Sandoval, Buttrey...it was just another planned part of the rebuild, but they never wanted to say it publicly.

I don't think his expectations were ever that high for guys like Espinosa, Maybin, Escobar, Allen, Harvey etc. and it was truly just shopping for staples. This is what I have to spend, this guy should work, won't hurt the long-term. On to the next. And I can see how an argument can be made that it was a poor strategy, but we don't know enough of the master plan or big picture to really know how much that should be criticized.

his portfolio was well diversified with long and short term opportunities.  If he hit a hr or two with those short term pieces then great.  If not, then so be it.  It can't be a very good optic to Arte though with what Billy has spent on for this year.  I'm willing to turn a bit of a blind eye as a fan because his long term plays have far outweighed his short term ones from a success standpoint.  

I trust him to go after guys who haven't put it all together (majors or minors) where they see something they really like and can work with the player to harness that.  Those unheralded players like the La Stellas, Goodwins, Robles, Hernandez, Parker, Pena, Maldonado etc.  I'm fine if we keep doing those types of moves as opposed to the 1yr lottery ticket types.  

I do think the tide turns next year in terms of his philosophy for those short term players.  Because this team is getting close, we might see more conservative moves where you go with a Gio Gonzalez over a Matt Harvey.  Frankly, his biggest miss so far is Cozart.  Healthy or not, he's terrible.  Cahill is another guy I bet he thought would perform at least reasonably.  

[GrittyVeterans]

2 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

his portfolio was well diversified with long and short term opportunities.  If he hit a hr or two with those short term pieces then great.  If not, then so be it.  It can't be a very good optic to Arte though with what Billy has spent on for this year.  I'm willing to turn a bit of a blind eye as a fan because his long term plays have far outweighed his short term ones from a success standpoint.  

I trust him to go after guys who haven't put it all together (majors or minors) where they see something they really like and can work with the player to harness that.  Those unheralded players like the La Stellas, Goodwins, Robles, Hernandez, Parker, Pena, Maldonado etc.  I'm fine if we keep doing those types of moves as opposed to the 1yr lottery ticket types.  

I do think the tide turns next year in terms of his philosophy for those short term players.  Because this team is getting close, we might see more conservative moves where you go with a Gio Gonzalez over a Matt Harvey.  Frankly, his biggest miss so far is Cozart.  Healthy or not, he's terrible.  Cahill is another guy I bet he thought would perform at least reasonably.  

Valbuena was a huge miss as well (RIP to him), but I agree that Cozart's 3 year deal is by far the worst move he's made.

[Torridd]

I thought Valbuena was okay for what he brought: home run power and a decent glove. 

[Taylor]

27 minutes ago, Torridd said:

I thought Valbuena was okay for what he brought: home run power and a decent glove. 

Perhaps his death is causing you to remember him more fondly.

I remember him being an automatic out, every single day. He'd go on a tear where he'd hit like 5 HR in a week, and then he'd go back to hitting .150.

[mmc]

*triggered*

[failos]

I like Eppler because he can recognize when he’s made a mistake, and adjusts accordingly.

[Jay]

Almost anything would be an improvement over Dipoto so congrats Billy, you're an improvement.

 

[Second Base]

Every GM had their strengths and weaknesses, Eppler included. As @Scott34indicated, the job Eppler had done is impressive, particularly compared to his predecessors. Here a few key highlights that I see in him. 

- Eppler may be the best in the business at building a farm. The hole the Angels were in as far as prospects maybe was the deepest in history of any team. The belief was that a typically empty farm system takes 5 years to properly restock. One as bad as the Angels, more like 7-8 years. But Eppler is great at this, and he recruited and hired the best personnel in the business. Together, they've drafted as well as anyone, they got creative in their international signings by bypassing the Dominican Republic where they lacked presence, and picked up high caliber kids from the Bahamas and Venezuela, they took advantage of a unique opportunity to acquire Maitan and Soto for very little, and hit the jackpot with Ohtani.

- Eppler hasn't made a ton of trades, but on the whole, he had held his own. 

- Eppler has done a great job getting payroll back under control after the unfortunate spending bug spree of his predecessor left the Angels with a bloated payroll and asking team. 

- Eppler himself has proven to have perhaps the keenest eye in the business when it comes to acquiring low cost pitching with great upside. 

- The one thing that Eppler is notably bad at is free agent spending and assessments though. This guy can't buy a vowel when it comes to free agents. But I think he's recognized this and contained his own free agent spending.

- The biggest thing though, is that he's kept an open line of communication with his players, and helped them buy into what he's trying to build. Shohei Ohtani is an Angel because of this. Mike Trout will remain an Angel for life because of this. Andrelton Simmons is eager to sign an extension because of this. He goes after high character people and connects with them on a much deeper level than simply business. It seems personal with him. 

[Troll Daddy]

This team has the offense to win a WS title. The pitching is a whole different story. Eppler imo can’t let this season slip by without making a real effort to get a top of the rotation pitcher. 

Until then I will hold back my appreciation. You have to do better than Cahill and Harvey Mr. Eppler. 

[Stradling]

16 hours ago, TroutTrumbo said:

He also gave big money for a washed up Harvey, a journeyman, Cahill and Cody Allen. While the Angels have been better they will held back by these ridiculous signings. DFAing Allen was a great move the other two must also be dumped. 

This is debatable.  One year contracts don’t hurt really. It was a calculated risk that didn’t pan out and it seems as though he’s limited the damage by moving on pretty damn fast. 

[Broad Street]

I give him a B-. Good job with the farm, locked up Trout, got Ohtani, brought in La Stella, and traded for Simmons  

 

All his other free free agent signings have been trash, and Ausmus was a terrible choice. I said it then and I’ll repeat myself now. Ausmus is a bad manager. 

[ScruffytheJanitor]

9 hours ago, Second Base said:

- The one thing that Eppler is notably bad at is free agent spending and assessments though. This guy can't buy a vowel when it comes to free agents. But I think he's recognized this and contained his own free agent spending.

I wonder how much of this is a function of the team situation-- especially last year. He knew we needed three solid pitcher to have a prayer at contention. He he also knew that he barely had enough money in the budget for one of the few sure-fire arms out there; two were never going to happen. He also wanted to hoard his prospects, which limited his options even more.

I think he looked at the budget, knew he had a couple of kids (Canning, Suarez) that would be pretty good backup options, and decided to take a gamble on Cahill and Harvey. While they both had risks (Cahill being injury prone, Harvey being about as uneven as it gets), this is still on the lower end of what you thought would happen. If they were merely below average, we'd probably have 2-3 more wins than we do now. It seems all the more worse since Heaney and Skaggs have had the same health luck they have always had.

I actually want to see Eppler attack the pitching problem with fewer constraints. With Ohtani comming back (with an innings limit), a number of young arms that can provide real depth (Canning, Suarez, Trop), we need at least two solid #2/#3 types that can stabilize this rotation.

[Cozart was a mistake though].