Eppler Polls

[Docwaukee]

I gave him 80% and 2.  

I really like a lot of what he's done and I think (hope) that we'll have a chance at the division next year with some good moves.  

I think Houston's pitching isn't gonna be as good as people think next year although I could see them moving a bat to improve their rotation.  We're getting closer though.  

[kevinb]

I’m at 60% and 1 more year with out playoffs. We have trout ohtani and this is his complete team we need to be making the playoffs for him to continue this process. It can’t be year 6 and still haven’t sniffed the playoffs.  

[TooCool]

Why is there no 0 option for the 2nd poll??

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, TooCool said:

Why is there no 0 option for the 2nd poll??

My guess is because if you feel that way you can just post it in the Fire Eppler thread.  But I don’t want to speak for @Kevinb

[nate]

57 minutes ago, Stradling said:

My guess is because if you feel that way you can just post it in the Fire Eppler thread.  But I don’t want to speak for @Kevinb

@Chuckster70 there needs to be an up arrow option to counteract the down arrow.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, nate said:

@Chuckster70 there needs to be an up arrow option to counteract the down arrow.

Well NrM decided to downvote like 15 of my posts because he doesn’t like that I disagreed with a post of his.  It’s adorable.  

[Chuck]

I removed the Thumbs Down. I will most likely never bring it back because people abuse it. 

For the record, here's what's a +1 positive and -1 negative. Most are neutral here. 

 

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, azmancini said:

You are hilarious Stradling. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

...and no Lou, that wasn’t a reference related to anything concerning Upton.

Thanks bro.  You too are adorable.  

[Fish Oil]

I gave him 70% and two years.

He has done a lot of good things for the team and has us heading in the right direction for the first time in a long time. But he's made his share of mistakes.

Given what he has accomplished and how far he has brought us, as long as progress continues he shouldn't be held to a "do or die" year.

[nate]

I missed where Stradling goes around and downvotes a bunch of someones posts because he disagrees with them?

He is infuriatingly homerish at times, but he doesn't get childish.

3 minutes ago, azmancini said:

You are hilarious Stradling. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

...and no Lou, that wasn’t a reference related to anything concerning Upton.

 

[Stradling]

Just now, azmancini said:

Thank you!

You are quite welcome!

[Stradling]

Just now, nate said:

I missed where Stradling goes around and downvotes a bunch of someones posts because he disagrees with them?

He is infuriatingly homerish at times, but he doesn't get childish.

 

I’m sending you a double double ASAP!

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, nate said:

I missed where Stradling goes around and downvotes a bunch of someones posts because he disagrees with them?

He is infuriatingly homerish at times, but he doesn't get childish.

 

I thought about downvoting this just for lulz but didn’t. 

[tomsred]

Why are we evaluating Eppler, isn't this Arte's job?  Or Carpino's?  I am proud of you guys, two pages and no one misspelled polls as poles.

 

 

[Justin]

I would be okay with 2 more years of not making the playoffs.

I would NOT be okay with two more years of losing records. 

[tomsred]

20 minutes ago, SoPas Angel said:

I would be okay with 2 more years of not making the playoffs.

I would NOT be okay with two more years of losing records. 

Would you be okay with two more years of losing records if we made the playoffs in those two years?

I would be okay if no player dies, or suffers a career ending injury.  .

 

[Tank]

3 hours ago, Stradling said:

I’m sending you a double double ASAP!

aw, come on, strad - be generous and send him one and a half.

[Lou]

4 hours ago, azmancini said:

You are hilarious Stradling. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

...and no Lou, that wasn’t a reference related to anything concerning Upton.

You're the person who brought up Upton. I haven't said anything about him 

Hmmm ....... 

[Torridd]

I said above 60 for 1 year. It's an extremely tiresome situation and Eppler may have to be the scapegoat.

[Slegnaac]

We have had worse GMs.  There is no guarantee that the next one will be better.  So during the next 2 years someone should be looking at potential candidates. 

[CanadianHalo]

Below 50% just like his winning percentage.

4 years as GM and not one season of .500 ball or better. The stats speak for themselves. 

He’s had enough time to at least produce a winning record. Enough is enough. 

[kevinb]

3 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

We have had worse GMs.  There is no guarantee that the next one will be better.  So during the next 2 years someone should be looking at potential candidates. 

Terrible logic. Just cause you’ve dated worse doesn’t mean you stay with the abusive spouse you’re with now. 

[Duren, Duren]

First you build, then you try and sustain a playoff quality team. 

The building process can be shorter or longer, depending on what the organization was like when the new GM arrived. 

Eppler obviously inherited a mess of a farm system. That really is the key to the second part of the equation. Sustaining a quality team over time. Eppler has done an A-/B+ level of rebuilding the system, so that is a positive in his favor.

He also inherited some key players who still are putting up decent numbers. With Trout the franchise crown jewel. Overall, the roster is producing runs and solid on defense. Catcher is still a weakness, right field an unknown next year, and the infield still being shuffled, but pretty good depth in general. 

He really has been forced to keep Pujols because of the contract signed years before. Pujols hadn't been terrible during his Angels career, but the value for the financial obligation has been one of the crippling factors preventing better use of the budget. Upton is somewhat in that category too. At the time of the trade and extension he looked like a dependable fixture, but now value for the dollar is also factoring in as a negative.

Pitching is the key to creating a balanced, contending team. Some good, some bad from Eppler, but tragedy and injuries seriously qualify the results as we see them now. By default I think next year will be a better gauge of the Pitching situation. There is some quality depth in the bullpen, but with Ohtani back, one or two higher quality additions they should be at least decent next year. 

Perhaps the greatest acquisition move Eppler made was snatching Ohtani out of the international pool. He was aggressive, bold, confident and willing to gamble on his two way skills without restrictions. 

His other trades and signings are about average for a GM. Some good, some duds. But other than Upton, none with longer term handicap potential 

And getting Trout signed long term is the best thing he 's done of everything. It did require a delicate personal touch and communication skills not all GMs have. Even when Eppler is gone that will be his biggest legacy.

Time wise I think two more years starting next year are fair to expect better results. At least high 80s wins and legitimate playoff contention.

The team isn't that bad. But is missing some key pieces. He shouldn't need longer to address those issues.

 

 

[aznhockeyguy]

I'm not as results oriented as the rest of you but at the same time I questioned some of his offseason signings; of course many of which blew up on him this past season.  There are so many things a GM can control but it's also their job to plan for contingencies.  So I'll break down how I graded.

When I grade transactions I always ask, was there a better move available?  With some of these moves, I would have to say definitely yes. While, we don't know if they would've signed here, the deals they eventually did sign, I'm sure if the Angels offered a bit more, they would've signed with the Angels. 

I was very low on the signings of Harvey and Allen.  I don't know why Eppler targeted them, as they both weren't very good and/or effective.  So I will blame him for those signings being terrible as the signs were there and he overpaid for both of them.  Definite F grade moves for me. 

Alternatives: Starters: Gio Gonzalez, Wade Miley, Martin Perez, Jordan Lyles.  Relievers: Shawn Kelley, Greg Holland, David Phelps, Tony Sipp.

The DFAing of Shoemaker and Parker seemed like mistakes at the time until they too got injured (Shoe) and DFA'd (Parker), but I didn't understand why, especially Shoemaker when the Angels needed starters. D-grade moves for me and compounded by the extra money they paid for their replacements F.

Signing of Bour and Lucroy.  I thought these signings were at the time, fairly decent, C and B level grade moves.  While both weren't very good last season, they were signed for cheap for a combined under 6 mil.  They obviously weren't very good, but the price was right to gamble for these type of players.

Cahill I was especially high on.  Pretty decent track record in the AL West and the price was pretty decent as well.  I graded this move an A.  Unfortunately he got shelled this season as a starter with mediocre results as a reliever.  This I can't blame Eppler on, this caught me by surprise how poorly he's been performing. 

Cozart: Another deal I wasn't high on.  I covered this in another thread but this was a D/F level move.

Waiver wire and minor trades:  Of course I'm talking about La Stella and Goodwin. On the surface these were expected to be low impact moves and of course it broke the Angels way.

Even before the season, a lot of things had to have break right for the Angels to succeed in terms of injury and performance and unfortunately it didn't.  The rotation fell apart which is a key reason the Angels aren't doing very well.

The saving grace:  drafting.  The key to sustainable success is drafting and developing.  Eppler has shown that he has a knack for that.  Hopefully Eppler can continue to do this as we have some of the seeds bearing fruit, but the Angels will need a lot more to compete for titles. 

TL;DR summary: Eppler's mistakes are for one season, Dipoto's mistakes were for many.  Eppler's saving grace is drafting and development.  This past offseason signings sucked but nothing too big that'll hamstring the Angels next season and beyond.  Given the time needed for farm system development,  I'll give him another 4 years without playoffs, because Eppler wasn't given a total rebuild to build up a farm system.

 

[IIIII]

I kinda feel like we're the Memphis Grizzlies the last 5 years. Just kind of there. Not good enough to really compete but not bad enough to be one of the worst teams in the league and get a great draft pick.