The Angels amateur drafts under Billy Eppler

[Chuck]

Eppler's draft record

Outside of Jo Adell who is an A+ pick sitting there at #10, in addition to Canning, Marsh & Jackson in Eppler's second round selections, all solid picks, Billy's drafts have been pretty meh so far. 

Ohtani is more of a free agent since he picked up, so he's excluded in this discussion. Eppler has done a great job in talking super stars to both come here (Ohtani) and stay (Trout).

Much needed top college prospect SP's that were available and taken after Jordyn Adams in 2018.

Brady Singer (Made it to AA and posted a combined 2.85 ERA and is considered as polished as they come)

Jackson Kowar (Made it to AA and posted a combined 3.52 ERA flashing a solid 4-pitch mix and upper 90's heat)    

Daniel Lynch (LHP - Made it to High-A and posted a combined 2.99 ERA, striking out 96 over 96 innings)

Ryan Rolison (LHP - Made it to High-A and posted a combined 4.40 ERA, striking out 132 in 131 innings. Pitched in the Cal-League and in Lancaster which is a bandbox. 6.06 ERA at Lancaster (home), 3.35 on the road).

Shane McClanahan (LHP - Made it to Double-A and posted a combined 3.36 ERA, striking out 154 in 120 innings. Reaches upper 90's with his fastball).

Other notable top 100 prospect starting pitchers per Baseball America taken outside of the 1st round, after our selections in the 2016 (Thaiss), 2017 & 2018 drafts that we didn't select. Tarik Skubal, Spencer Howard, Hans Crouse, Dustin May, Jordan Balazovic and Jesus Luzardo. Missed opportunities, considering an organization that has lacked homegrown pitching talent for quite some time! 

I mean, keep in mind, we haven't produced a solid starting pitcher from any of Eppler's draft's or amateur international signings outside of Griffin Canning. That's pretty sad as we enter into the 2020 season having just Canning from our own farm system. 

Now here are some position players ranked much higher on all prospects lists taken after Jordyn Adams in 2018

Nolan Gorman (Baseball America)
Trevor Larnach (Baseball America)
Nico Hoemer (Baseball America)
Triston Casas (Baseball America)
Seth Beer (MLB.com)
Xavier Edwards (MLB.com)

*Everyone in the above selections is or was a top 100 prospect on Baseball America except Edwards & Beer. Adams isn't found on any top prospects lists and slashed just .257/.351/.369 with 8 HR and 16 SB. Edwards who I wanted in the second round but was taken before our 2nd round selection, slashed .322/.375/.396 with 34 stolen bases across two levels. He outplayed Adams offensively in his first full season, although he doesn't have any pop (1 HR, 18 2B, 8 3B), but profiles as a good defensive infielder with a great top of the order skillset. 

I think it's too soon to grade Eppler's 2019 draft in Wil Wilson and there wasn't really any top college or HS arms after the first group was taken prior to our Wilson selection, but you could make the argument that SP's George Kirby, Jackson Rutledge, Ethan Small, Zack Thompson and Quinn Priester would be better picks than Wilson given our need and the debuts they all had after being drafted. I think Wilson was a safe pick, let's just hope he hits for the type of power he showed in college in pro-ball and that the Angels were right selecting him. 

Now let's look way back at the Matt Thaiss selection, when Ric Wilson was the Director of Scouting, but under Eppler's guidance in his first draft. 

Matt Thaiss was selected 16th in the first round and ahead of Forrest Whitley, Gavin Lux, Carter Kieboom, Anthony Kay, Wil Smith (C, Dodgers), Dylan Carson, Dakota Hudson, Taylor Trammell, Kyle Muller. All of these guys were either top 100 prospects or are now solid contributors in the big leagues. 

There's a lot to be desired when looking at both the results from the guys we drafted and those who were picked after our selections that have fared much MUCH better both in the minors and for some, the big leagues already. 

[beatlesrule]

[tdawg87]

I think Adams is going to have a breakout year in 2020. He was one of the younger players in the Cal league this year and while his numbers certainly weren't flashy, he still held his own. He's a ridiculous athlete.

I definitely would love to have Singer (literally the pick taken after Adams) but it's pure hindsight at this point. 

This org seems to have an issue with drafting pitchers. It's been that way for a long time. I realize legitimate "ace" type pitchers aren't exactly common but damn you'd think we'd have at least a number 3 guy by now. 

[Docwaukee]

when was the last time a team nailed their first round pick and their second round picks 4 years in a row?  You've already agree that 4 of the Angels 8 picks over that span were at least solid?  How often does that happen?  How about the other 4 picks which I assume are Thaiss, Wilson, Adams and Paris.  Seems fair to judge them already considering two are teenagers (one of which is 17), another made his pro debut this year, and the last made his major league debut.  

A team renowned for their ability to draft took the following over the last four years as their initial 1st rounder and 2nd rounder 

Gavin Lux, Mitchell White, Jeren Kendall, Morgan Cooper, JT Ginn, Michael Grove, Kody Hoese, Michael Busch.  One of whom they didn't even sign.  I'll let everyone look those guys up.  

Honestly, I have no idea whether they will end up as more valuable than what we've done but my guess is no one knows that for sure right now and that's the point.  

(It's the dogs btw).  

I was all for the Halos taking Gorman over Adams or someone else besides Wilson but it's still way way way too early to draw any sort of conclusions.  

Every single draft is easy in retrospect.  

[mulwin444]

Like I posted in the "Astros Dynasty" thread, between 2010-2015, when they were the Lastros losing 100+ games a season, this is who made it to the surface:

"Springer, Correa, and Bregman through six drafts after being awful.  Lance McCullers was also a late 1st rounder"

This was looking at the first through third rounds over six drafts, four players that would be considered impact in some way.  Is that good?

I don't have time to look at the 29 other teams between 2016-2019 to see what their respective 1st-2nd round drafts look like those years but, from Thaiss to Marsh to Adell to Canning to Adams to Jackson Eppler had picked some guys that have a legit shot at the MLB.

[Stradling]

And when you are drafting 1st or 2nd like the Astros were for a few years, drafting is much easier and hell even they screwed it up by not signing a guy they drafted because it turns out he was injured.  When the Angels were truly awful they drafted Erstad and Glaus in the first few picks of the draft.  

The premise of this is don’t give him credit for Adell because it was a no brainer, but criticize him for drafting Thaiss and Adams because so far other guys have outperformed them.  It takes nothing into consideration about ability to sign other guys later in the draft, which as we know didn’t happen because Marsh was signed just below slot.  We don’t know if they had their eyes set on a guy they thought would fall to later in the draft.  

Eppler if given an extension will go down as being as good or better than Stoneman.  Eppler will have a better draft history and neither guy is trading away minor league talent.  Stoneman drafted Weaver, but if Eppler is lucky or deserves no credit drafting Adell because he fell into his lap at 10, then the exact same could be said for Weaver who would have been the first overall pick, but signabilty concerns had him drop to the Angels.  

Other guys Stoneman drafted in the first round, Bootcheck, Kotchman, Torres, some dude named Richard Wood, who I have never heard of and of course Hank Conger.  

[Inside Pitch]

Tad bit of revisionist history going on here...

It's not like the primary reason the Angels put such a huge focus on high risk/reward position players had anything to do with the complete lack of high upside position player talent.... right?  A reminder of what the Angels top ten looked like in 2015

1 - SP Victor Alcantarra
2 - SP Joey Gatto
3 - SP Nate Smith
4 - SS Roberto Baldoquin
5 - C, Taylor Ward
6 - 3B Kyle Kubitza
7 - 2B Jam Jones (at time in rookie ball)
8 - 3B Kaleb Cowart
9 - SS Julio Garica (also in rookie ball)
10 - SP/RP  Jake Jewel

Are you done laughing yet?

So...  Our top three "prospects" were SPs, and our highest rated position player was Roberto Baldoquin.     BTW, future MLB pitchers Jaime Barria, Jose Suarez, Justin Anderson were all in the top 30...    The only position player to log any significant/meaningful at bats to date...   David Fletcher...  30 prospects, one MLB player..  David Fletcher.

Would it have been nice to grab more arms -- sure, but then the position player situation would remain a shit-show.   It's also worth pointing out that Singer, Kowar, Lynch, Rolison, McLanahan are all 22/23 and topping out in High A/AA -- so basically the same ages or older than all of Suarez, Barria, Sandoval and Canning and 2-3 levels BEHIND them.  If you doubt that the Angels quartet would be dominating if they were still in AA then go look up their predictive data and compare it to the guys being listed. 

ERA is nice to look at but has almost no predictive value and doesn't really consider park and other variables.   None of the guys mentioned have managed K rates or Swinging Strikes rates close to what Canning and Sandoval did -- Singer induces a lot of GBs so, it's not as huge of a deal with him but polished college pitchers in age appropriate leagues putting up good ERA's is pretty commonplace.

I get the season is ending ugly, but if you had faith in the process three months ago nothing has really changed other than the team has fully committed to the guys in system, regardless of whether or not they were ready for it.

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, Baghdad Strad said:

And when you are drafting 1st or 2nd like the Astros were for a few years, drafting is much easier and hell even they screwed it up by not signing a guy they drafted because it turns out he was injured.  When the Angels were truly awful they drafted Erstad and Glaus in the first few picks of the draft.  

The premise of this is don’t give him credit for Adell because it was a no brainer, but criticize him for drafting Thaiss and Adams because so far other guys have outperformed them.  It takes nothing into consideration about ability to sign other guys later in the draft, which as we know didn’t happen because Marsh was signed just below slot.  We don’t know if they had their eyes set on a guy they thought would fall to later in the draft.  

Eppler if given an extension will go down as being as good or better than Stoneman.  Eppler will have a better draft history and neither guy is trading away minor league talent.  Stoneman drafted Weaver, but if Eppler is lucky or deserves no credit drafting Adell because he fell into his lap at 10, then the exact same could be said for Weaver who would have been the first overall pick, but signabilty concerns had him drop to the Angels.  

Other guys Stoneman drafted in the first round, Bootcheck, Kotchman, Torres, some dude named Richard Wood, who I have never heard of and of course Hank Conger.  

You didn't read a damn thing I posted now did you?

Stop rambling on about nothing just because you swing from Eppler's and Ausmus' testicles.

I listed out all of the SP available and hitters AFTER our draft picks that could have bolstered the biggest weakness in our org (starting pitching) or just given us a better position player overall (Gorman, Larnach, Hoemer).

Also, who the hell said Eppler was lucky to have drafted Adell? He was either going to have Adell or Hiura there at #10, both talented players. I gave him kudos for Adell, Marsh, Canning and Jackson. The Wilson and Paris picks seem suspect though. We'll see, too early. 

The problem I have is his inability to draft or sign via FA starting pitching, which has now resulted in a major black hole on this team. One larger to fill than the 3B and LF holes we had over the years because there's 4-5 spots to fill with talent via FA or trades now because Eppler likes drafting high upside middle infielders and outfielders instead and gambles on getting a lottery ticket on an arm later in the draft rather than going for proven talent earlier.

Now he's backed up the owner into the corner needing to spend millions of dollars to sign 2-3 top FA pitchers and/or dump the very farm he's built in trading for a couple guys to help out the rotation.

Seems like poor planning and now it's going to cost us.

[Stradling]

8 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

You didn't read a damn thing I posted now did you?

Stop rambling on about nothing just because you swing from Eppler's and Ausmus' testicles.

I listed out all of the SP available and hitters AFTER our draft picks that could have bolstered the biggest weakness in our org (starting pitching) or just given us a better position player overall (Gorman, Larnach, Hoemer).

Also, who the hell said Eppler was lucky to have drafted Adell? He was either going to have Adell or Hiura there at #10, both talented players. I gave him kudos for Adell, Marsh, Canning and Jackson. The Wilson and Paris picks seem suspect though. We'll see, too early. 

The problem I have is his inability to draft or sign via FA starting pitching, which has now resulted in a major black hole on this team. One larger to fill than the 3B and LF holes we had over the years because there's 4-5 spots to fill with talent via FA or trades now because Eppler likes drafting high upside middle infielders and outfielders instead and gambles on getting a lottery ticket on an arm later in the draft rather than going for proven talent earlier.

Now he's backed up the owner into the corner needing to spend millions of dollars to sign 2-3 top FA pitchers and/or dump the very farm he's built in trading for a couple guys to help out the rotation.

Seems like poor planning and now it's going to cost us.

Chuck stop with the dangling from testicles bullshit.  I disagree with stuff, get over it.  You have said that Eppler has been lucky, you literally used those words.  You also said it was a no brainer that Adell fell into our laps.  

[Vlad27Trout27]

I actually wouldn't say that Eppler has had that bad of draft picks, outside of the Thaiss and maybe Adams pick. he draft Adell, a top 5 prospects, Marsh who should be a top 70, jury is still out on Adam but he could easy breakout and be a top 10 prospect, but i wouldn't have mind getting Singler or the high upside pitchers available.  There's also Crod, outside of injury, he's probably a top 100 prospect and a top 10 RHP. There's also Jackson, and many other that are a breakout away from being top prospects. 

[Second Base]

Really, drafting is one facet of minor league development. There are also international signings, trades and player development. I think if you look at all of those combined, you'd find that Eppler has been a rock star at this.

Draft: Adell, Marsh, Canning and Adams are AWESOME. Kochanowicz has some helium as well. Thaiss was designed to be a safer, money saving pick. It's too early to tell on Jeremiah Jackson, Wilson and Paris but there's a ton of upside there too.

Trades: Luis Rengifo, Patrick Sandoval, Luis Madero... Not a bad way to supplement.

International: Ohtani, Maitan, Soto, Uceta, Rivas, Soriano, Deveaux, Knowles, Alex Ramirez and Arol Vera. This may not seem impressive, but when you consider our international presence from the past two GM's yielded Roberto Baldoquin.... Well it's a 180.

Development: The players that have taken major steps forward since Eppler took over include David Fletcher, Matt Thaiss, Taylor Ward, Michael Hermosillo, Chris Rodriguez,  pretty much anyone drafted out of Vanguard and Jared Walsh.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Second Base

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, Second Base said:

Really, drafting is one facet of minor league development. There are also international signings, trades and player development. I think if you look at all of those combined, you'd find that Eppler has been a rock star at this.

Draft: Adell, Marsh, Canning and Adams are AWESOME. Kochanowicz has some helium as well. Thaiss was designed to be a safer, money saving pick. It's too early to tell on Jeremiah Jackson, Wilson and Paris but there's a ton of upside there too.

 

Trades: Luis Rengifo, Patrick Sandoval, Luis Madero... Not a bad way to supplement.

What are your thoughts on the guys drafted after Adams, the pitchers most notably?  Are they as good as their numbers, did Eppler miss out?  When I say this it is in comparison to drafting Adams.  Adams looks like a freak of nature athletically from the small sample I have seen.  

[Docwaukee]

6 minutes ago, Baghdad Strad said:

What are your thoughts on the guys drafted after Adams, the pitchers most notably?  Are they as good as their numbers, did Eppler miss out?  When I say this it is in comparison to drafting Adams.  Adams looks like a freak of nature athletically from the small sample I have seen.  

and he's 19.  I liked a couple other guys better at the time, but WTF do I know about.  He finished in A+ as a 19yo and didn't look over matched.  He could turn out to be a top 20 prospect in a year with a breakout but even if he has a decent 2020 in A+ and maybe gets promoted to AA, he's still a top 100 guy.  

As @Inside Pitch mentioned, this org needed high upside talent regardless of what side of the ball it's on.  So far so good in my view.  

 

[Docwaukee]

6 minutes ago, RBM said:

Focusing on the 2016 draft and wondering why you didn't include Will Smith in this. 

Thaiss (16), Lux (20), Smith (32).

I guess it was the crafty use of the word "initial" but it does distort the success of their 2016 draft. 

it doesn't distort anything because the Angels didn't have a supplemental first round pick.  I compared apples to apples.  If the Angels had an additional pick, I would have included it.  

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Tad bit of revisionist history going on here...

It's not like the primary reason the Angels put such a huge focus on high risk/reward position players had anything to do with the complete lack of high upside position player talent.... right?  A reminder of what the Angels top ten looked like in 2015

1 - SP Victor Alcantarra
2 - SP Joey Gatto
3 - SP Nate Smith
4 - SS Roberto Baldoquin
5 - C, Taylor Ward
6 - 3B Kyle Kubitza
7 - 2B Jam Jones (at time in rookie ball)
8 - 3B Kaleb Cowart
9 - SS Julio Garica (also in rookie ball)
10 - SP/RP  Jake Jewel

Are you done laughing yet?

So...  Our top three "prospects" were SPs, and our highest rated position player was Roberto Baldoquin.     BTW, future MLB pitchers Jaime Barria, Jose Suarez, Justin Anderson were all in the top 30...    The only position player to log any significant/meaningful at bats to date...   David Fletcher...  30 prospects, one MLB player..  David Fletcher.

Would it have been nice to grab more arms -- sure, but then the position player situation would remain a shit-show.   It's also worth pointing out that Singer, Kowar, Lynch, Rolison, McLanahan are all 22/23 and topping out in High A/AA -- so basically the same ages or older than all of Suarez, Barria, Sandoval and Canning and 2-3 levels BEHIND them.  If you doubt that the Angels quartet would be dominating if they were still in AA then go look up their predictive data and compare it to the guys being listed. 

ERA is nice to look at but has almost no predictive value and doesn't really consider park and other variables.   None of the guys mentioned have managed K rates or Swinging Strikes rates close to what Canning and Sandoval did -- Singer induces a lot of GBs so, it's not as huge of a deal with him but polished college pitchers in age appropriate leagues putting up good ERA's is pretty commonplace.

I get the season is ending ugly, but if you had faith in the process three months ago nothing has really changed other than the team has fully committed to the guys in system, regardless of whether or not they were ready for it.

this bolded statement big time.  declaring victory or loss based on numbers for guys who have barely gotten to AA or less seems a little presumptive.  

[Inside Pitch]

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Now he's backed up the owner into the corner needing to spend millions of dollars to sign 2-3 top FA pitchers and/or dump the very farm he's built in trading for a couple guys to help out the rotation.

Seems like poor planning and now it's going to cost us.

Chuck,  which of these polished college pitchers in high A and AA you listed is going to be MLB ready on opening day and make it so the Angels wouldnt need to pursue 2-3 to FA pitchers or trade the farm?

Those guys would change absolutely nothing and based on actual stats it's hard to argue the guys we have been watching get beat up at the MLB level wouldn't be outperforming them had they been kept in AA.

[Blarg]

10 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Now here are some position players ranked much higher on all prospects lists taken after Jordyn Adams in 2018

Dude, are you really putting value in a prospect rating of kids just out of high school and thinking that is truly evidence of how their career will go? 

[Chuck]

50 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Chuck,  which of these polished college pitchers in high A and AA you listed is going to be MLB ready on opening day and make it so the Angels wouldnt need to pursue 2-3 to FA pitchers or trade the farm?

Those guys would change absolutely nothing and based on actual stats it's hard to argue the guys we have been watching get beat up at the MLB level wouldn't be outperforming them had they been kept in AA.

All of those college arms that we didn't draft will be knocking at the door in 2020, much like Caning was in 2019. If you factor the SP's that he didn't select in 2016 and after Adell in 2017, there are others that Eppler completely missed on that could have bolstered our staff. 

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

You didn't read a damn thing I posted now did you?

Stop rambling on about nothing just because you swing from Eppler's and Ausmus' testicles.

I listed out all of the SP available and hitters AFTER our draft picks that could have bolstered the biggest weakness in our org (starting pitching) or just given us a better position player overall (Gorman, Larnach, Hoemer).

Also, who the hell said Eppler was lucky to have drafted Adell? He was either going to have Adell or Hiura there at #10, both talented players. I gave him kudos for Adell, Marsh, Canning and Jackson. The Wilson and Paris picks seem suspect though. We'll see, too early. 

The problem I have is his inability to draft or sign via FA starting pitching, which has now resulted in a major black hole on this team. One larger to fill than the 3B and LF holes we had over the years because there's 4-5 spots to fill with talent via FA or trades now because Eppler likes drafting high upside middle infielders and outfielders instead and gambles on getting a lottery ticket on an arm later in the draft rather than going for proven talent earlier.

Now he's backed up the owner into the corner needing to spend millions of dollars to sign 2-3 top FA pitchers and/or dump the very farm he's built in trading for a couple guys to help out the rotation.

Seems like poor planning and now it's going to cost us.

If any post ever deserved the "Crying" reaction, it's this one.

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

All of those college arms that we didn't draft will be knocking at the door in 2020, much like Caning was in 2019. If you factor the SP's that he didn't select in 2016 and after Adell in 2017, there are others that Eppler completely missed on that could have bolstered our staff. 

And yet none of the can be counted on to be ready on opening day.

Those guys change nothing about the Angels need to sign pitchers, they are essentially what we have only they got to play it out in the minors.

Again, they are the same ages (or older) as our guys only they're 2-3 levels behind them and in some cases performed worse.   Dylan Cease, Mitch Keller, Justus Sheffield, Brendan McKay...  All top 50 guys who performed well in AA but have been bitch-slapped upon reaching MLB.

It's a pretty big leap from AA to MLB, now made even harder by the juiced up baseballs

 

[Chuck]

38 minutes ago, Taylor said:

If any post ever deserved the "Crying" reaction, it's this one.

Eppler has taken risks on high ceiling, high VELO relievers and did pretty good, but his garbage bin selections of starting pitchers such as Bridwell, Meyer, Lamb, etc. didn't work out too well. 

It's almost like he hates drafting talented young pitching, signing them via FA or trading for them. Hell, he even traded two SP prospects in our top 10 prospects list for Simmons. Good trade in hindsight but holy hell. How many middle infielders and centerfielders does this guy need? 

Let's not forget about Matt Shoemaker. Yeah he got injured, but he sure looked great before blowing out his leg after 5 starts for the Blue Jays. 

Hate to make you cry some more, @Taylor but here's a list of Eppler's starting pitchers he's acquired or signed since he's been GM. Wake me up when you find someone worth a dime that's contributed in a positive manner, outside of Shohei Ohtani and maybe JC Ramirez in 2017.

Dillon Peters
Parker Bridwell
Deck McGuire
John Lamb
Odrisamer Despaigne
Alex Meyer
Trevor Cahill
Matt Harvey
Luke Farrell
Chris Stratton
Drew Hutchison
Luiz Gohara
Manny Banuelos 
Tim Lincecum
Jesse Chavez
Doug Fister
Cory Rasmus
JC Ramirez
David Huff
Kyle Kendrick
Troy Scribner

 

[Inside Pitch]

5 minutes ago, RBM said:

Dakota Hudson

Mike Soroka did it too.   Doesn't change the reality that few have that type of success -- it's not the norm.  Heck, you can almost name 4 or 5 guys on the Braves who are highly touted and have struggled.

[Chuck]

20 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

And yet none of the can be counted on to be ready on opening day

While true, you can get away with signing a couple guys again to a one-year deal (although better than the likes of Cahill and Harvey) since you have a couple guys knocking on the door in AA-AAA. 

We don't have that option now, outside of maybe Sandoval. 

Jose Suarez looked cooked as a starting pitcher. He may be a decent Jose Alvarez type out of the pen, but I don't see much there. He owns a 4.07 ERA vs. lefthanded bats, but an awful 8.96 ERA and 2.03 WHIP against righties in the big leagues. 

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Chuckster70 said:

Eppler has taken risks on high ceiling, high VELO relievers and did pretty good, but his garbage bin selections of starting pitchers such as Bridwell, Meyer, Lamb, etc. didn't work out too well. 

It's almost like he hates drafting talented young pitching, signing them via FA or trading for them. Hell, he even traded two SP prospects in our top 10 prospects list for Simmons. Good trade in hindsight but holy hell. How many middle infielders and centerfielders does this guy need? 

Let's not forget about Matt Shoemaker. Yeah he got injured, but he sure looked great before blowing out his leg after 5 starts for the Blue Jays. 

Hate to make you cry some more, @Taylor but here's a list of Eppler's starting pitchers he's acquired or signed since he's been GM. Wake me up when you find someone worth a dime that's contributed in a positive manner, outside of maybe JC Ramirez in 2017 and Dillon Peters (4.83 ERA) this season. 

Dillon Peters
Parker Bridwell
Deck McGuire
John Lamb
Odrisamer Despaigne
Alex Meyer
Trevor Cahill
Matt Harvey
Luke Farrell
Chris Stratton
Drew Hutchison
Luiz Gohara
Manny Banuelos 
Tim Lincecum
Jesse Chavez
Doug Fister
Cory Rasmus
JC Ramirez
David Huff
Kyle Kendrick
Troy Scribner

Now tell us who outside of Cahill and Harvey (you loved that one), were bought in to be anything other than organized filler.    

Jesse Chavez?  Who was supposed to fill the gap until Skaggs and Richards came back from one of their injuries???

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Inside Pitch said:

Now tell us who outside of Cahill and Harvey (you loved that one), were bought in to be anything other than organized filler.    

Jesse Chavez?  Who was supposed to fill the gap until Skaggs and Richards came back from one of their injuries???

Between Eppler's fillers and his complete ignorance in letting top tier college and HS arms go past him in the drafts, what has he done to improve the rotation?

He's done two good things. Signed Ohtani and drafted Canning in the second round. 

Here's the thing @Inside Pitch, Eppler needs to be both creative in trades and open all of Arte's wallets this offseason to bolster what is the weakest starting staff in the game right now, especially if Ohtani is just a 5 inning guy on a pitch count, pitching just every 6th day arm.