Rate Eppler's Offseason

[WeaverFever]

I’m rather pleased with how this offseason ended up. I guess that is why they sometimes say you need to trust the process. 

[Lou]

Are we winning the off-season?

[Docwaukee]

25 minutes ago, Lou said:

Are we winning the off-season?

I hope not.  

[Claude]

Eppler flipped a good portion of the 25 man roster with Rendon, Castro, Pederson, Teheran, Bundy, Andriese and Stripling so I think he did a fantastic job. The early exit polls were premature. 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

On 12/22/2019 at 12:28 PM, SoPas Angel said:

I would love to hear what the best-case scenario is that would land Eppler an A. 

Trade Joc, and Stripling for Clevenger, or Bieber; should raise his grade some...

[Stradling]

1 hour ago, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Trade Joc, and Stripling for Clevenger, or Bieber; should raise his grade some...

The Indians will want high end prospects in return for either of those arms. 

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

21 minutes ago, Stradling said:

The Indians will want high end prospects in return for either of those arms. 

I know, but if Eppler pulled it off, that's gives him an A...

[Angelsfan1984]

Time to flip a couple more pieces for Jon Gray

[AngelsLakersFan]

12 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Pretty sure some still feel that way.

Probably but I think the mood of the board has changed considerably since I started this poll. I was hoping to create great bumbpable content for Lou later this year.

[Inside Pitch]

18 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Probably but I think the mood of the board has changed considerably since I started this poll. I was hoping to create great bumbpable content for Lou later this year.

You're a giver.

[Dick B Back]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

You're a giver.

His reward should be a Macy’s cap.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Heres the reality.

Starting with Rendon. Hes a HUGE addition. But we all to some degree or another are underwhelmed by him.

And the reason is simple. And its the same reason we arent giving the front office enough credit.

Hes not Cole.

We all went into the offseason assuming Cole was a done deal. The difference between some posters and others is accepting the reason we didnt get him.

So again, heres the reality. The addition of Rendon is huge. He is a bonafide star hitter who could headline an offense. But he doesnt have to. Hes going to back up Trout, who is still a MVP. Both will be headliners to an offense getting upton back, with guys like flethcher, ohtani, la stella etc rounding out a very good offense. 

The bullpen should be above average to at least average. The defense top notch. Our best prospects still here.

We didnt land an ace. But the rotation should be at least average.

The irony in it all is that if we got Cole, wed all be ecstatic, call the offseason an A, even if no other moves were made.

In short, we didnt get what we wanted. But we still vastly improved.

[Lou]

5 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Starting with Rendon. Hes a HUGE addition. But we all to some degree or another are underwhelmed by him.

I'm not

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

I'm not

I know you and most (if not all) of us are pumped we signed him. The letdown is that it was him and not Cole.

And for all we know, Rendon ends up being the better signing. I think most of us were just convinced Cole was the perfect storm, that he was coming here. When it didnt happen it was "f'n eppler"

[Lou]

1 minute ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I know you and most (if not all) of us are pumped we signed him. The letdown is that it was him and not Cole.

And for all we know, Rendon ends up being the better signing. I think most of us were just convinced Cole was the perfect storm, that he was coming here. When it didnt happen it was "f'n eppler"

Not me.

[Jay]

10 hours ago, Lou said:

I'm not

 

9 hours ago, Lou said:

Not me.

[Taylor]

9 hours ago, Lou said:

Not me.

Same. I'm happier with how the off-season has turned out than the scenario where the Angels signed Cole and not done much else.

[Lou]

Taylor cares. 

[Claude]

12 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Same. I'm happier with how the off-season has turned out than the scenario where the Angels signed Cole and not done much else.

This ^^^^^

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 hours ago, Taylor said:

Same. I'm happier with how the off-season has turned out than the scenario where the Angels signed Cole and not done much else.

And thats whats weird. Had we just signed Cole, and done nothing else, everyone would have been ecstatic.

And hofstra would have never become part of our fabric.

[ettin]

7 hours ago, Taylor said:

Same. I'm happier with how the off-season has turned out than the scenario where the Angels signed Cole and not done much else.

I have enough reason to believe that if we had signed Gerrit we would still have continued to make moves. But that is all speculation now, I just don't think we should assume that they would have stopped, since Cole represented a "right player" for Moreno in terms of going above the Luxury Tax threshold.

[Docwaukee]

Eppler didn't stop improving the team after they signed Rendon.  Why would he have stopped with Cole?  

I like to think about what our offense would be like if we'd signed Grandal.  

[Warfarin]

12 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Eppler didn't stop improving the team after they signed Rendon.  Why would he have stopped with Cole?  

I like to think about what our offense would be like if we'd signed Grandal.  

Definitely better, but as it is, we have a pretty monstrous lineup against RHP.   Castro actually posted a 123 wRC+ against RHP last year.  The key thing we'll need to do though is stagger our R/L a bit, in that both Pederson and Castro struggle mightily against LHP, so we'll have to flank those two in particular with RHH (especially with the new 3 hitter minimum rule).

vs RHP:  LaStella 1B (hopefully), Trout CF, Ohtani DH, Rendon 3B, Pederson RF, Upton LF, Simmons SS, Castro C, Fletcher 2B

That should be a top 3 lineup in the game, or awfully close to it.  It's even more fun if we sub Adell in for Upton

Our rotation, on the other hand, should be solid but definitely not spectacular.  The one thing we are missing is a top-of-the-rotation pitcher to pair with Ohtani.  Come the trading deadline, if we are legit in the thick of the race (which I expect us to be), I'd consider trading for either Syndergaard or Clevinger (if either are available).  Syndergaard would be the cheaper of the two to get (prospect wise).  It might force us to part with Marsh as part of the package, but honestly, if we can land either of those two, I'd do it.  

[wopphil]

Assuming the Pederson/Stripling trade goes through, and assuming Adell/Marsh aren’t involved, I’ll give Billy an A- for what has been a fantastic offseason.  The highlights:

Rendon, obviously. The guy is nothing less than one of the best players in the game, and now he teams up with the very best in the game.

Rotation. It sucks we couldn’t land a top of the rotation guy, but Bundy, Teheran and Stripling should all be huge upgrades from anything we had last year, and the acquisition cost has been acceptable. This was good Plan B execution by Billy.

Andriese and Castro. I like both these moves. Excellent veteran depth for minimal cost. They might prove to add another couple wins to the bottom line.

Replaced Calhoun. The loss of Calhoun wasn’t discussed much here, but it could have been more problematic than we assumed. Pederson more than fills the void. 

Preserved the farm. Other than whatever we lose for Stripling/Pederson, Billy has mostly kept the farm in tact. 

Only thing preventing an A grade is the failure to bring in a top of the rotation guy and the failure to add a high end pen arm.
 

 

[Fish Oil]

If the Pederson/Stripling trade goes through, he definitely gets an A. Eppler has remade both the pitching and the lineup in very positive directions.
We are now a better team than we have been in a lot of years. After the upcoming season it may become the "Big 4."