Alex Wood signs with the Dodgers (1 year, $4 million)

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

It's all relative to how they perform for me

Would you extend him if all the pitching choices he made tank but the offense and kiddie-corps pitchers bail them out?   Do you fire him if they all do well, win 93 games but miss the playoffs?

He needs to prove last year's FA bustapalooza was an aberration ... 

I really don't want to see him fired, I like Eppler but at some point questionable decisions are going to be questioned. As we've been saying he can get a pass on just about every decision he's made but if the guys he chooses to avoid work out for other teams and the guys he brings in don't perform, or if the guys we do have fail to stay healthy then I don't know how to defend that. 

Maybe Wood is done, and he's gona pitch like shit next year so this is $4 mil down the drain, but this seems like a perfectly reasonable deal on a player we really could use. 

[Second Base]

3 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

It's all relative to how they perform for me

Would you extend him if all the pitching choices he made tank but the offense and kiddie-corps pitchers bail them out?   Do you fire him if they all do well, win 93 games but miss the playoffs?

He needs to prove last year's FA bustapalooza was an aberration ... 

I think that's my thing too. If by some insane fluke the Angels only win 84 games but make the playoffs, do they retain him? By contrast, if they win 95 games but miss out on the playoffs, do they let him go? 

I'd arbitrarily put the over-under at 86 wins. Personally, I think I'd go a different direction if this team doesn't win 90 games, because that's where their talent level should be at.

[Angelsjunky]

13 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

It's gona be awfully hard to defend Eppler when this team fails to make the playoffs.

Really? Consider that the AL wildcards have been 96+ wins over the last two years.  If the Angels win 95 games next year--23 more than 2019--you're going to find it hard to defend Eppler?

Don't  get me wrong: Eppler needs to do more than just return to .500 ball. But he doesn't need the team to win 96 games for him to earn keeping his job for  another two or three years.

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Yeah it's not a "Playoffs or nothing" situation with Eppler. As IP said, they could win 93-94 games and still miss out. 

They have to take a huge step forward though. And if Bundy and Teheran prove to be total busts then Arte might get rid of him regardless of what happens.

Also, even if they win 93-94 games... what if the rotation is the reason they didn't win 100? Right now it feels like he's trying to hold Arte's yacht together with duct tape. Maybe it works out. The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games on the backs on 5 starters who didn't miss a start all season. That is good luck, and if by some miracle we finally see some good luck I'm not sure Eppler deserves to take all the credit for that.

[ChicagoHalo]

1 hour ago, floplag said:

Well that is a bit of a bummer... Epp better be working on something, just not much left to bother with at this point.. Walker? 

Signing Walker with the same or similar deal as Wood seems like a good move. 

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, ChicagoHalo said:

Signing Walker with the same or similar deal as Wood seems like a good move. 

I’d give him a 2 year deal or a 1 year deal with a relatively high vesting option for year 2 that is easily achievable if he is healthy.  Something like 25 starts or 130 innings and year two is guaranteed at $10 million or something like that.  

[Ace-Of-Diamonds]

18 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

It's all relative to how they perform for me

Would you extend him if all the pitching choices he made tank but the offense and kiddie-corps pitchers bail them out?   Do you fire him if they all do well, win 93 games but miss the playoffs?

He needs to prove last year's FA bustapalooza was an aberration ... 

Missing the playoffs is unacceptable no matter what, no more excuses...

[AngelsLakersFan]

8 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Really? Consider that the AL wildcards have been 96+ wins over the last two years.  If the Angels win 95 games next year--23 more than 2019--you're going to find it hard to defend Eppler?

Don't  get me wrong: Eppler needs to do more than just return to .500 ball. But he doesn't need the team to win 96 games for him to earn keeping his job for  another two or three years.

I don't care if they win 96 games. If they score 900 runs and give up 750 I'm still going to be critical of the decision making this offseason.

[Stradling]

Just now, Ace-Of-Diamonds said:

Missing the playoffs is unacceptable no matter what, no more excuses...

Which is silly.  If they win 90 plus games and finish 20 games better than last year there is no reason to let him go.  Especially if Adell goes off, Thaiss and Canning play well and the farm continues to develop.  If those things happen then what Eppler is doing is working.  I am more interested in seeing if what he is building on the farm is sustainable than I am with these free agent arms we did or didn’t sign.  Firing him now means you gave him 4 years to build a winner with no farm and no payroll flexibility the first couple of years.  Oh and you weren’t allowed to trade the assets that would bring back actual talent.  Obviously that last part is an assumption, but it seems pretty logical that Arte didn’t want a full on rebuild.  

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I don't care if they win 96 games. If they score 900 runs and give up 750 I'm still going to be critical of the decision making this offseason.

Ok and if Keuchel doesn’t do shit, Ryu has another injury riddled year, will you still be critical?  

[DMVol]

48 minutes ago, nando714 said:

I mean I thought Eppler would add 1 more starter. 

maybe not 

he’s done. Time for pitchers and catchers to report 

Looks that way...

[Inside Pitch]

17 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I really don't want to see him fired, I like Eppler but at some point questionable decisions are going to be questioned. As we've been saying he can get a pass on just about every decision he's made but if the guys he chooses to avoid work out for other teams and the guys he brings in don't perform, or if the guys we do have fail to stay healthy then I don't know how to defend that. 

Maybe Wood is done, and he's gona pitch like shit next year so this is $4 mil down the drain, but this seems like a perfectly reasonable deal on a player we really could use. 

But that's what I'm saying... It shouldn't be about just making the playoffs, a team can make the postseason despite bad moves.   He should be fired/retained based on more than that.

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

3 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Ok and if Keuchel doesn’t do shit, Ryu has another injury riddled year, will you still be critical?  

It depends. 

Like I said at the beginning of the offseason. We need to make the right moves to shore up the starting rotation, but it's going to be awfully hard to do that without taking a risk on a bad deal, but that is far better than not taking the risk. The alternative to that was taking a series of small risks, and so far I don't think he has done that. So it very much depends on what guys like Wood, Pineda, Walker, Gibson, Teheran, Bundy and any other lower priced guy who changed hands this offseason end up doing.

[Tank]

13 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

I don't care if they win 96 games. If they score 900 runs and give up 750 I'm still going to be critical of the decision making this offseason.

so a 26 game improvement into the upper tier of teams wouldn't be good enough for you? that's very yankee fan of you.

[AngelsLakersFan]

10 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

But that's what I'm saying... It shouldn't be about just making the playoffs, a team can make the postseason despite bad moves.   He should be fired/retained based on more than that.

 

Yeah, I really just used 'playoffs' as a baseline term for reaching expectations. If we win 100 games next year and miss out I'm probably not going to crucify him.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

It depends. 

Like I said at the beginning of the offseason. We need to make the right moves to shore up the starting rotation, but it's going to be awfully hard to do that without taking a risk on a bad deal, but that is far better than not taking the risk. The alternative to that was taking a series of small risks, and so far I don't think he has done that. So it very much depends on what guys like Wood, Pineda, Walker, Gibson, Teheran, Bundy and any other lower priced guy who changed hands this offseason end up doing.

I disagree with the bold part.  Taking a risk that costs you Marsh could be much worse than not taking a risk. 

[Tank]

I wonder what we offered wood.

I wonder why he chose to sign with the dodgers.

[Lou]

1 minute ago, Tank said:

I wonder what we offered wood.

I wonder why he chose to sign with the dodgers.

Familiarity with the organization?

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Yeah, I really just used 'playoffs' as a baseline term for reaching expectations. If we win 100 games next year and miss out I'm probably not going to crucify him.

lol @ probably

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Yeah, I really just used 'playoffs' as a baseline term for reaching expectations. If we win 100 games next year and miss out I'm probably not going to crucify him.

I think Tdawg said it best...

They need to show they have taken a big step forward.  Simply being .500 or just above it won't cut it.  If they do that but all his moves tank and you see some of those lower end moves you mentioned do well for their teams then you gotta really consider cutting bait.

Some guys can draw up the blueprint but not make it come together.  Eppler needs to prove he can.

[AngelsLakersFan]

4 minutes ago, Lou said:

lol @ probably

Hey I don't like to speak in absolutes! I reserve the right to get angry in any and all potential situations.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

1 hour ago, nando714 said:

I mean I thought Eppler would add 1 more starter. 

maybe not 

he’s done. Time for pitchers and catchers to report 

[AngelsLakersFan]

13 minutes ago, Stradling said:

I disagree with the bold part.  Taking a risk that costs you Marsh could be much worse than not taking a risk. 

I mean, maybe, we don't know what's on the table. I still see an 86 win team, and I understand not wanting to chain our long term success to guys like Ryu or Keuchel but moves like $4mil for Wood are the types of low risk high upside plays that we have no business passing on considering our weaknesses and our place on the win curve - projecting to finish narrowly on the outside of the post season looking in.

[Stradling]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

I mean, maybe, we don't know what's on the table. I still see an 86 win team, and I understand not wanting to chain our long term success to guys like Ryu or Keuchel but moves like $4mil for Wood are the types of low risk high upside plays that we have no business passing on considering our weaknesses and our place on the win curve - projecting to probably finish narrowly on the outside of the post season looking in.

Yea, I get it.  We will see how he finishes out the 40 man roster heading into the season.  If he does nothing else and Wood goes on to have a healthy season then yea, Eppler dropped the ball.  If Wood struggles to stay healthy then it was no harm no foul.  

[Lou]

So when does he hit the IL?