Starting Pitching

[instant karma]

Dear Friends:

I like Billy Eppler.  I have defended and supported Billy Eppler.  Billy has done some good things like developing our minor league system.  Some of his trades have been good.  All that said, he’s done a terrible job at creating/developing a high level starting pitching staff.  Again, I have been an Eppler supporter until now.  I was wrong.  The most important thing (in my view) if you want to win is to have quality starting pitching.  I grew up a Mets fan in the late 60’s living in Queens.  The Mets had little offense but were in most games due to their starting pitching.  Maybe we were wrong to rag on Dipoto when he was fired.  It looks like he’s developed a pretty good team and a pretty good starting staff in Seattle.  It looks like what he’s done is pretty remarkable in terms of how quickly he’s remade that team.  Seattle certainly seems like a better team than the Angels are—at least to me.  So, I believe I was wrong about Eppler.  Whoever we hire as GM, must be outstanding at drafting/ developing starting pitching. We have lacked that and thats been the primary problem.  A strong Starting staff is essential to a winning team.  I welcome your feedback.

 

 

 

[Lou]

Dipoto wasn't fired. He quit. 

Like a pussy. 

[angelsnationtalk]

^^^^^ huh 
Dipoto probably quit because of Arte and Sosh.
If Arte can't get his ass out of the negotiating room then this team will continue to die. 

Agreed Dipoto is building a good team. You gotta wonder if that's what he wanted to eventually do with the Angels but Arte made these radical signings to void that. 

[Stradling]

10 minutes ago, Lou said:

Dipoto wasn't fired. He quit. 

Like a pussy. 

I stopped reading at Dear Eppler, I felt like it was an invasion of privacy reading his personal letter.  

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, angelsnationtalk said:

^^^^^ huh 
Dipoto probably quit because of Arte and Sosh.
If Arte can't get his ass out of the negotiating room then this team will continue to die. 

That isn’t what happened.  

[Lou]

6 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

^^^^^ huh 
Dipoto probably quit because of Arte and Sosh.
If Arte can't get his ass out of the negotiating room then this team will continue to die. 

Agreed Dipoto is building a good team. You gotta wonder if that's what he wanted to eventually do with the Angels but Arte made these radical signings to void that. 

Once again, you are wrong.

[Angels in 2030]

Unfortunately, right now just about the only interesting thing about the Angels is the GM situation.  

[UndertheHalo]

Who cares at this point.  Water under the bridge.  The Angels pushed all in at the expense of their development system and not only did they not get close to winning the World Series they also buried the teams future prospects for who know how long.  This was a collaborative effort among many front office people.  I don’t care for the way Dipoto behaved on the way out.  I also don’t know the in’s and outs of what happened.  His tenure here was dog shit.  It seems like he’s done a pretty decent job with the Mariners.  They’ve had one more semi exciting season than the angels since he’s left.  And the rankings <that don’t mean shit> say he’s put a pretty good farm together.  What else is there to say ?

[Erstad Grit]

It's looking like the problem is Arte. After the strippling/joc embarrassment I now believe the narrative that arte signed Hamilton,  pujols, etc. 

[stormngt]

3 hours ago, angelsnationtalk said:

^^^^^ huh 
Dipoto probably quit because of Arte and Sosh.
If Arte can't get his ass out of the negotiating room then this team will continue to die. 

Agreed Dipoto is building a good team. You gotta wonder if that's what he wanted to eventually do with the Angels but Arte made these radical signings to void that. 

Thete is no excuse for quitting on the team in the middle of the season.  

[Angel Oracle]

It’s been mentioned on here that the scouting budget is still reduced by some 30% from the Stoneman days.

Seems like Arte can’t spend that extra 30% to help build a strong farm system and subsequently strong MLB team.   Yet, he will spend it on mainly underachieving players.

There is a definite disconnect that won’t be solved until the proper attention will be given to long term success. 

[Hubs]

This team isn't that far away. Upton and Ohtani both need to return to 2018 form, that is clear. They need to identify a platoon 1st baseman who can share time with Pujols in 2021, and they need Adell and Marsh and Fletcher to continue to develop. Fletcher is useful at a number of starting positions, but could be the teams starting SS if they can't resign Simmons. They'll then need to identify a 2nd baseman, so one wonders if it will be Baretto or Rengifo or Jones or someone from outside the organization. They need to find a catcher to platoon with Stassi or find a starter.

But the number one reason this team isn't competing is as this thread says, starting pitching.

And I think that Eppler is going to stay, if only because of the Angels disappointing 60-game season, a pandemic, and no minor league ball. They have two of the games superstars for the next 6 seasons, and they need to win now. Starting over with a new GM isn't going to speed that process up, and Moreno isn't letting the new GM pick a new manager.

So I see him getting a two year extension and an open checkbook for free agency one last time. Maddon is under contract for two more seasons as well, so it fits.

I think they have a solid three pitchers in their plans for 2021. Two of those guys are free agents in 2022, though. They have one unknown, but luckily for them, he is also their DH, and requires the shift from 5 man to 6 man rotation. SO... they have two holes in the rotation.

If we assume they will attempt to fill one with a free agent starter, the other could come via free agency, internal, or trade.

They also should get some experienced solid relief arms, preferably a closer because they have 8 blown saves this year.

For the next two seasons, their rotation is going to look like

2021:

1. TBD Ace

2. Bundy

3. Heaney

4. Ohtani (maybe)

5. Canning

6. TBD Mid-rotation Arm

 

2022:

1. TBD Ace

2. Ohtani

3. TBD (probably one of Heaney/Bundy)

4. Canning

5. TBD Mid-rotation Arm

6. Detmers

 

Obviously the wildcard is whether they get a top 3 draft pick and select Kumar Rocker or Jack Leiter. Even said, they won't be 2021 candidates for the rotation, likely not until 22. But for

 

2023:

1. TBD Ace

2. Ohtani

3. Rocker / Leiter

4. Detmers

5. TBD (probably one of Heaney/Bundy)

6. TBD Mid-Rotation Arm.