Angels fire Billy Eppler

[Docwaukee]

I truly don't believe that Arte actually meddles as much as people think.  Or I guess it depends on your definition of meddling.  

I don't think he micromanages ever move.  I don't think he gets involved in decisions on player acquisitions unless it's a high dollar signing and even then I think he's there to do his best to sell the franchise and it's commitment to winning.  

What I think he does is to set a budget and tell his GM that the major league team better win.  

Is that the right way to do it?  probably not.  But that was Eppler's task from year to year.  Put together a team that has a chance to make the playoffs.  

I don't think Arte gives two shits about whether Eppler did a solid job of improving the farm system or brought in a top notch analytics team or improved foreign scouting or made major advances to other areas of scouting and player development if the end result isn't more wins for the major league team.   

To me, that's not meddling as much as it is being short sighted.  

 

[AngelsFaninGA]

3 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

It’s  more and more clear that Arte Moreno is disaster.  He spends.  That’s fine.  But he’s a fuck up as far as baseball otherwise.  

He's exactly the kind of guy that spends just so he can hold it over head of the baseball guys as leverage. 

[Angel]

Did anyone see Trout in the dugout last night?  He had a look on his face that I've never seen before.  It was anger or sadness I believe, his face was red I believe. 

[James]

21 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Billy Owens was awesome at Syracuse

Mitch Richmond was better. 

[beatlesrule]

Certain posters here are now on suicide watch.

[James]

5 minutes ago, AngelsFaninGA said:

He's exactly the kind of guy that spends just so he can hold it over head of the baseball guys as leverage. 

Yeah, thats it. 

[Lou]

1 minute ago, beatlesrule said:

Certain posters here are now on suicide watch.

Please don't stop them. 

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, James said:

Mitch Richmond was better. 

Lon Kruger agrees. 

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, beatlesrule said:

Certain posters here are now on suicide watch.

Who?  

[angelsnationtalk]

15 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

I truly don't believe that Arte actually meddles as much as people think.  Or I guess it depends on your definition of meddling.  

I don't think he micromanages ever move.  I don't think he gets involved in decisions on player acquisitions unless it's a high dollar signing and even then I think he's there to do his best to sell the franchise and it's commitment to winning.  

What I think he does is to set a budget and tell his GM that the major league team better win.  

Is that the right way to do it?  probably not.  But that was Eppler's task from year to year.  Put together a team that has a chance to make the playoffs.  

I don't think Arte gives two shits about whether Eppler did a solid job of improving the farm system or brought in a top notch analytics team or improved foreign scouting or made major advances to other areas of scouting and player development if the end result isn't more wins for the major league team.   

To me, that's not meddling as much as it is being short sighted.  

 

That's a strong point. At the end of the day Arte probably just wants to see Trout in the playoffs as much as anyone and isn't afraid to fire people early if he doesn't see it happening. 

[Setzer]

Surprised to see so many people defending Eppler. Tell me, what did Eppler do for our pitching staff over the past 4 seasons he was GM?

2017 - 4.12 ERA, 12th in MLB
2018 - 4.15 ERA, 19th in MLB
2019 - 5.12 ERA, 25th in MLB
2020 -  5.10 ERA, 26th in MLB

Every season it got worse and pitching is the reason why we haven't been to postseason since 2014. He did a great job rebuilding our farm system but in the process wasted 5 years of Mike Trout's career because he couldn't build a decent pitching staff.

[Redondo]

2 hours ago, eligrba4ever said:

Harold Reynolds just made his suggestion: Logan White from the Padres FO.

AO brought up that name.

Great on building the farm 

I'm all for it. 

[Docwaukee]

4 minutes ago, angelsnationtalk said:

That's a strong point. At the end of the day Arte probably just wants to see Trout in the playoffs as much as anyone and isn't afraid to fire people early if he doesn't see it happening. 

there's two other things that I think play into this as well.  

first, Arte is 74 years old.  Maybe some of our more 'senior' members can comment on this but I've seen family members change their mentality when they get into their 8th decade.  Mortality definitely plays a role in my opinion.  He knows he's not going to be around forever.  

second, I think Arte is kinda old school at heart.  And he's more about people than process.  He's not looking for creativity or people who think outside the box.  He wants street cred and he trusts those who have been around the block and had success.  He sees that Stoneman and Scioscia were rocks that he could rely on.  He's got LaRussa in his ear now.  He's tried being more progressive with Dipoto and Eppler but likely views those as experiments that haven't worked.  He canned Ausmus after a year and brought back Maddon.  

He's a cronyist at heart.  He's tried it differently but I think he's headed back to what he believes is tried and true.  That's why I have no doubt he'll bring in Dombrowski.  

Arte is gonna force his directive on whoever.  It's probably better than it's someone with a track record and a pretty damn good brain for baseball than some newb who's gonna get pushed around.  If anyone thinks that the next guy is gonna be allowed to continue to 'build' over the next 3-4 years, then they are delusional.  

So why not get the guy who's shown the ability to take what he's given and turn it into a winner?  On top of that, I think Dombrowski has the best change of keeping Arte a bit more patient than some guy who's never had the job.  

Personally, I would have preferred Eppler getting to stay, but I actually think Dombrowski could be a better fit than people think in keeping Arte where he needs to be and actually paying attention to what's best for the franchise long term.  

[beatlesrule]

32 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Who?  

[Inside Pitch]

3 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

there's two other things that I think play into this as well.  

first, Arte is 74 years old.  Maybe some of our more 'senior' members can comment on this but I've seen family members change their mentality when they get into their 8th decade.  Mortality definitely plays a role in my opinion.  He knows he's not going to be around forever.  

second, I think Arte is kinda old school at heart.  And he's more about people than process.  He's not looking for creativity or people who think outside the box.  He wants street cred and he trusts those who have been around the block and had success.  He sees that Stoneman and Scioscia were rocks that he could rely on.  He's got LaRussa in his ear now.  He's tried being more progressive with Dipoto and Eppler but likely views those as experiments that haven't worked.  He canned Ausmus after a year and brought back Maddon.  

He's a cronyist at heart.  He's tried it differently but I think he's headed back to what he believes is tried and true.  That's why I have no doubt he'll bring in Dombrowski.  

Arte is gonna force his directive on whoever.  It's probably better than it's someone with a track record and a pretty damn good brain for baseball than some newb who's gonna get pushed around.  If anyone thinks that the next guy is gonna be allowed to continue to 'build' over the next 3-4 years, then they are delusional.  

So why not get the guy who's shown the ability to take what he's given and turn it into a winner?  On top of that, I think Dombrowski has the best change of keeping Arte a bit more patient than some guy who's never had the job.  

Personally, I would have preferred Eppler getting to stay, but I actually think Dombrowski could be a better fit than people think in keeping Arte where he needs to be and actually paying attention to what's best for the franchise long term.  

I think you're right and I think that's why Dombrowski may end up working out.  He was actually very good at team building in that world.  Sandy Alderson would have been the perfect melding of stats and scouting but Dombrowski has outperformed him and done it in multiple places.  He's also managed to thrive under an aging owner desperate to win now.

[jordan]

19 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

there's two other things that I think play into this as well.  

first, Arte is 74 years old.  Maybe some of our more 'senior' members can comment on this but I've seen family members change their mentality when they get into their 8th decade.  Mortality definitely plays a role in my opinion.  He knows he's not going to be around forever.  

second, I think Arte is kinda old school at heart.  And he's more about people than process.  He's not looking for creativity or people who think outside the box.  He wants street cred and he trusts those who have been around the block and had success.  He sees that Stoneman and Scioscia were rocks that he could rely on.  He's got LaRussa in his ear now.  He's tried being more progressive with Dipoto and Eppler but likely views those as experiments that haven't worked.  He canned Ausmus after a year and brought back Maddon.  

He's a cronyist at heart.  He's tried it differently but I think he's headed back to what he believes is tried and true.  That's why I have no doubt he'll bring in Dombrowski.  

Arte is gonna force his directive on whoever.  It's probably better than it's someone with a track record and a pretty damn good brain for baseball than some newb who's gonna get pushed around.  If anyone thinks that the next guy is gonna be allowed to continue to 'build' over the next 3-4 years, then they are delusional.  

So why not get the guy who's shown the ability to take what he's given and turn it into a winner?  On top of that, I think Dombrowski has the best change of keeping Arte a bit more patient than some guy who's never had the job.  

Personally, I would have preferred Eppler getting to stay, but I actually think Dombrowski could be a better fit than people think in keeping Arte where he needs to be and actually paying attention to what's best for the franchise long term.  

This should be post of the day.  This just seems to be full of truths.  

[ScottT]

I'm not going to be excited over any GM hire. Or anyone off the field..  I like Maddon and wasn't excited about that.  Players, like Rendon, sure.  

I have no idea who will be a good GM for this team. None. Even a guy with previous success may not work out.

Most of y'all have no clue either.  

[Warfarin]

27 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

there's two other things that I think play into this as well.  

first, Arte is 74 years old.  Maybe some of our more 'senior' members can comment on this but I've seen family members change their mentality when they get into their 8th decade.  Mortality definitely plays a role in my opinion.  He knows he's not going to be around forever.  

second, I think Arte is kinda old school at heart.  And he's more about people than process.  He's not looking for creativity or people who think outside the box.  He wants street cred and he trusts those who have been around the block and had success.  He sees that Stoneman and Scioscia were rocks that he could rely on.  He's got LaRussa in his ear now.  He's tried being more progressive with Dipoto and Eppler but likely views those as experiments that haven't worked.  He canned Ausmus after a year and brought back Maddon.  

He's a cronyist at heart.  He's tried it differently but I think he's headed back to what he believes is tried and true.  That's why I have no doubt he'll bring in Dombrowski.  

Arte is gonna force his directive on whoever.  It's probably better than it's someone with a track record and a pretty damn good brain for baseball than some newb who's gonna get pushed around.  If anyone thinks that the next guy is gonna be allowed to continue to 'build' over the next 3-4 years, then they are delusional.  

So why not get the guy who's shown the ability to take what he's given and turn it into a winner?  On top of that, I think Dombrowski has the best change of keeping Arte a bit more patient than some guy who's never had the job.  

Personally, I would have preferred Eppler getting to stay, but I actually think Dombrowski could be a better fit than people think in keeping Arte where he needs to be and actually paying attention to what's best for the franchise long term.  

Bingo.  If Arte hires a "no name," or rather, a young prodigy in an analytical office, Arte would likely continue to meddle and interfere with personnel decisions.  However, if he hires someone he respects a lot, such as Dombrowski, he will likely let Dombrowski make the decisions, feeling that he has earned the right to be trusted.

And in that regard, I agree that Dombrowski might be the best for us, because he'll keep our owner at bay and not as involved with personnel decisions.  I also wonder how much Arte will consult Maddon, who he respects a lot, in terms of who Maddon thinks will be a strong President / GM for this franchise.  Part of me also wonders if Arte consulted Maddon at all about keeping / firing Eppler ... but we'll likely never know that one.

So that said, here's hoping it's Dombrowski, and here's hoping Dombrowski has the foresight to hire a farm system building GM.

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

Lon Kruger agrees. 

Wrong Kansas school, but LB beat #1 ranked Kansas by 15 at Kansas in January 1993.

[Dtwncbad]

I really don’t give a shit who gets fired.  The reality is the team has sucked for way too long and the bottom line is if you produce results you don’t get fired.

I am not attached to Billy Fucking Eppler.

[Erstad Grit]

Screw it! Gut the farm. Win 1-2 rings during the next 5 years and after that we'll rebuild farm while enjoying Trout chase historic numbers. Win now at all cost!

[T.G.]

1 hour ago, James said:

Mitch Richmond was better. 

Any Scott McCorkle fans? At least he went to Syracuse. 

Edited September 28, 2020 by True Grich

[Tank]

I don't care who they hire as long as he improves the pitching and gets enough talent to make us a yearly playoff team again.

October baseball is fun, and I miss us being part of it.

[Angel Oracle]

2 minutes ago, True Grich said:

Any Scott McCorkle fans?

How about Lucious Harris fans?
Did play for the Nets against the Lakers in the 2002 Finals, and all time leading Big West scorer.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Angel Oracle

[T.G.]

1 minute ago, Angel Oracle said:

How about Lucious Harris fans?

I'm sticking with the Syracuse theme.