Angels fire Billy Eppler

[Jeff Fletcher]

I’ve said it many times in the last month, but I’ll add it one more time...

Eppler walked into a very difficult situation because 

1. terrible farm system

2. HOF centerpiece

3. owner recently burned by big FA contracts

You can’t fix 1 the normal way (strip ML team) because of 2. And you can’t improve the major league team with trades because of 1. So you have to do it through FA but 3 makes that even harder than it is already.

So what you have to do is hope that some of the very few impact FA’s who your owner agrees to pay for will say yes (Cole, Corbin, Eovaldi, Wheeler all said no) and if they don’t you have to hope you hit on a high percentage of the second-tier FA’s but that’s tough because they’re second-tier for a reason. And you also have to hope a lot of your draft picks hit and hit quickly. 

But most second-tier FAs aren’t good. And most draft picks aren’t good.

 

[Stradling]

27 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Did you like Dipoto?

Yep.  

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, calscuf said:

Do you like him now?

No

[ScottT]

26 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

I’ve said it many times in the last month, but I’ll add it one more time...

Eppler walked into a very difficult situation because 

1. terrible farm system

2. HOF centerpiece

3. owner recently burned by big FA contracts

You can’t fix 1 the normal way (strip ML team) because of 2. And you can’t improve the major league team with trades because of 1. So you have to do it through FA but 3 makes that even harder than it is already.

So what you have to do is hope that some of the very few impact FA’s who your owner agrees to pay for will say yes (Cole, Corbin, Eovaldi, Wheeler all said no) and if they don’t you have to hope you hit on a high percentage of the second-tier FA’s but that’s tough because they’re second-tier for a reason. And you also have to hope a lot of your draft picks hit and hit quickly. 

But most second-tier FAs aren’t good. And most draft picks aren’t good.

 

I agree it was tough, but five losing seasons.  The farm system is still questionable.  Lots of failed pitching acquisitions.

He got Ohtani.  Which I give him credit for... and there hasn't been good luck with him.    He got Rendon.  He re-signed Trout. Which I give him credit for. I also think that narrative has already gone too far.  Would Trout really turn down that much guaranteed if the GM was... anyone else?  Maybe an extreme situation. 

Eppler got some things done.  He was also  able to spend some money.  It's not like he was in Baltimore for three years.   You can't expect Arte Moreno to be okay with this for another year or two.... or month or two.   Not that I feel confident that Arte will nail the next hire, but it's understandable that he wants to move on. 

[Stradling]

Just now, calscuf said:

So is it reasonable to predict you will not like Eppler in the future?

You can predict that, but I am pretty sure I will like the guy 

[Angel]

29 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

And most draft picks aren’t good.

They are if those early picks are pitchers.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, Angel said:

They are if those early picks are pitchers.

How many examples do you want of this being false?

[Angel]

College near MLB ready arms that dominate hitters are some of the best, like Kumar.  he could be ready in 2021.

[Stradling]

Just now, Angel said:

College near MLB ready arms that dominate hitters are some of the best, like Kumar.  he could be ready in 2021.

Or he could be a bust or get injured. Two years in a row the Astros drafted 1st overall and took pitchers both times. Guess who they were.

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, calscuf said:

But you would have said the same thing about dipoto.

I guess you can check with me in 5 years.  

[ScottT]

Didn't someone list a bunch of 2016 picks that are already contributing?   The Dodgers had a few.... granted they were at the top of the list.

If I'm Arte I want to see progress other than moving from the bottom to the middle of the prospect rankings.  Over five years?  That's not going to save your job in many places.  

[Stradling]

Just now, calscuf said:

What happens in 5 years?

Well by then we can properly assess how I feel about Eppler. 

[ScottT]

1 minute ago, calscuf said:

Seriously, Scott and Angel, shut the fuck up for a few minutes.

Get a room.

[ScottT]

Ten years is a long time.

How long should Arte wait?

[ukyah]

i love how the angels are somehow guaranteed to win 1-2 rings if they decimate the farm. 

i kind of remember how albert was going to be great for the first half, then be a burden in the end, but it would be worth it if the angels won 1-2 world series.

i also really enjoyed the 1-2 parades we had under dipoto when he torched the farm system for the major league club.

having said that, i've personally seen the marlins do it twice and the padres almost did it in kind of in 98. at least the marlins were smart enough to sell everybody off after each championship. i suppose we could do that maybe.

[ukyah]

Just now, calscuf said:

Are you from Ukiah or from the UK and excited about that?

shut the fuck up, i'm trying to talk to stradling.

[ukyah]

1 minute ago, calscuf said:

Are you from Ukiah or from the UK and excited about that?

no, but my wife lived there for a good bit and when the internet began she chose that as her screen name and i was using it too. that's how old this screen name is. the continents were still cooling.

[ScottT]

21 minutes ago, ukyah said:

i love how the angels are somehow guaranteed to win 1-2 rings if they decimate the farm. 

Time to bring back the straw man pic ?

[Stradling]

57 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Why will it take5 years?

Well I mean I’ve already told you that I won’t hate him so I’m not sure how long it will take to start hating him.   

[ukyah]

28 minutes ago, ScottT said:

Time to bring back the straw man pic ?

feel free to peel this thread back a few pages or so where people are saying directly that or alluding to agreement with that same sentiment. you can also double back on those pujols threads and find their like.

it's not a straw man at all, btw. that requires distortion of the quote, which i didn't do in the least.

a straw man would be quoting some of the posters in this thread that were for keeping eppler and saying that they were fine with losing. that's probably somewhere around these parts too, i'd guess.

[ukyah]

39 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Ukiah or UK?

california

[ScottT]

14 minutes ago, ukyah said:

feel free to peel this thread back a few pages or so where people are saying directly that or alluding to agreement with that same sentiment. you can also double back on those pujols threads and find their like.

it's not a straw man at all, btw. that requires distortion of the quote, which i didn't do in the least.

a straw man would be quoting some of the posters in this thread that were for keeping eppler and saying that they were fine with losing. that's probably somewhere around these parts too, i'd guess.

If someone said such things, they were clearly joking or in need of professional assistance.

[ukyah]

Just now, ScottT said:

If someone said such things, they were clearly joking or in need of professional assistance.

i guess you'll just have to trust me.

and they're never joking. it's classic end justifies the means.

[ScottT]

20 minutes ago, ukyah said:

i guess you'll just have to trust me.

and they're never joking. it's classic end justifies the means.

Nobody ever jokes on the internet. Nobody ever says outrageous things either.

[mmc]

55 minutes ago, JocStrapling said:

I could think of over a Billion reason$ why Arte is far less of a dolt than you. He does however need to jettison Carpino out of the org. 

Why?  What do we even know about Carpino, he's purely a business guy.