Perry Minasian

[mmc]

Just curious how everyone's thoughts on him have changed with the team's hot start?

[tdawg87]

It would appear he isn't an idiot like Dipoto, took what Eppler left and improved upon it, and then added significant talent to the roster with a budget and without giving up prospect capital. 

So, not bad IMO.

[Warfarin]

I was pretty upbeat when they hired him.  He was second in charge under Anthopolous, who I feel is fantastic at what he does.  So far, he seems to excel at helping facilitate player development, while also being solid at finding undervalued players.

If the team keeps tracking as it has been, he'll be our best GM in a long, long time.

[Docwaukee]

my thoughts haven't changed.  solid staff.  not great.  very good pen.  top heavy offense.  I've said all along that this is the best team we've have in awhile and there was a bit of opportunity left on the table to make it better.  

the upside is that Walsh, Ohtani, Stassi and Rendon haven't even gotten going yet and that will off set when Ward cools off a bit.  Giving up two spots in the lineup is something you can get away with.  That they can get away with.  But they didn't have to and they don't have to.  

They can sustain adding a rookie in someone like Stefanic at 2b.  And they shouldn't be afraid of that.  

 

[Docwaukee]

BTW, he and his team have been solid at finding some guys in the 23-25yo range for AA/AAA who could actually contribute.  At finding a major flaw and shoring it up.  If you end up with one guy per year in the upper minors that you picked off the scrap heap and develop them in to a major league contributor at some point, that's a huge win.  

[Warfarin]

10 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

my thoughts haven't changed.  solid staff.  not great.  very good pen.  top heavy offense.  I've said all along that this is the best team we've have in awhile and there was a bit of opportunity left on the table to make it better.  

the upside is that Walsh, Ohtani, Stassi and Rendon haven't even gotten going yet and that will off set when Ward cools off a bit.  Giving up two spots in the lineup is something you can get away with.  That they can get away with.  But they didn't have to and they don't have to.  

They can sustain adding a rookie in someone like Stefanic at 2b.  And they shouldn't be afraid of that.  

 

Of note, they did add a rookie to the team today in Whitefield.  Not a lot of expectations for him, but his AA stat line is much improved from his previous years (BB% much higher, much more power, K rate holding steady from last year) - could have a "find" of sorts.  We'll see.  

[Second Base]

I measure a GM by three categories and much of it, can't be accurately measured until years after the fact. 

1. Did the team win?

2. State of the farm?

3. Budget. 

Under Eppler, the team didn't win, but he improved the farm and was very budget conscious. Dipoto had one winning season, so no they really didn't win, and he blew up the budget (or convinced Arte to) and absolutely destroyed the farm. 

So far, under Minasian, the team hasn't won but hopefully that changes this year. I think the bullpen and health is the major difference right now.  He's clearly concerned with the state of the farm as evidenced by the fact that he hasn't dealt any of his major trade chips in Marsh, Detmers, Adell, C-Rod or Jordyn Adams, and by the fact that he's focused so heavily on pitching since coming in. And Minasian hasn't increased budget in the way Dipoto did (in terms of percent), and has stayed within the financial parameters Arte has given him. 

He's on the right track. I'm highly skeptical of his team building personnel decisions, but if the Angels win as they have for 6 weeks now, then I have nothing to critique. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Second Base

[Docwaukee]

1 hour ago, Warfarin said:

Of note, they did add a rookie to the team today in Whitefield.  Not a lot of expectations for him, but his AA stat line is much improved from his previous years (BB% much higher, much more power, K rate holding steady from last year) - could have a "find" of sorts.  We'll see.  

speed and defense is what he brings.  dude is kiermaier good on D.  Maybe not that good but he was basically a defensive call up from covid camp in 2020 after spending most of 2019 in A+.  And he was miserable at the plate to that point.  This is his first legit offensive performance stateside.  

my confidence isn't exactly sky high after 111 PA, but he looks hitterish at this point.  I don't have a point of reference otherwise.  

[failos]

Eppler’s guys won the game today

[failos]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

It would appear he isn't an idiot like Dipoto, took what Eppler left and improved upon it, and then added significant talent to the roster with a budget and without giving up prospect capital. 

So, not bad IMO.

This

[Taylor]

Check in after the season.

[mmc]

3 hours ago, Dochalo said:

BTW, he and his team have been solid at finding some guys in the 23-25yo range for AA/AAA who could actually contribute.  At finding a major flaw and shoring it up.  If you end up with one guy per year in the upper minors that you picked off the scrap heap and develop them in to a major league contributor at some point, that's a huge win.  

With Arte liking a top heavy payroll it's absolutely key that we can scout the upper minor leagues as well as the Rays do, which is one of the reasons I'm so encouraged.  Having a constant stream of low cost contributors coming up from the minors makes our floor so much better

[rageous]

Perry's free agent signings have been a huge improvement over what Eppler has done.   Let's see how the draft works out under him in the next few years.  But Perry needs to sign Ohtani this off season.

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, mmc said:

Just curious how everyone's thoughts on him have changed with the team's hot start?

You have to give him all the props for addressing the BP like he did.

Overall, my position remains that it's too early to have any definitive opinion but personally, seeing his actions be consistent with what he's stated is his intent is a big plus.  If anything my biggest takeaway is that his front offices hires are worth having faith in and thats 100% on him.  They seem to be significantly better prepared, the players seem to be much more into the processes, at least it appears that way considering how much more common it is to see them looking at their tablets in the dugout.

Mostly I think the hot start shows that a mostly healthy Angels team is capable of holding it's own and that actually addressing the defense would pay off in the win column. A lock down bully, and a defense that's not given away runs like candy have made a huge difference and he's had a big hand in both areas.

It's been a fun 30 games.

[Inside Pitch]

3 hours ago, Warfarin said:

Of note, they did add a rookie to the team today in Whitefield.  Not a lot of expectations for him, but his AA stat line is much improved from his previous years (BB% much higher, much more power, K rate holding steady from last year) - could have a "find" of sorts.  We'll see.  

His AA stat line is as much a byproduct if that park they play in as it is any good scouting.  That park has played like huge hitters park so far.  The flip side, the pitching performances are very much worth buying into.

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, failos said:

Eppler’s guys won the game today

Not trading them all away is on Minasian.

[Docwaukee]

12 minutes ago, mmc said:

With Arte liking a top heavy payroll it's absolutely key that we can scout the upper minor leagues as well as the Rays do, which is one of the reasons I'm so encouraged.  Having a constant stream of low cost contributors coming up from the minors makes our floor so much better

the way the rays do it will never be the way the Angels do it.  The Angels just can't do it the way they do.  They haven't even drafted or developed that well.  They just trade players before they get too expensive.  And they have been masterful in finding upper level minors guys to get in return.  So we might actually scout as well as they do but we'll never have access to the pool of players they do.  

what he's maybe done is to find an undervalued component of a common pool of players available.  The minor league free agents ie, the guys in that 23-27 range are pretty consistent from year to year in terms of how many and who is probably pretty predictable.  My guess (and this is a complete guess) is that is start with exit velo or something on trackman.  Then it's a couple of secondary and tertiary things.  Maybe it's a guy's height (they seem to targeting taller guys).  Maybe it's the length of their swings.  Who knows.  

But the key isn't just identifying the right guy, it's having the development process in place to identify the right guy you think you can help.  Like I said earlier, give me one guy every year or two that can give you league avg production off the bench or as an occasional starter and you've effectively saved yourself a few mil per year.  

[failos]

38 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Not trading them all away is on Minasian.

Absolutely. I wasn't trying to take any credit away from Minasian, I just wanted to give some kudos to Eppler--who did some good stuff.

[Inside Pitch]

6 minutes ago, failos said:

Absolutely. I wasn't trying to take any credit away from Minasian, I just wanted to give some kudos to Eppler--who did some good stuff.

You're preaching to the choir with Eppler, who has seen pretty much every move he's made pay off early on with the Mets.  I'm actually concerned with his success... We have a guy who is all about winning approaching FA and the guy that convinced him to take less now has all the money in the world to offer him.

[failos]

30 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

You're preaching to the choir with Eppler, who has seen pretty much every move he's made pay off early on with the Mets.  I'm actually concerned with his success... We have a guy who is all about winning approaching FA and the guy that convinced him to take less now has all the money in the world to offer him.

It's certainly interesting how well Eppler is doing in NY. I've been concerned as well, but fortunately he's in the NL, so we don't really have to worry about him unless the Angels make it to the World Series.

Though, I do worry about him poaching players from the Angels--which is why Minasian needs to re-sign Ohtani ASAP.

[Blarg]

36 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

You're preaching to the choir with Eppler, who has seen pretty much every move he's made pay off early on with the Mets.  I'm actually concerned with his success... We have a guy who is all about winning approaching FA and the guy that convinced him to take less now has all the money in the world to offer him.

The Angels are winning so he may feel the roots have taken and it's starting to bear fruit. 

[Pancake Bear]

48 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

You're preaching to the choir with Eppler, who has seen pretty much every move he's made pay off early on with the Mets.  I'm actually concerned with his success... We have a guy who is all about winning approaching FA and the guy that convinced him to take less now has all the money in the world to offer him.

Ohtani was pretty clear when he came over that playing on the West coast was a priority. All his finalists were here except a couple honorary mentions in the Midwest. He clearly had zero interest in playing in New York. Maybe that changed since he came over, but unless it did, it doesn't matter how good a salesman Billy is. Of course, it might just come down to cash, but considering Ohtani came over for league minimum when he could've waited a year or so longer and gotten tons more suggests he has higher priorities. 

[Inside Pitch]

23 minutes ago, Pancake Bear said:

Ohtani was pretty clear when he came over that playing on the West coast was a priority. All his finalists were here except a couple honorary mentions in the Midwest. He clearly had zero interest in playing in New York. Maybe that changed since he came over, but unless it did, it doesn't matter how good a salesman Billy is. Of course, it might just come down to cash, but considering Ohtani came over for league minimum when he could've waited a year or so longer and gotten tons more suggests he has higher priorities. 

Read up any of the stories regarding Eppler's courtship of Ohtani, particularly how he addressed the family, that stuff clearly mattered to Ohtani. 

As far as priorities go, they tend to change over time but the one thing he's made clear is that he values winning.  He will have had 6 years to transition to the culture, see new cities, gain greater insight about the US.  While I believe he likely would prefer to remain on the west coast, I believe the relationship is something he may yet value.

Neither of us has anything other than opinion on this one.

[Inside Pitch]

47 minutes ago, Blarg said:

The Angels are winning so he may feel the roots have taken and it's starting to bear fruit. 

Yep, they needs to continue to win.  I ultimately believe if the Angels get over them hump its all moot.  And "over the hump" doesn't mean win the WS or gtfo.

[Warfarin]

7 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

You have to give him all the props for addressing the BP like he did.

Overall, my position remains that it's too early to have any definitive opinion but personally, seeing his actions be consistent with what he's stated is his intent is a big plus.  If anything my biggest takeaway is that his front offices hires are worth having faith in and thats 100% on him.  They seem to be significantly better prepared, the players seem to be much more into the processes, at least it appears that way considering how much more common it is to see them looking at their tablets in the dugout.

Mostly I think the hot start shows that a mostly healthy Angels team is capable of holding it's own and that actually addressing the defense would pay off in the win column. A lock down bully, and a defense that's not given away runs like candy have made a huge difference and he's had a big hand in both areas.

It's been a fun 30 games.

Bingo.  I think a huge part of being a successful GM (or PBO) in this game is building out the FO infrastructure with people who excel in their roles.  Minasian himself isn't directly responsible for the success we have had, but he has put the right guys in place to help this team in multiple areas.  The MLB signings have been solid, the 2021 draft class looks rather good so far (it's early though), some of our minor leaguers are taking "leaps forward" (seemingly more than usual, but perhaps that's just anecdotal).

Again this is nothing to take away from Eppler.  Eppler had to work extra hard to recover from the disaster he inherited, which likely set him back awhile.  My early thoughts are though that Minasian is perhaps better at building out his FO than Eppler was, but that's just my initial gut reaction.  Time will tell, and as you also stated in this thread, Eppler has had incredible success to start off his Mets tenure, too.