Let's face it...Dipoto is no more prepared to be a GM than Reagins was

[FireThemAll]

Honestly, this guy is just not good enough at what he does to be the guy in charge. He seems like a smart guy in interviews and everything, but his track record is just...wow.

 

Reagins ****ed the whole organization up with the Wells trade, and the way he neglected the farm system. All Dipoto has done is make things worse...much worse. The Blanton move might not even be his worst move. He gave up a cost controlled, now dominant reliever in Jordan Walden for damaged goods Tommy Hanson (partly blame Butcher for not ever getting great results with Walden). Everything this guy does just ****s this organization up even more...he does not deserve to keep his job after this. He had his chance to rebuild the team a little at the deadline, but he decided to sit on his hands aside from trading Callaspo. Why should we reward this guy by giving him the offseason? History says he'll only make it worse. It took Arte 4 years to fire Reagins...he needs to learn from that and fire Dipoto already. 

 

[AZMike]

Honestly, this guy is just not good enough at what he does to be the guy in charge. He seems like a smart guy in interviews and everything, but his track record is just...wow.

 

Reagins ****ed the whole organization up with the Wells trade, and the way he neglected the farm system. All Dipoto has done is make things worse...much worse. The Blanton move might not even be his worst move. He gave up a cost controlled, now dominant reliever in Jordan Walden for damaged goods Tommy Hanson (partly blame Butcher for not ever getting great results with Walden). Everything this guy does just ****s this organization up even more...he does not deserve to keep his job after this. He had his chance to rebuild the team a little at the deadline, but he decided to sit on his hands aside from trading Callaspo. Why should we reward this guy by giving him the offseason? History says he'll only make it worse. It took Arte 4 years to fire Reagins...he needs to learn from that and fire Dipoto already. 

 

Tyler Skaggs, Patrick Corbin and Joe Saunders for Dan Haren. 

 

 

Dipoto's best move, in retrospect, now appears to be more a result of Reagins' incompetence than Dipoto's skill

[markb]

Relevant username.

[Angel Oracle]

I'm not impressed with Dips_it Dipoto.

More of Reagins, Bill Bavasi, and Dick Walsh all rolled into one gross package.

[Tyler]

The sad thing is, is when you hear him talk baseball he can really sell you on his baseball IQ, but this past offseason he gets an F for rolling this pitching staff out there. You show your real GM skill through trades, and him holding onto Bourjos and Trumbo cost the Angels the season, and maybe his job.

[Docwaukee]

The sad thing is, is when you hear him talk baseball he can really sell you on his baseball IQ, but this past offseason he gets an F for rolling this pitching staff out there. You show your real GM skill through trades, and him holding onto Bourjos and Trumbo cost the Angels the season, and maybe his job.

if he had done absolutely nothing, the team would be better off yet no one would know how bad it could have been and they would have complained about standing pat. 

 

You are right about him being able to sell you on being able to do things the right way yet his actions speak differently.  The odd thing is that the moves he has made don't totally jive with what he projects.  Almost like he'd be a better fit for a low payroll team that has to make something out of very little. 

 

My big offseason wish was Greinke but when it became clear that he wasn't an option, I thought our focus should have shifted to Anibal Sanchez. 

 

I think he gets one more offseason just by the sheer fact that I like the direction he is taking the minor league system.  If he can move some pieces to get some pitching then I'll buy back in, but he's dug himself a huge hole. 

[Tyler]

All jealousy aside, I would give him one more offseason to prove himself as well.

[bloodbrother]

He talks the talk but can't walk the walk

 

I agree that he deserves one more season. Big offseason for him.

[Grigori]

I don't know enough about what Dipoto is doing in the minor leagues to know whether he's any good. If I was an Angels fan, though, I'd completely ignore what he's done at the major-league level. I do know he hired a bunch of scouts and player development people last winter, which is a good sign. It took Jon Daniels five years from being promoted to GM to get the Rangers into the postseason. The situation Dipoto inherited is not dissimilar.

[TroutAdell]

Granted he inherited a mess, but he has made it much worse. The Blanton contract alone should be enough to get him fired. The Angels need to hire a GM from the Cardinals or Rays. Those are organizations that win and have a solid minor league system.

[Angelsjunky]

Can someone please tell me why Bill Stoneman stepped down? He had his flaws but he built that 2002 team and it was his moves that created the success of the 2004-09 period. Even though he stepped down after 2007, 2008 and 2009 were more a result of his work than Reagins'.

 

I'm willing to see what Jerry does this offseason. I'd like to see him work more trades like the Grant Green one, and see if he can turn some of the excess in the OF for a young starter. He should be able to do so - someone will want one or two of Trumbo, Bourjos, Calhoun, Shuck, Grichuk, and Cron, not to mention Kendrick.

 

Now if the Angels go on a spending spree for the third straight year, this franchise is screwed.

[Stradling]

I think he needs another year at least. I would also like to see what he can do with his type of manager. Oh and I disagree that the Wells trade screwed up the organization, because it really didn't. We gave up a player that Scioscia wasn't going to use correctly for an expensive player that sucked. That expensive player that sucked didn't prevent the Angels from making other moves. I like Dipoto but the move that will haunt the team is underestimating Greinke's asking price when trading for him.

[stormngt]

Granted he inherited a mess, but he has made it much worse. The Blanton contract alone should be enough to get him fired. The Angels need to hire a GM from the Cardinals or Rays. Those are organizations that win and have a solid minor league system.

 

Blanton 13 million; Madson 3 million; Hanson 3.5 million; Burnett I believe is 4 million

 

That is 23 million dollars wasted.  Blanton is getting shelled out of the pen.  Madson was released without throwing  pitch; Hanson is helping the Bee's win a title, and Burnett only pitched 13 innings.

 

That can get you fired!

[stormngt]

I think he needs another year at least. I would also like to see what he can do with his type of manager. Oh and I disagree that the Wells trade screwed up the organization, because it really didn't. We gave up a player that Scioscia wasn't going to use correctly for an expensive player that sucked. That expensive player that sucked didn't prevent the Angels from making other moves. I like Dipoto but the move that will haunt the team is underestimating Greinke's asking price when trading for him.

 

I don't want to spend 25 million (buying out Scioscia's contract) and still don't make the playoffs.  "Doing what he can do with his manager" is a cop out to his mistakes.  However, I do agree with you that he should have another year.  He gambled this year and the gamble failed miserably.  He spent almost 20 million on four failed pitchers.  However, I am not sure what "better" moves he could have made.  Yes, in hindsight the Hamilton move was a mistake as well with Santana.  However, Haren's move wasn't.  Dipoto is in a tough situation with so little on the farm to help the major league team.  So give him another year.

[FireThemAll]

This season was over the second Arte Moreno and Jerry Dipoto chose Josh Hamilton over Anibal Sanchez.

[Mudville]

Can someone please tell me why Bill Stoneman stepped down? He had his flaws but he built that 2002 team and it was his moves that created the success of the 2004-09 period. Even though he stepped down after 2007, 2008 and 2009 were more a result of his work than Reagins'.

 

I'm willing to see what Jerry does this offseason. I'd like to see him work more trades like the Grant Green one, and see if he can turn some of the excess in the OF for a young starter. He should be able to do so - someone will want one or two of Trumbo, Bourjos, Calhoun, Shuck, Grichuk, and Cron, not to mention Kendrick.

 

Now if the Angels go on a spending spree for the third straight year, this franchise is screwed.

 

Age. He was just getting too old to play the young man's game of being on the job 24/7/365.

 

Think about when a GM gets time off these days as opposed to 20 years ago. The season is practically non stop with winter leagues and foreign scouting, contracts that have to be created for new players, arbitration hearings for current players. All of this is time, time, and more time. And that is when everything is going well after the season ended.

 

I don't blame him at all for stepping down and taking a lesser consultants role. Leave the craziness of the current GM role to some younger guy climbing ladders.

[EE_]

It wouldn't matter if he made all the right trades and free agent signings if the minor league system is in shambles. No GM is going to avoid all mistakes when playing on the free agent market. Friedman has been the best (by far) but even he signed Pat Burrell.

 

Is Dipoto's methodology bad? Maybe. Blanton had a career high K rate last season while still having a very low walk rate. Was it bad reasoning that adding him to a pitcher's park (in a pitcher's division) and surrounding him with an excellent defense would suppress his hits allowed? If those trends had continued, Blanton would be a valuable #5 with acceptable production. Instead, Blanton and the defense took 3 steps back. Why did Blanton and the defense take 3 steps back?

 

The Marmol attempted trade is harder to defend. That appeared to be wishful thinking at its worst, particularly with the track record of our pitching coach. I doubt even a competent coach could do anything with Marmol.

 

The health of the minor league system is far more important than any "Shouldn't have signed..." or "Should have traded..." scenarios. I've argued against almost every free agent for a long time (yes, even the ones that worked like Hunter or would have worked like Beltre). You don't try to build your team via free agency. The exception is if you can get a star player in their 20's (damned rare) or you use free agency to add a complimentary piece to an already contending team. 

 

Too many times I've read about how Dipoto failed to fix the bullpen as if that is some easy task. I've posted the list of available free agent relief pitchers the last few years and it's been full of expensive, usually injured non-performers with a few rare exceptions.

A good pen comes from an abundance of pitching talent in your minor league system and good instruction. We have neither. Failed starters work well. You won't fix this pen by signing a couple more broken down nags coming off of good years. If this team continues to emphasize pitching in the draft (as was the case in 2013) and improves instruction then the pen will no longer be a problem. An instant solution is not going to happen.

[Angel Oracle]

Admittedly, Morin and Alvarez is a step in the right direction with the pen on the farm.

Jepsen needs to be waived after the season.

11 years is plenty of time to see if someone can truly make it. He has never had even a full solid year of success at the MLB level.

[Docwaukee]

I think he needs another year at least. I would also like to see what he can do with his type of manager. Oh and I disagree that the Wells trade screwed up the organization, because it really didn't. We gave up a player that Scioscia wasn't going to use correctly for an expensive player that sucked. That expensive player that sucked didn't prevent the Angels from making other moves. I like Dipoto but the move that will haunt the team is underestimating Greinke's asking price when trading for him.

Agree.  The Wells trade in and of itself didn't cripple this franchise yet is was a microcosm that Reagins didn't really know what he was doing.  The crippling move was the massive offload of just about every last bit of pitching talent and organizational depth from the mid and upper minors. 

 

Dipoto has actually compounded that mistake instead of nipping it in the bud. 

 

Sean Rodriguez

Sweeney

Torres

Skaggs

Corbin

Segura

Pena

Hellweg

Amarista

Roach

Chatwood

 

Not every one of those players is a star or even a major leaguer.  But they all have or had value.  That value was not used appropriately.  Getting equivalent major league talent for minor league players is not enough.  There is an established threshold for when a value for value trade is the right thing to do and that threshold has not been achieved the last four years.

 

The Tex trade is a perfect example.  Granted, they essentially got him for nothing, but even if they had given up significantly more in that deal is was the right move.  They were not a fringe playoff team.  They were pretty much guaranteed of it and Tex made them that much better.  That was the right move.

 

The Haren and Greinke trades made them a better team, but still left them a marginal playoff contender. 

 

Stoneman lacked the ability to make the deal that made a playoff team truly great and a WS contender.  Reagins and now Dipoto are the opposite.  They have lacked the patience and fortitude to not make the deal that only marginally increases the chances of making the playoffs. 

[Angel Oracle]

Reagins did make the ultimate faux pau, trading all the good lefty prospects in the span of a year (Torres, Corbin, and Skaggs).

And what did he get in return?

Kazmir and 1 1/2 years of good Haren

[afrochild]

For all of you who love to talk sh*t about Reagins and Dipoto, who do YOU suggest Moreno hires as a GM? When it comes down to it, some things work out for an organization and others dont. It can be said about players, GMs, managers, coaches, etc. Players can be great on one team but suck on another, managers can be one of the best in the game on one team and never even manage a contending team on another. Unless you have a crystal ball, hindsight is always 20/20. Even some of the best GMs have made shitty trades or signings. Yes, DiPoto has made some questionable moves, but we didn't hate them until the season started. Hell, some of us loved his moves the past two offseasons. This season is a wash, and 99.9% of the org is to blame not just DiPoto.

[Angel Oracle]

I don't disagree that this is a total org breakdown, a la the Mets.

But when the great majority of the org's moves have ended up sucking since the Kazmir trade, that doesn't reflect well on Reagins and Dipoto, although it's also probably indicative of bad scouting and bad coaching.

To fix this long term, they need a new GM (keeping Dipoto's assistant who has solid rep), a new manager/coaching staff, and less big money being given to 32 year-olds, because 32 is the new 35 in the post PEDs era.

[tdawg87]

hindsight is always 20/20.

 

This is, by a wide margin, the most overused cliche on this board. Sure, calling out Dipoto for his moves is hindsight, but that does not mean he should not be held accountable for them. It's Dipoto's job to not only see what is best for the organization now, but in the long term as well. He may make a decision that receives praise at first, or at worst, indifference, but when it completely backfires (like the Blanton signing, Hanson trade, Madson signing, Greinke trade, Hamilton signing) then people are bound to change their tune. I liked the Greinke trade at first, because I thought that the Angels stood a serious chance at re-signing him and I didn't think Segura would be as good as he has been. I was wrong. I, however, do not get paid to make these decisions. Dipoto does. Is it completely his fault? Of course not, he isn't a psychic. I don't think anyone could have seen Segura having the year he has had, or Hamilton having the year HE has had. But these decisions have ultimately cost the team not only now, but for the future as well.

 

Dipoto should not have job security because his decisions COULD have turned out well, and maybe some fans liked them at the time they were made.

[afrochild]

I'm taking about hindsight as far as hiring a GM, signing players, trading players, hiring managers, hiring different coaches, etc. You have to make different moves and some will work and some won't. If you never make them, than you'll never know. Moreno hired two different GMs, and yes maybe they've haven't been the most competent but how would we know until after the fact? Some orgs strike gold and get awesome GMs right off the bat and others dumpster dive until they find someone that stinks less than the previous. The Angels are part of the dumpster diving crew.

[tdawg87]

But I do agree with you that everyone in the org is accountable. Not just select people.