bruin5

Spoke to a former major league player and he confirmed it’s pretty much universally acknowledged that Rendon is considered a bad teammate. I know, not a shocker. What I don’t understand is what type of background did Arte and Eppler do before he was signed. You would think some type of basic due diligence would have provided enough information so that they could make an informed decision.

So, it could have been part of the negotiation process. If I was Fox, I would want to announce first and then market the signing of a superstar. I’m just speculating, but I do believe that these events weren’t unrelated.

IIRC, the prevailing thought at that time was that Arte wanted to make a big splash signing because they had just signed a large broadcasting rights contract with Fox Sports West. It could be both are true- Arte wanted a splash hire, and DiPoto found the right candidate (Pujols was the biggest name out there that year so it’s not like he had to do a lot of research).

I can’t find the date but wasn’t part of the international talent problem the scandal that caused Arte to pretty much close the operation?

DiPoto was given much more latitude to tear down the team he inherited and stock minor league talent. Neither Eppler or Minasian had anything resembling that chance. It’s not like DiPoto lit it up during his tenure in Anaheim. Apples to oranges comparison.

If a winning percentage of 685 is only 5th best record in the league, how many dumpster fire teams are in that league? There must be a number of teams tanking, lol.

Minasian needs to stay. I have much more trust in him rebuilding the team than Eppler or DiPoto.

Same here (user name makes it obvious). Lou was far and away the most clever person on this board. Amazing what he could do with a 3 word response or resurrection of a 3 year old thread. Rest in peace Lou.

Seems to me the issue is from the people in the truck. I would assume the director or producer developed that slide. Announcer is just doing his job.

And I guess that Eppler still believes some of these guys have high ceilings.

Thank God Nevin straightened them out yesterday.

This entire interview thing is brutal. Glad I have 1/4 of my screen to watch the actual game.

At that time, weren’t we losing 1st round picks for signing guys like Pujols and Hamilton?

I would argue that it’s not luck. If you have the type of money that allows you to sign proven WAR guys, your’re going to hit more often than not.

Of course, having an owner who is willing to pay $108,000,000 in Payroll Tax also helps. I’m pretty sure if some of the posters on here had that kind of money to spend they could come up with a pretty competitive lineup as well. Mets 2023 Payroll

No one. Start the rebuild now. Sell off any tradeable assets. At the deadline it’s a seller’s market.

Minasian’s phone is lighting up right now with inquiries from other teams regarding Ohtani. Nevin and the entire coaching staff needs to be swept out. And, in anticipation, Erstad is nowhere near the answer.

Nevin is a tactical genius. We definitely need to retain him with a long term contract.

This. You can’t build a productive farm system based on only college players. They should end up with extra slot money, allowing them to sign some high school talent. This is what you have to do in building a well rounded farm system.

This. Exactly. I’m tired of the treadmill of trying to field a competitive team by paying a high price for free agents. Doesn’t work. They need to be final pieces, not the foundation. Invest in the farm and scouting rather than large salaries for guys over 30. And, unless Arte wants to go big time in the front office, I am fine with Minasian. Nevin is done as far as I’m concerned. Even if he’s not at fault, we will easily end up under .500 during his tenure.

I don’t see any way that Minasian’s job is on the line. He’s made a number of good moves this year and added some actually productive players. We’ve seen Neto and O’Hoppe and their future looks promising. No real slappys on the team like last year. And, Minasian has been very aggressive in moving guys out that are not producing. Injuries are what is killing this team. It would have been nice to see an extended period with a consistent lineup. Not sure how you prevent. It’s sacrilege to say this, but as much as I love Ohtani, the Angels will never be a true playoff contender having to pay Ohtani/Trout/Rendon $120M. Too many other holes to fill to create a championship contender. We’ll just continue on the same treadmill we’ve been on since 2014. At some point a rebuild needs to be considered.

Or, you could be San Diego who traded a lot of draft capital over the past couple of years and is now 5 games under .500. Doesn’t mean they may not go on a hot streak, but they went from one of the top systems to number 23 (and if they trade the couple of players that made them 23 they will fall farther). I don’t see Quero and whoever else drawing enough for a legit SP and a good RP (who are always a risk). It’s all a crapshoot. But you have to balance long term with short term. I’m glad I don’t make that decision.

I would think that Eppler’s seat is getting warmer and, if he’s back next year, he will have no room for error. He could start trading looking to the future, but I doubt Cohen wants that or that Eppler has that ability to identify and develop a strong farm system.

Would trading Quero and one or two other prospects really enhance our post season chances? Even if we make the playoffs we are not a threat to get to the World Series. I’m pessimistic that Shohei will re-sign. Given that, I would hold onto all our prospects and, if we want to trade them, do it in the Fall when, essentially, return would be greater. We could also use Shohei’s $30M to sign a pitcher. Adell and Moniak rotating at DH is not Shohei, but it could be serviceable.

Ron Washington has a different opinion regarding playing first base: