Hard to grade him now but I’m not really sure what he would have needed to do to get an A+ grade from some people. I think it’s disingenuous to give any grades if an A was impossible to achieve (and save an A+ for pulling a fast one on another GM like the Blue Jays trading Vernon Wells for Mike Napoli without eating money)
He didn’t petition the commissioner to make the Angels exempt from the luxury tax and he didn’t convince Pujols to retire.
Bauer signed for too much and the aces that ended up getting traded would have completely obliterated our farm system. Was he supposed to convince them to take less money and lesser packages?
The Iglesias’ acquisitions look like bright spots that don’t hamper the future but the pitching, especially the bullpen, was still lacking. He really turned it around in the past week by adding 5 bullpen arms. We really just need 2 to be above average.
I’d like a better RF than Fowler but with Adell, Marsh, and Adams knocking on the door, we can’t really do anything besides a stopgap for now. Ozuna, Brantley, or Pederson wouldn’t have been much better.
The biggest negative I can see is potentially not extending Bundy or tying up Quintana beyond this year.
What I like the most is that there is decent depth between the 26 man roster and the alternate site. Bullpens usually rely on guys having a good year so the extra arms give a better chance at having a good bullpen this season. I know that’s the Eppler strategy that didn’t work but at least we aren’t using the strategy of reclamation projects with high spin and velocity dips that ended up being a sign their elbows were going to explode.
Perry really needs the opportunity to go through a draft and international signing period to add to the farm. We had some good drafts in the last few years but a lot of talent is in the low minors. Without a season last year, we missed the chance for them to build their value which hurts the overall rating. It would be dumb to trade away those guys when they’re only going to get more valuable.
I’m probably too optimistic but I’m not sure what he really could have done better without tying up too much money or trading away too many prospects.