Angels in 2030

LOL sorry Chuck -- guess the wink wasn't sufficient.  A little 'Carnac the Magnificent' humor.

I heard Manfred is expanding the playoffs for the 2020 Winter Meetings as well.  That should make it a bit easier for Arte in winning this year's Winter Meetings.    

Arte will do anything to win this guy.

LOL sorry Chuck -- guess the wink wasn't sufficient.  A little 'Carnac the Magnificent' humor.

How about:
- Is tdawg a virgin (Thai trannies aside)?
- What happened to Craig?
- Does Calscuf own a confederate flag?

Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking when I hear the silly things you say...
Allison...

Carpino & Arte when looking in the mirror during this baseball organization evaluation process:

 
What angel fans see when looking at Carpino/Arte baseball FO decisions:

1. Trade prospects for Joe Musgrove, likely increasing payroll by 5 million. 
2. Sign Stroman (I think he'd cost more than 15, but it's your game, and it's fun to play).
3. Sign Richards for 8 million and use him as a long reliever and spot starter until he grows into the elite backend arm he's destined for. (I think he'd cost less). 
4. Sign Alex Avila for 6 million. He wins wherever he goes and he gets on base. The team needs more steady, veteran leadership. 
5. Trevor May for 6 million. Solid, steady, dependable back end arm.
Ohtani, Stroman, Musgrove, Bundy, Canning and Heaney sounds like a pretty solid rotation. And inevitably, when someone gets hurt, or Ohtani skips a start, or someone is ineffective, we'll have Barria ready to step in. And putting Richards and May in the bullpen really extends things, because then you can start using high octane relievers like Middleton and Oliver Ortega in low leverage spots until they're ready. Actually sounds perfect for someone like Suarez or even Hector Yan.
And after next year, when Heaney leaves, and Ohtani, Canning and Musgrove get more expensive, they can insert the likes of Reid Detmers or Chris Rodriguez to offset those costs and maintain a solid pitching staff.

We need to stop with this FA savior thing year after year after year after year....and start developing our own players.  Overpaid and most prime years (if not all) gone.  Identify and draft / Int'l sign players -- and develop them properly.  We will then either have our own or at least have guys we can use as trades to acquire a SP in his prime (mainly the former).  Stop chasing the rabbit -- be the rabbit! 

The Twins would get swept in a best of 9 series.

We need to stop with this FA savior thing year after year after year after year....and start developing our own players.  Overpaid and most prime years (if not all) gone.  Identify and draft / Int'l sign players -- and develop them properly.  We will then either have our own or at least have guys we can use as trades to acquire a SP in his prime (mainly the former).  Stop chasing the rabbit -- be the rabbit! 

No idea who LaCava is.  

We need to stop with this FA savior thing year after year after year after year....and start developing our own players.  Overpaid and most prime years (if not all) gone.  Identify and draft / Int'l sign players -- and develop them properly.  We will then either have our own or at least have guys we can use as trades to acquire a SP in his prime (mainly the former).  Stop chasing the rabbit -- be the rabbit! 

Also, didn't Steinbrenner basically take a step back from making personnel moves in the 90s? 
When I think of meddling Steinbrenner I think of the 70s and 80s.

the GM looks in the mirror and sees Arte lurking over his shoulder.  

He acknowledges that something is not right with the organization yet says this bullshit.

Carpino & Arte when looking in the mirror during this baseball organization evaluation process:

 
What angel fans see when looking at Carpino/Arte baseball FO decisions:

We need to stop with this FA savior thing year after year after year after year....and start developing our own players.  Overpaid and most prime years (if not all) gone.  Identify and draft / Int'l sign players -- and develop them properly.  We will then either have our own or at least have guys we can use as trades to acquire a SP in his prime (mainly the former).  Stop chasing the rabbit -- be the rabbit! 

I think the problem is that they had 5 or 6 years where they basically didn’t develop major league players.  The result of that is a whole litany of problems.  They don’t need a forensic introspection.  I mean do whatever you need to do to review your year.  But the  goal should be that the Angels will be the best baseball player development organization on earth.  Reach for the stars etc.  Then have the rich ass organization splash when necessary. 

Truth, but coming from a non-baseball guy like Carpino, LOL.

We need to stop with this FA savior thing year after year after year after year....and start developing our own players.  Overpaid and most prime years (if not all) gone.  Identify and draft / Int'l sign players -- and develop them properly.  We will then either have our own or at least have guys we can use as trades to acquire a SP in his prime (mainly the former).  Stop chasing the rabbit -- be the rabbit! 

The general pattern of many, even most, successful teams--and by that, I mean almost always contenders, and rarely more than a year or two out from contention--is to build the core from within, and then augment with key free agent signings and trades. 
I'm not a martial artist or fighter, but I know the importance of a strong core - a center of strength, with in Japanese is called the hara. I think a strong farm is kind of like that. If you don't have a strong core/hara/farm, you can still find ways to win, but you're always off-balance and top-heavy.

Me either -- that wasn't my point.  The bigger picture is it's very likely Eppler would have gone about it differently.  If he doesn't make the Segura trade then maybe Newcomb is still here or used for something else.  I think it's pretty much a lock that Grichuk isn't included as a throw in to get a 3B who was good at driving in runs (as per Dipoto).
Eppler inherited a wasteland and had zero money.  He didn't spend money the first three years on the job and as he walks out the door he leaves the Angels in much better shape than he got them.  The next guy will get all the atta boys and accolades, but the heavy lifting was already done.
 

Acquiring pitching can happen through a few different avenues. The most straightforward, as you already know is signing it in FA. Eppler was outbid for targets he shouldn't have been outbid for, like Corbin and Wheeler. That may or may not have been his fault, depending on if either had interest in playing out West. But money typically trumps and geographically preference, as we saw with Rendon. So that's at least partly Eppler's fault.
Also Eppler's fault, would be the free agent pitchers he did seem worth the contract. Any way you shake it, Nolasco, Harvey, Cahill and Teheran have been horrible. 
The second way to acquire pitching is to trade for it. Billy to a fault was hesitant to trade any worthwhile prospects. The pitching he did trade for has come in the mold of Patrick Sandoval and Packy Naughton....back end starters, which this team already has a bunch of.
The third would be acquiring pitching via the draft. The only two pitchers he selected early on have been Canning and Detmers, which also happen to be the best two pitching prospects of Eppler's tenure. He drafted well, with Marsh, Adell, Adams, Jackson and even Thaiss. But I don't think anyone would argue they wouldn't rather have a couple pitchers mixed in. 
The fourth would be international free agents. He convinced Ohtani and that's a big win. But he chased upside position players like Alex Ramirez, Raider Uceta, Rainier, Arol Vera and Jose Bonilla, instead of going after pitching. 
Eppler didn't put a priority on pitching and the team suffered for it in the end. He wasn't a bad GM, but I do think his focus on long term hurt the Angels in the short term, and Eppler lacked that certain killer instinct that you see eggers like Dombrowski have, in their willingness to be bold and trade the prospects. And that's the reason why his teams win, and Eppler hasn't won yet.