Angels in 2030

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.
 

Whoever our new GM/President is, they assuredly have to draft a pitcher at #9.  It's our greatest weakness, both in terms of MLB talent and minor league talent.  We're out of the Rocker/Leiter range, and probably fairly likely out of Jaden Hill's range, too.  So whoever the best projectable pitcher is at #9 .. let's go for him.

I don’t want a freshman GM at this point.  I want experience.  Lots of it.

I’d say a guy like Dombrowski has proven he could not just win now but draft and develop as well.  He also has enough cache that if Arte would listen to anyone you’d have to think it would be him. 

The unbalanced schedule makes 2020 record seem unfair a bit.  But it's not like adding 2019 is any more logical.  Selfishly, adding 2019 would be great since it moves us up two spots and drops Tex out of the top two (behind us) and drops Boston.  Only downside is it moves Seattle above us.  But that's worth it compared to all the benefits.  Regardless, it's likely wishful thinking.

Yep. I'd like to go homegrown at 2B like we are at 1B with Walsh.
 I'd also like to think that Jones' final AFL stats after the 2019 minor league season show that like Walsh and Ward, he too made adjustments and it showed in the results. 
Jones Arizona Fall League stats:
.302/.377/.509 with two HR and 7 SB across 53 at bats.

Barreto, Jones, Rengifo and maybe Thaiss will have every opportunity to win the 2nd base job in spring and I'm confident at least one of them will step up and have a very solid season. Spending for a 2nd baseman with more glaring holes to fill would not be ideal.

That has to be the current plan. We need the money that Simmons would've required for pitching. Fletcher is clearly a good defensive shortstop and offensively, the Angels look like they have some wiggle room to experiment at 2B because of Ward, Stassi and Walsh's emergence, as well as Upton's return to relevance.
Barreto is pretty dynamic offensively and defensively and has nothing left to prove in AAA. Jones shortened his swing a ton to actually find success in the upper minors. Given his upside, you don't want to block him, but you also don't want to depend on him specifically. Even Thaiss. His bat is legit. He's ready to produce at the major league level and you know he'll spend this winter improving defensively at 2B the same way he took to 3B to become a good defender there.
Long term, the depth chart 2B is very promising. Barreto, Jones, Thaiss, Livan Soto, Maitan and Jeremiah Jackson. 

I agree -- he looked impressive in the short sample and like he belonged (unlike some of our young guys).  I'd definitely let him fight for the 2B job and would hope he'd win; thereby saving some $$$ to use elsewhere.  I'm not sure the new GM (Dom) will feel the same way due to King Arte desiring the playoffs -- i fear we will overspend on yet another a middle infielder and waste funds as usual.  

If I had to choose between Reagins and Dipoto, I'd choose Reagins.

Also unacceptable:

I  like Eppler and think he did a good job of putting this organization back together. That said, at a certain point results matter. Time to try something different. 

Yes. Eppler's strength set the team on the right path. He got spending under control, rebuilt the farm system and proved an effective bullpen could be built for cheap. 
And now we need someone that can come in and make the team a winner. Someone that can acquire the pitching Eppler couldn't. Someone willing to trade the prospects Eppler wouldn't. While also keeping payroll in a healthy place.

Hopefully last time too

BTW -- @rafibomb deserves a trophy or something.  He beat @mymerlincatto a Twitter post.
Thats like Buster Douglas taking down Tyson.

I dont hate Arte, I just have no faith in his ability to see the bigger picture.  

PY record

You took my post literally. My first thought was getting coffee and taking a shit.

Because they aren’t bitches.  Because they are professionals.  

If there was a specific family health related issue, then that could have been said in a very general way without compromising personal confidentiality (if that’s a concern in his side).  But that’s not what he said.  Maybe his statement could have been worded better.  But it comes off as we’re not in the playoffs and I’m a FA - so I’m skipping out in the last week.  

That's the longest two-month season I've ever endured. 2020 sucks in every respect.