Should the Angels add Dave Dombrowski to the organization?

[failos]

No way

[Docwaukee]

I think Billy would do fine if handed a top farm system and 200+m in payroll to work with.  Most GM's would.   He's already done a decent portion of the heavy lifting.  

The major league scouting department has been hit or miss so far.  If that's what's broken then I'm not sure Dave Dombrowski is the guy to fix it.  

What the Angels might need is someone in the assistant GM role that's an up and comer in that regard.  

[floplag]

On the surface i think this sounds like a good idea, but i dont like a guy like that who has had  unlimited payroll and all the perks falling like he has.  They either monster over achieved last year, or monster under this year.  I think i would stay away personally.  

[AngelStew43]

Eppler took over a train wreck of a farm system, thanks to DiPoto, and you guys think no one else in baseball is paying attention?  The Red Sox are about to face some major payroll issues, especially if Sale and Iovaldi are out long term.  Most of their top prospects have either already made their way to Boston, or have been dealt.  JMO, a guy that can restock a farm system may be what they are looking for.  

[Fish Oil]

38 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

Eppler took over a train wreck of a farm system, thanks to DiPoto, and you guys think no one else in baseball is paying attention?  The Red Sox are about to face some major payroll issues, especially if Sale and Iovaldi are out long term.  Most of their top prospects have either already made their way to Boston, or have been dealt.  JMO, a guy that can restock a farm system may be what they are looking for.  

This argument is not without merit.

[mmc]

52 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

Eppler took over a train wreck of a farm system, thanks to DiPoto, and you guys think no one else in baseball is paying attention?  The Red Sox are about to face some major payroll issues, especially if Sale and Iovaldi are out long term.  Most of their top prospects have either already made their way to Boston, or have been dealt.  JMO, a guy that can restock a farm system may be what they are looking for.  

The Red Sox have recently had multiple prospects ranked top 5 in the league.  I don’t think they have a problem restocking their farm.

[Blarg]

The Red Sox farm system is depleted of talent and started the year ranked 24th. They only have one player ranked in the top 100. They are having trouble restocking their farm system. 

[mmc]

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

The Red Sox farm system is depleted of talent and started the year ranked 24th. They only have one player ranked in the top 100. They are having trouble restocking their farm system. 

Because they’re trading all of their players to extend the window.  They have proven they can scout and develop minor leaguers.  Their pool is barren because Betts, Benintendi, and Devers have graduated, and Margot, Espinoza, Moncada, and Kopech were traded.

[Blarg]

Doesn't change their current condition. 

[mmc]

3 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Doesn't change their current condition. 

It means that they would have no reason to try to hire Eppler

[Blarg]

Eppler is not available. 

[mmc]

5 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Eppler is not available. 

He will be in about a year

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

He will be in about a year

Wanna do a gentlemen’s bet of lunch?  

[Blarg]

If you say so, but so far he has outlasted Dombrowski's tenure with the Red Sox. 

[John Taylor]

For some reason I thought I answered already in this thread, oh well let me type out my thoughts on if the Angels should bring Dombrowski in....

 

 

..."No"

[Docwaukee]

the red sox smartly made use of spending their was to grab international prospects when that was still an option.  

they made good use of their resources to win a championship so good for them.  

maybe they rebound into a WC spot next year if JD stays and Sale recovers from his injury unexpectedly.  And they would need to spend their way through their pitching woes and a poor farm.  

Firing Dombrowski tells me they're getting ready to rebuild though.  

[Second Base]

Dombrowski is playing the game that no GM should be playing, free agency.  

By their very nature, a free agent is someone that has been really good so far, but is more than likely on the cusp of not being very good.  The nature of the business is to pay that player a lot of money for what they've done in their past, and hope that the decline is gradual and not sudden, so that they can help your team reach its goal before it's too late.

Dipoto sucked at free agency.  Pujols and Hamilton had very sudden declines, CJ Wilson's was gradual, then sudden.  Eppler has sucked in free agency.  Cozart's decline has been sudden.  As was Cahill's, as was Harvey's, as was Lucroy's, etc....  Dombrowski has sucked in free agency.

The point is, if you're a GM, it's hard to not suck in free agency.  The crux of your job is to build a winner from the inside out.  As in you draft and develop the best prospects in the game to build a core around, and then supplement that core with trades when you have a surplus.  And then when the time comes, either use the capital you saved from drafting and developing stars to invest in them to keep them around, or as a last resort, invest in free agents from another organization to supplement your own homegrown talent. 

That's essentially why it sucks to be Eppler right now.  He inherited a crappy team with a bloated payroll, no farm system, and collection of garbage scouts and no international presence whatsoever.  Basically, it's the worst possible position you can find yourself in.  Now Eppler has done some things right.  He's re-established the farm, he's got a solid collection of stateside scouts and is now as aggressive and intelligent as anyone else when it comes to foreign prospects.  Eppler has also brought the financial buoyancy of this organization back where it needs to be.  But the one thing he's been unable to do: DEVELOP GOOD PITCHING PROSPECTS.

He's developed Barria, Canning, Suarez and Sandoval.  Or basically, he's developed three #5 starters and a #4 starter that could be a #2 starter pretty soon.  No aces.  no mid rotation starters.  Just depth.  That's all he's been able to do.  And within the farm itself, there isn't a ton of hope for getting those aces either.  There's Jose Soriano, who is in A ball and needs to find the strike zone more consistently, Chris Rodriguez, who has currently spent 4 years in the minors and totaled three games above rookie ball, and Jack Kochanowicz, who was just drafted, but is still a prep arm that figures to take 2.5 - 5 years to develop.  Nothing to projects into the front or middle of the rotation in AA or AAA.

So Eppler is going to be forced to spend a crap load of money in free agency on pitchers, and just hope that he gets lucky and signs a couple of really good guys whose decline is gradual and not sudden.

Basically, the only way Billy Eppler succeeds here as the GM, is if Shohei Ohtani comes back healthy and pitches at the front of the rotation, Gerrit Cole is signed and pitches at the front of the rotation, and whoever the other pitcher they sign pitches in the middle of the rotation.  From there, Andrew Heaney, Griffin Canning and whoever else is on the depth chart can handle it.  That's the only way they make the playoffs and the only way Billy Eppler saves his job (assuming the reports are true, that it's playoffs or fired for him). 

So to answer the question of whether the Angels should hire Dombrowski, I'm failing to see how he'll make a difference between developing good pitching prospects and not developing them.  Or given his recent track record, signing good free agent pitchers or avoiding the bad ones. 

[Second Base]

On 9/9/2019 at 7:58 AM, AngelStew43 said:

If it were up to me, I'd be sure that Billy Eppler is locked up.  Eppler is just the type of guy that the Red Sox would try to poach from us.

I think if Eppler isn't the Angels GM, there'd be a smaller market team that would really be eager to hire him, given his pretty solid record in building a farm, working within a budget and finding valuable relievers for cheap.  The Marlins immediately come to mind. 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Second Base

[Blarg]

If he went to the Marlins he would be working without a budget 

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

If he went to the Marlins he would be working without a budget 

Yeah. But then again, he'd be working under Jeter, who he speaks well of from his time as the AGM under Cashman in New York. And he's be be working for a team that places particular emphasis on being a major international presence.

[disarcina]

I don't think bringing this guy in makes sense for the Halos -- but it's hard to tell these days,

Eppler's record is fairly mixed -- some successes -- was he behind the Simmons deal?  To me that was a great trade for us.  I think getting Sandoval in the Martin Maldonado trade late last year was a good move -- have not been impressed with the catchers we brought into replace Maldonado, however, -- one is already gone (to the A's - will likely be in the playoffs).  

Speaking of the playoffs - this week's Houston- Oakland series might be a little bit of a reality check for the AL and for the A's --  Houston's been putting up football scores each game,.

 

[disarcina]

after posting that prior post - I realize that while the ASTROS ran up the score vs. A's in the first two games of the series, the A's pounded the Astros 21-7 in Houston today, GEEZ -- did Houston suddenly become Coors Field?

Eppler -- more misses than hits:  let's count some of them :  Lucroy, the replacement at catcher -- gone by July 1, was not that great behind the plate and didn't hit for much; Justin Bour - big bat went south - another DH guy on a team with too many DHs taking roster spots (Pujols, Ohtani etc);  Cahill, a lower cost patchwork option for the rotation -- by mid-season was out of rotation and really no real pen role for him ; ineffective in most outings, starter, set up, long relief etc,; Cody Allen -- closer help - maybe not. Gone.  Matt Harvey - the big hope to fill a rotation spot -- how many starts did he have before the Halos removed him from the rotation and give him a quick hook.  I think he was DFA'd before the end of the game of his final start for the Halos.....

the one guy I really was rooting for and he had a good ST - but unfortunately that was the high point of the season for him. Spent April with us and was gone -- Peter Bourjos -- nostalgia and old times sake -- but always liked the way he played and root for him -- is he out of MLB now ?  Could've helped some NL team as a PR and late inning defensive replacement -- might PH if the situation called for a sac bunt. Oh well. Halos had to make that roster move - was just glad he got another month as a Halo in 2019.  Would like to see him back in a Halos uni as a coach at some point.

Houston was the AL West, heck the AL favorite from day one in 2019 -- no surprise there -- but I did not see the Halos as a 10 games under .500 team this year. At the rate we're going, perhaps we're not that -- more like 15 games under .500. Oh well.  I really thought we were going to be better this year even if not good enough to give Houston a challenge.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Bourjos  is listed as a free agent, so he hasn't caught on anywhere.

[Billy_Ball]

On 9/9/2019 at 5:38 PM, mymerlincat said:

He will be in about a year

        

[Stradling]

On 9/9/2019 at 8:42 PM, Stradling said:

Wanna do a gentlemen’s bet of lunch?  

I owe you lunch.