MLB: Rating front offices of the AL West
By Bill Felber
Los Angeles Angels
Billy Eppler, GM: -0.5 games
Eppler was dismissed by team owner Arte Moreno after a five-year tenure that saw plenty of flash but no actual result.
The players Eppler spent money on players who would go a long way toward filling a PR All-Star team. They included Mike Trout, Justin Upton, Shohei Ohtani, and Alex Rendon. In fact, the most constant element of Eppler’s tenure was the signing of a mega-star to a mega-deal.
That only goes to prove that you can’t buy a pennant. All the flash never brought the Angles as much as a .500 record during Eppler’s tenure, much less a playoff appearance.
The 2020 season was typical. He signed Rendon (seven years, $245 million), traded for Dylan Bundy, and hired celebrity manager Joe Madden. But the Angels finished 26-34 and fourth in the AL West. At 5.09, they were third-worst in AL ERA.
For the season, Eppler made 31 personnel moves affecting the 2020 roster, but only 12 of them produced a positive impact. Rendon (+1.4) and Bundy (+1.2) were the obvious standouts.
But the promotion of rookie phenom Jo Adell hurt Los Angeles almost as much as those other moves helped. Adell may be great someday, but he hit just.161 in 132 plate appearances and yielded -1.8 WAA.
Here is the annual short-term performance rating of the Angels’ front office since Eppler became general manager in 2016:
- 2016: -6.1
- 2017: +0.6
- 2018: -0.8
- 2019: -4.3
- 2020: -0.5