Billy Eppler has been the general manager of the Los Angeles Angels since 2015, and he needs to be fired. Upon us is another season of disappointing results for a team headlined by the otherworldly talent of Mike Trout. The perennial MVP candidate has been consistently dominating Major League Baseball since 2012 and does not have any October baseball to show for it. The issue with Eppler, and the GM before him, is that the Angels organization lacks any plan or direction. There are teams with far less resources that have thrived the last 8 years. Organizations like the Twins, Athletics and Braves come to mind as teams that may not be at the top of the payroll charts but have executed a plan of development. The Angels failed Mike Trout and will continue to fail Mike Trout. Why?
Aimless Spending
The Angels are in a vicious cycle of not developing enough talent from within so they spend big on talent in free agency. Before we dive into the cycle, it must be stated that the Angels are mired in what is often considered the worst contract in baseball history. 10 years and 242 million at the ripe age of 32 for Albert Pujols. Without a doubt, this set the organization back in many ways but more critically, it decreased the margin for error in developing a team around Mike Trout. To put this into perspective, Trout was a rookie in the first year of Pujols’ contract. Some other unfavorable contracts during Trout’s development were starting pitcher CJ Wilson, Joe Blanton and outfielder Josh Hamilton. The Angels seem to have doubled down this past off-season on Anthony Rendon, who like Pujols, is not getting any younger(early dividends are paying off). There are other glaring needs on this roster and the team decided to spend big on a star corner infielder. They need pitching, middle infield help, more power, and more defensive depth.
Development
The aimless spending above can be attributed to the lack of development from within the organization. Hindsight is 20/20 but it can be stated that instead of spending money on external free agents, the team should have thrown all their resources into scouting, development and adapted to new age analytics a bit quicker than they did. Trout’s reign of baseball supremacy has been put to waste by inefficient decision after inefficient decision. The front office has been under the assumption that they are one move away from playoff contention due to one single player. It is not like the team has not had ample opportunity in the draft. They have not had much on field success leading to a plethora of suitable draft positions. With the resources at the organization’s disposal, the lack of direction or development is extremely troubling. There are teams around the league that have produced many more wins with a lot less to work with. There is one common denominator among those teams, the ability to develop pitching.
Pitching
Pitching is the most critical aspect to winning in baseball. As a staff, if you cannot get outs in an efficient manner then your team cannot compete. Run prevention, at the very least, keeps you in ball games and gives you a fighting chance. The Angels have not developed a top of the line arm in many years. Health has been a factor but it is no excuse as Garret Richards(2.61 ERA in 2014 and 3.65 ERA in 2015) is the only pitcher that comes to mind as an Angels pitcher with top of the rotation talent, infected by the injury bug. The organization has not developed much else from within and their free agent signings have missed. Getting outs is perhaps the ultimate culprit for Trout and the non-competitive Angels. The lack of development, aimless spending and a void of serviceable starting pitchers have compounded into a losing culture. It is time for something different in Anaheim and that may include trading the best player of this generation to start a much needed overhaul and rebuild.