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Billy Eppler

Quick Hits: Stearns, Rosenthal, Mets, Vazquez, Cruz

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In his latest piece, Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns is interested in filling a similar position for the Mets in the future. That Stearns might be interested in one day taking over the Mets front office isn’t new, but the timing of such a transition had long been obscured due to Stearns’ questionable contract status. Heyman now clarifies that it is “believed” the Brewers’ top executive can opt out of his contract if the Brewers reach the NLCS this season, after which the Mets would likely pursue him.

New York’s personnel decisions were a hot topic this past winter, as the team hired veteran manager Buck Showalter to lead a new on-field staff and were snubbed by a series of high-profile front office candidates. The Brewers were among the rejectors as well, with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio denying the Mets an opportunity to interview David Stearns on multiple occasions. Ultimately the Mets pivoted and signed Billy Eppler to a four-year contract to serve as their GM, with the industry expectation being that the Mets could install a president of baseball operations down the line. Both the Mets and Brewers are certainly pleased with their front office configurations at the moment, however, as the Eppler and Stearns-led clubs sport records of 19-9 and 18-8, respectively, atop their divisions.

Some other news of note on this Thursday evening…

  • Sticking with the Mets, Heyman suggests that the team is likely to seek relief help at the trade deadline. Right-handed reliever and free agent Trevor Rosenthal could be an early target according to Heyman, as the former closer is expected to hold a pitching showcase in the coming weeks. Reported interest in Rosenthal has been widespread since April, but has yet to manifest into a deal. The 31-year-old Rosenthal is coming off an ill-fated, one-year deal with the A’s in which he failed to throw a regular season pitch for the team due to injury. Before he underwent multiple season-ending surgeries in 2021, Rosenthal was fresh off a triumphant comeback season in which he posted a 1.90 ERA with a 41.8% strikeout percentage as the Royals’ and Padres’ closer.
  • Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez is keeping his options open as he nears free agency at the end of the season, per Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. The longtime Boston catcher figures to have his fair share of suitors should he reach free agency like expected, as he routinely draws plaudits for his defensive work and leadership even as his bat has waxed and waned throughout his career. To that end, the Red Sox picked up a $7MM club option on the veteran receiver this offseason even though his 2021 slash line of .258/.308/.352 paled in comparison to the stout .278/.327/.472 line he posted in the preceding two years. Vazquez is off to a tepid start this season with an OPS of just .524, though slow starts are nothing new for the catcher as he looks to lead his club up and away from a last-place tie with the Orioles.
  • Top Pirates prospect Oneil Cruz lit up the minor leagues last season and regularly draws comparisons to Aaron Judge, but Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette outlines a few reasons to temper expectations for the young slugger. The towering shortstop received a two-game game cameo in the majors last season but was ticketed for more work at Triple-A to begin the 2022 season. Thanks to a .159/.266/.256 start to the season and service time repercussions for Pittsburgh, Mackey figures a return to the big leagues is unlikely to happen in the near future. Another wrinkle to keep an eye out for is Cruz’s adoption of a new position this season: left field. Though the 6 foot 7 inch Cruz has primarily played shortstop since his pro debut, including this season, much has been made of his (in)ability to stick there long-term due to his size. The 23-year-old has plainly stated that he “[doesn’t] want to move to the outfield” however, which may complicate his permanent rise to the big league level. Incumbent Pirate shortstops Cole Tucker and Diego Castillo shouldn’t prove to be large roadblocks for the eventual promotion of a player the industry still holds in incredibly high regard. For now though, Pirates fans will have to wait a while longer for their best prospect to join Ke’Bryan Hayes in the lineup and, potentially, the left side of the infield for years to come.

Update On Mets’ Managerial Search

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Not long after reports of the A’s conducting their first managerial interview surfaced, the Mets have begun an interview carousel of their own. SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the Mets conducted their first managerial interview today, and expect to keep the process going Tuesday. Among the identified managerial candidates include a trio of bench coaches— Houston’s Joe Espada, Tampa Bay’s Matt Quatraro, and Pittsburgh’s Don Kelly— as well as two veteran managers, Buck Showalter and Brad Ausmus.

Martino notes that the current list of candidates still has room to grow, but throws cold water on the notion that beloved Mets alumni Curtis Granderson and David Wright will interview after their names surfaced in earlier discussions. Whoever makes the shortlist and earns a shot at interviewing will meet with newly-minted GM Billy Eppler and his staff. Owner Steve Cohen will meet with vetted candidates some time after the initial round of interviews.

The identity of today’s interviewed candidate was none other than Brad Ausmus, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Ausmus has quite a few things going for his candidacy that surely helped net him the first opportunity to meet with Mets decision-makers. One such factor working in Ausmus’s favor is his relationship to Eppler, as Ausmus served as a special assistant to Eppler before being promoted to dugout manager in 2019 while the two were with the Angels. In other networking news, Fansided’s Robert Murray also notes that Ausmus is a Dartmouth alum like Mets president Sandy Alderson and assistant GM Bryn Alderson.

Unlike some of the candidates who have yet to interview, Ausmus also has a track record as a Major League manager. Between his time with the Angels and Detroit, he has compiled a 386-412 record as a manager, including two winning seasons at the helm and a playoff appearance. It probably also doesn’t hurt Ausmus’s case that his best season in Detroit coincided with Max Scherzer’s last season in the AL. Scherzer, one of the Mets’ marquee pickups this offseason, owns one of the game’s more fiery personalities and is perhaps best handled by a dugout operator who’s familiar with his tempo.

If Quatraro’s name rings a bell it may be because he interviewed with the A’s within the past couple of days. That the Tampa Bay bench coach has landed interviews for 100% of this offseason’s managerial vacancies is no surprise. The Rays have proven their division’s winningest team during Quatraro’s time as bench coach, no small feat considering the powerhouses that reside within those same confines. Martino reports that Quatraro is in line for a Tuesday interview.

There aren’t many updates for the remaining candidates of Espada, Kelly, and Showalter, though they all remain highly credible options in the wake of MLBTR’s profile of their candidacies last week. Jon Heyman does note (via Twitter) that Espada and Eppler share a “strong link” dating back to their time in the Yankees organization, and calls Espada a “serious contender”.

Mets Now Focused On Pitching

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9:35 am: The Mets are “not overly optimistic” about signing Scherzer, despite having had conversation with agent Scott Boras, per Andy Martino of SNY (via Twitter). Gausman is their current focus. Martino adds that Gausman could make his signing decision as early as today.

8:49 am: The Mets began their offseason in earnest yesterday, adding a trio of soon-to-be 33-year-old bats to the lineup. Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha bring certainty to the beginning of new GM Billy Eppler’s tenure, as well as defensive flexibility and right-handed thump. The additions could be all they need to solidify their lineup (along with Nick Plummer as a potential reserve outfielder), but they don’t address what is arguably the Mets’ biggest need: pitching.

With Noah Syndergaard in Los Angeles and the Steven Matz debacle in the rear-view, pitching remains a priority, writes The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Free agent Marcus Stroman fits the bill, but the worm-killing righty has been vocal of late, both about his interest in returning to New York, and about the organization’s apparent focus on other arms, per Stroman himself (via Twitter).

Former Rockies’ right-hander Jon Gray may be one of those other potential targets, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). It’s unclear if Sherman is speculating on fit or reporting team interest, but Gray is a popular name regardless, given his perceived upside as he leaves Colorado. Beyond Gray, Max Scherzer and Kevin Gausman are two of the top arms on the market that the Mets may be eyeing. Either one would be an upgrade for the top of the Mets rotation, which currently has talent, but plenty of injury uncertainty in Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker.

Mets Name Billy Eppler General Manager

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Nov. 18: The Mets have announced the hiring of Eppler on a four-year deal, as expected.

Nov. 17: The agreement being finalized is a four-year contract, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Newsday’s David Lennon tweets that the hiring will likely become official on Friday.

Nov. 15: After weeks of searching for a new baseball operations leader, the Mets are reportedly finalizing a contract and naming former Angels GM Billy Eppler their new general manager. Eppler’s hiring will give the Mets an experienced baseball operations leader to take over a department that has seen a staggering amount of turnover in the past year.

Billy Eppler

The Mets have effectively been without a general manager for more than a calendar year now, since incoming owner Steve Cohen dismissed former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen the day his sale of the team was finalized. New York sought to hire a high-profile executive to overtake the baseball operations department last year, but after struggling to obtain permission to interview several high-ranking officials with other clubs, Cohen and returning team president Sandy Alderson settled on naming D-backs assistant GM Jared Porter their new general manager.

The Porter hiring proved regrettable almost immediately, as he was fired just six weeks into his tenure following the revelation of repeated sexual harassment of a reporter years prior. Zack Scott, who’d been hired from the Red Sox as an assistant GM, was elevated to the title of “acting GM” and thought to be a candidate for permanent promotion to the GM post before he was arrested on a DWI charge over the summer. He’s since been cut from the organization himself.

Cohen and Alderson opened the 2021-22 offseason with a similar plan to last year, hoping to interview some of the biggest front-office names in the sport. A meeting between Theo Epstein and Cohen, however, ended with both sides reportedly agreeing there was not a fit. The Brewers denied permission to interview David Stearns for a second straight offseason, and longtime A’s baseball operations leader Billy Beane withdrew his name from the running before taking a meeting. Thus began a series of denials for the Mets — some when another team refused to grant permission to interview an executive and some when an executive with another club declined to interview at all.

After a dizzying sequence of candidates had come to light, the Mets turned to the agent world once again. Eppler, two months ago, had accepted a position with William Morris Endeavor — a well-known talent representation company in Hollywood that has recently branched out into baseball representation. Eppler was expected to help head up a fledgling baseball practice with WME, who a year ago landed star shortstop Carlos Correa as its highest-profile client. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Eppler had inked a five-year deal with WME but will instead quickly return to the other side of the negotiation table.

Eppler is no stranger to New York City after a decade-long run in the Yankees’ front office prior to his run with the Halos. The now-46-year-old broke into baseball as a scout with the Rockies in the early 2000s before joining the Yankees in that same role. He was eventually named the Yankees’ director of scouting and, in 2011, promoted to the title of assistant general manager — a role he’d hold until being hired to lead the Angels’ baseball operations staff following the 2015 season.

The Angels opted to move on from Eppler last offseason despite a year remaining on his contract, as he’d not yet produced a postseason team during that time. Of course, Eppler also inherited a barren farm system a payroll outlook that was bogged down by an ownership-driven signing of Albert Pujols, and a team that was in the “penalty box” in terms of international signing capabilities for the first couple years of his tenure there.

To Eppler’s credit, the Angels wooed Shohei Ohtani under his watch and also worked out a record extension with center fielder Mike Trout, likely keeping him in Anaheim for the duration of his career. It was also under Eppler that the Angels extended Justin Upton on an ill-fated five-year contract and signed Anthony Rendon to a seven-year, $245MM that did nothing to address the team’s rotation deficiencies — although as Maria Torres of the L.A. Times explored at the time of that 2019 signing, owner Arte Moreno’s fixation on acquiring Rendon pre-dated Eppler’s hiring as general manager.

Free-agent spending was generally limited for Eppler — not surprising given the mammoth outlays on the books — and often resulted in a series of one-year deals for high-risk players. Signings of Matt Harvey, Julio Teheran, Tim Lincecum, Cody Allen and Trevor Cahill didn’t prove fruitful, nor was a three-year deal for infielder Zack Cozart, which was the only free-agent deal other than Rendon that was priced at even $20MM during Eppler’s tenure. In addition to the struggles in free agency, many of the Angels’ homegrown arms were regularly injured and/or wildly inconsistent.

Free agency is only one piece of the puzzle for any baseball ops leader, though, and it should be noted that Eppler has a pretty solid track record on the trade front. The Angels’ initial acquisition of Upton was shrewd, prior to that regrettable extension, and several other notable trades under his watch panned out quite well for the Angels. Andrelton Simmons, Patrick Sandoval, Max Stassi, Tommy La Stella, Felix Pena and Dylan Bundy (who was excellent for the Halos in 2020) were all acquired at generally minimal cost. Eppler had a knack for finding waiver gems, too, as evidenced by the team’s success with Hansel Robles, Brian Goodwin, Blake Parker and Noe Ramirez.

While it was a rather circuitous route to get here, the Mets’ ultimate GM hire in many ways resembles the candidates they began seeking out of the gate this offseason. Recent Mets targets have generally been the second or third in command of opposing teams’ baseball operations hierarchies, but Eppler is an experienced baseball ops leader who is familiar with big markets and comes with some name recognition. That falls more in line with the Mets’ early pursuits of Epstein, Stearns and Beane than with recent interest in a slew of assistant GMs.

Once Eppler is formally installed and announced as the new general manager, he could get the opportunity to operate with a bit more latitude than was afforded to him under the Halos and Moreno. His first order of business will be to name a manager to replace Luis Rojas, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman suggests that former Angels skipper Brad Ausmus could be high on Eppler’s list. That wouldn’t come as much of a surprise given that Eppler hired Ausmus to lead his staff in Anaheim, but the Mets figure to embark on a full-fledged managerial search and interview a number of candidates before making any final decisions on that front.

SNY’s Andy Martino reported earlier today that Eppler had gained traction as a leading candidate in the Mets’ search. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported that the Mets had made an offer to Eppler (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported that Eppler and Cohen had met face-to-face over the weekend and that a contract was in the works (Twitter links). MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added that talks were in the final stages.

Latest On Mets’ Front Office Targets

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The list of names connected to the Mets’ front office continues growing with each passing day. The newest addition is former Angels’ general manager Billy Eppler, as Andy Martino of SNY reports that the Mets “have interest” in Eppler, though he has not yet been interviewed for the position.

Eppler has around 20 years of organizational experience at this point in his career, having been hired by the Rockies as a scout in the year 2000. He moved over to the Yankees in 2004, eventually getting promoted to the director of the scouting department, and then to assistant general manager prior to the 2012 season. He became the Angels’ general manager prior to the 2016 season and stayed in that role until being fired in September of 2020. Two months ago, it was revealed that Eppler had joined the William Morris Endeavor agency as a business partner. Given that Eppler is not currently employed by a rival club, he could seemingly avoid the typical song and dance that the Mets have had to go through with many other candidates, asking the club for permission for an interview and often being denied. At this point, it’s not clear if the Mets’ interest is reciprocated from Eppler’s side or if he’s committed to a new role on the other side of the bargaining table.

It was recently reported that the Red Sox were going to give assistant GM Raquel Ferreira permission to speak with the Mets, and it now seems a conversation is imminent. A report in the New York Post from Ken Davidoff, Joel Sherman and Mike Puma says that Ferreira and Mets’ officials will be speaking in the coming days, although it may not exactly be a formal interview. “It’s believed that the talk will be more of a ’Get to know you’ session,” says the article, “in which both sides will determine whether they want to take this idea any further.” However, Jon Heyman of MLB Network does use the word “interview” in a tweet about the matter. Regardless of semantics, it seems that Ferreira’s process is further along than many other executives, who have either been denied permission to speak with the Mets or quickly turned down their advances.

That same article also confirms previous reporting that the Mets are interested in Orioles’ assistant GM Sig Mejdal, although it’s not known if the Orioles will allow the Mets to interview him and, as the piece states, “There is uncertainty within the industry whether Mejdal wants to run a baseball operations department.”

Elsewhere in the Mets’ organization, they also have a vacancy at the manager level, and Heyman reports that they spoke with Bob Melvin before he made the leap from Oakland to San Diego, but that his preference for remaining on the West Coast kept talks from coming to fruition. There were no rumors of Melvin leaving Oakland before it was announced that he had been hired by the Padres, but it appears it that at least a few teams knew he was available and were discussing things behind the scenes.

Former Angels GM Billy Eppler Joins WME Agency

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Former Angels general manager Billy Eppler has joined the William Morris Endeavor agency, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (Twitter link). Eppler, who was dismissed by the Angels last year, will now work on the other side of the negotiating table, it seems. Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal further reports that WME has hired agents Jim Murray and Michael Stival, both formerly of Excel Sports Management, adding some more names to their growing baseball practice. WME also hired Kent Matthes from CAA earlier in the year.

While the WME talent agency (formerly WMA before acquiring IMG and rebranding in 2014) has been around for more than a century, the company’s foray into representing baseball players is still relatively fresh. Carlos Correa hired Jon Rosen of WME to represent him back in 2019.

It’s not yet clear which, if any clients from the former agencies of Murray, Stival and Matthes will now be represented under the WME banner, but given the recent spate of hires it seems the firm is intent on rapidly broadening its baseball branch. Whether Eppler will directly represent players moving forward or will work with the agency’s player representatives in another capacity remains to be seen, but for the time being it appears this takes him out of the running for any team-side opportunities that may arise elsewhere in the league.

Angels Fire Billy Eppler

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The Los Angeles Angels have fired General Manager Billy Eppler, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Eppler had one year remaining on his deal after the Angels gave him a one-year extension this past summer, notes The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.

The Angels announced the decision on Twitter with a statement from team president John Carpino: “The Angels Organization would like to thank Billy for his dedication and work ethic over the last five years. We wish him and his family all the best.”

Owner Arte Moreno signed a 40-year-old Eppler in October of 2015 from his executive role with the Yankees to be the 12th General Manager Angels’ history. Previous GM Jerry Dipoto had resigned in July amid tension with then-manager Mike Scioscia. The Angels failed to make the playoffs over Eppler’s five-year tenure, having last made the postseason in 2014. Over those five seasons from 2016 to 2020, the Angels went 332-375 for an overall .470 winning percentage. The team’s high-water mark during Eppler’s tenure was back-to-back 80-82 seasons in 2017 and 2018.

The organization made many positive strides in Eppler’s time — namely winning the bidding for two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and signing all-time great Mike Trout to a long-term extension. He also steadily improved the organization’s farm system after years of ranking near the bottom of the league in that regard, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange-County Register. He brought Andrelton Simmons into the organization via trade and signed MVP-caliber third baseman Anthony Rendon to a free agent deal this past winter. The Angels also succeeded with under-the-radar success stories in recent seasons with the development of players like Tommy La Stella, Brian Goodwin, and Dylan Bundy.

With Trout already on the roster and big money committed to Albert Pujols, Eppler never got a clean slate in Los Angeles and had to do his best to rebuild the team on the fly. Still, five years of Trout’s prime without a playoff appearance colors his legacy with the club. Eppler’s Achilles heel would prove to be the building of a pitching staff worthy of contention. Since Eppler took over, Angels’ pitchers have accumulated the second-lowest fWAR in the majors (Marlins are last). A 4.49 team ERA ties with the Padres for 19th best over that span, while a 4.60 FIP ties with the Royals for the 24th-best mark overall. He made a number of trades that benefited the organization, but until the Bundy deal this past winter, it’s hard to find an impactful trade that brought pitching into the organization.

Rumors in recent weeks had suggested that Eppler was perhaps on the hot seat in Anaheim, and veteran baseball operations executive Dave Dombrowski was rumored as a potential replacement for Eppler before he’d even been formally let go. The Halos may consider other options in their search, but Dombrowksi’s name will surely be heavily linked to the now-official Angels vacancy in the days and weeks to come.

Multiple Reports Link Angels To Dave Dombrowski

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Angels general manager Billy Eppler is in the final season of his contract, and with the Angels assured of a fifth straight losing season, multiple reports have linked the team to veteran executive Dave Dombrowski as a potential replacement. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal calls the Halos the “most likely” team to make a switch at GM, adding that Dombrowski is the most frequently mentioned replacement option. Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times writes that the “widely held belief” is that the Angels are in for yet another front-office regime change and that the “industry consensus” is that owner Arte Moreno will pursue Dombrowski.

It’s been five years since Eppler took over for Jerry Dipoto, who resigned from his post in the wake of a highly publicized rift with then-manager Mike Scioscia. Los Angeles has yet to return to the postseason or even put together a winning record in that time. Instead of postseason wins built around the game’s best player, Mike Trout, much of the focus has been on the Angels’ perennial struggles to keep an underachieving pitching staff healthy enough to take the mound.

Since Eppler took the helm, the Angels rank 23rd among MLB teams in rotation ERA (4.74), 27th in FIP (4.84) and 29th in overall innings pitched. Angels starters have tallied just 3490 1/3 innings over those five seasons — a mark trailed only by a Rays club that has used openers more aggressively than any team in the Majors. The trade to acquire Dylan Bundy looks superlative at the moment, but most of the other attempts to patch the rotation have fizzled. Free agents Julio Teheran, Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Doug Fister and Tim Lincecum didn’t bear fruit. Landing Shohei Ohtani was a clear feather in Eppler’s cap, but Ohtani has been far more impactful at the plate than on the mound thanks to numerous injuries.

From acquiring Andrelton Simmons in his first winter on the job to Bundy this past offseason, Eppler has made his share of strong moves while controlling the Halos’ baseball ops outfit. However, the team is still in need of upgrades both in the rotation and bullpen. The salaries of Trout, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rendon and Justin Upton weigh down next year’s payroll already, though the Pujols deal will finally be off the books post-2021. Supplementing the many holes on the roster could prove difficult with $118MM already on the books and a sizable arbitration class. Whether Eppler will make those additions seems cloudy at best.

Hiring Dombrowski or any other experienced front office exec would be something of a departure from the norm, Shaikin points out. The Angels’ past three GMs have all been rookies — Eppler, Dipoto and Tony Reagins — and each had something less than 100 percent autonomy over baseball operations decisions. It is well documented that Moreno spearheaded the team’s acquisitions of Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Vernon Wells, and Shaikin adds that it was Moreno who made the decision to dump Brad Ausmus (Eppler’s chosen skipper) after just one season in order to pursue Joe Maddon.

Dombrowski, of course, knows plenty about putting together win-now rosters with an “at all costs” mentality, as evidenced by a lengthy run of contending Tigers clubs and his quick World Series win with the Red Sox. In both instances, Dombrowski had an owner who was willing to spend money and sacrifice young talent for short-term gains on the trade market. That seems likely to be the position in which the Angels find themselves this winter, as pressure to win will build considerably following a six-year playoff drought.

Trade Deadline Notes: Royals, Moore, Rays, BoSox, Angels, Eppler, Orioles

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Trevor Rosenthal and other Royals relievers are already drawing interest from trade suitors, though GM Dayton Moore hasn’t ruled out being a deadline buyer.  “We wouldn’t hesitate to add to this team,” Moore told Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.  “This team is talented enough to be one of eight teams representing the American League in the playoffs….So I’m not even beginning to think about dismantling or moving players that help us win at this point.  I believe that this group of players is extremely talented and very much capable of being a playoff team.”

The Royals are last in the AL Central with an 11-18 record, and they sit four games back of the Blue Jays for the last AL wild card slot.  While they’d have to leapfrog a lot of teams to cross the postseason line, even one brief winning streak could greatly improve Kansas City’s chances in the shortened season.  As Worthy notes, the Royals haven’t yet had their entire ideal roster together at one time, as multiple key players have been sidelined due to injuries and COVID-19.  It doesn’t seem likely that K.C. will make any kind of big deadline push, though those expecting a mini-fire sale might also be disappointed.

More trade buzz from around the league…

  • There is no doubt that the Rays are planning on being deadline buyers, as ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets that “other teams say the Rays are being very aggressive in” trade talks.  It stands to reason that Tampa Bay is targeting pitching given all of their injured arms, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rays swing some creative deals to address multiple needs.  In July 2019, for instance, Tampa landed Nick Anderson, Trevor Richards, Eric Sogard, and Jesus Aguilar in separate deals with the Marlins, Blue Jays, and Brewers respectively, while five other lower-level trades were also consummated.
  • The Red Sox are willing to include some money to accommodate trades, Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal writes (subscription required).  We’ve already seen the Sox kick in $815K to the Phillies as part of the Brandon Workman/Heath Hembree trade last weekend, and McAdam speculates that Boston could potentially eat larger sums for higher-paid players like J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, or Christian Vazquez in order to land a better prospect return.
  • Though the Angels’ 9-21 record is the worst in the American League, their approach at the trade deadline could be impacted by front office uncertainty, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman said in an appearance on the MLB Network (video link).  “There is probably not a general manager on thinner ice…right now than Billy Eppler,” Sherman notes, as the Halos are looking at their fifth straight losing season in Eppler’s five-year tenure.  Since Eppler’s contract is up after the season, Sherman wonders if the GM would have the green light to trade anything beyond rental players.  Dylan Bundy and Andrew Heaney, for instance, would draw a lot of trade interest if shopped, though both pitchers are also arbitration-controlled through 2021 and the Angels plan to contend next season.
  • The Orioles have a .500 record and are in the mix for a playoff berth, though both The Athletic’s Dan Connolly and the Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli figure that the team isn’t likely to make any splashy rental acquisitions.  As Connolly puts it, “general manager Mike Elias is focused on his big-picture plan and he’s not going to alter that for the immediate gratification of a seventh or eighth seed in a short season.”  Meoli, meanwhile, wonders if the O’s will be particularly active either as a buyer or seller at the deadline, noting that Elias didn’t swing many significant deals at the 2019 trade deadline and instead waited until the offseason to move the likes of Bundy and Jonathan Villar.  Between many teams’ uncertain financial situations and the lack of many defined buyers or sellers, there might even more reason this year for the Orioles to hold off until the winter.

Angels GM Billy Eppler Discusses Wheeler, Simmons, Ohtani, Canning

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Angels general manager Billy Eppler took part in an online Q&A session with fans on Friday, addressing many topics about his team.  Here are some of the highlights, with Eppler’s answers compiled by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register…

  • The Angels were linked to Zack Wheeler’s market over the winter, and Eppler filled in some details about the team’s interest, saying “we pursued Wheeler pretty aggressively.”  That pursuit included a cross-country trip in November for Eppler, manager Joe Maddon, and team president John Carpino to meet with Wheeler in person.  Despite this courtship, Wheeler ended up signing with the Phillies, though the Halos may have faced an uphill battle to sign the right-hander for geographical reasons, as Wheeler wanted to stay on the East Coast and in closer proximity to his wife’s family in New Jersey.  Other suitors such as the Twins and White Sox also seemingly fell short of Wheeler’s services for the same reason, as Chicago’s offer was reportedly worth more than the $118MM Wheeler received from Philadelphia.
  • Fletcher reported in February that the Angels had yet to begin extension talks with Andrelton Simmons, and Eppler confirmed that the club hadn’t held any negotiations with Simmons and his agents prior to the league shutdown.  As per the GM, there had only been “internal discussions” within the front office at the start of Spring Training about a possible new deal for the defensive wizard.  Simmons is set to become a free agent in the 2020-21 offseason, and the shortstop would still be eligible for the open market even if the COVID-19 pandemic wipes out the entire 2020 season.  Of course, the league-wide transactions freeze also covers extension negotiations, so the Angels and other teams can’t talk contracts with any players during the shutdown.
  • Shohei Ohtani threw two bullpen sessions this week, Eppler revealed, including a 15-pitch session on Friday that consisted of only fastballs.  Ohtani continues to progress in his recovery from Tommy John surgery and should be ready to pitch when and if the season does get underway.  The two-way star was originally slated to return to the mound in mid-May, though since games surely won’t resume by that point, Ohtani likely won’t end up missing any time in the Los Angeles rotation.
  • Eppler also provided an update on Griffin Canning, saying that the young righty should start throwing off a mound within 7-10 days.  “His throwing program is back to 120 to 150 feet this week, at about 70 to 80 percent intensity,” Eppler said.  Canning was sidelined early in Spring Training due to elbow problems, including what the club described at the time as “chronic changes to the UCL and acute joint irritation.”  While there was much speculation that Canning would need Tommy John surgery, Canning instead received a platelet-rich plasma injection, as Eppler said that “surgery wasn’t recommended in Griffin’s case…ultimately the different physicians we had him see didn’t recommend it.”  The prospect of the season being canceled doesn’t have any bearing on whether Canning would eventually undergo a Tommy John procedure, as Eppler said “we would not proactively subject him to that surgery unless there was new evidence or a new injury that took place.”
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