I mean, it's obvious, WIn. And has been -- to play off your comment --
hammered to death.
Yes, we know that Albert's contract is a disaster. Angels fans, and baseball fans alike, knew it the moment it was signed.
And don't get me started on Hamilton's contract. We paid him while he played for the Rangers. Total disaster. Those two contracts hamstrung us for Trout's first three seasons, and Pujols' contract is still robbing Trout of more legacy.
Two of Arte's biggest gaffes. But as I've said, he did so to secure a 1.5B deal from FoxSports. Yay for our billionaire owner...
But Arte does spend. And Eppler is proving to be a good GM. Hopefully he turns into a great GM. Arte must let loose the reins on Billy, and let him have carte blanche this offseason at the winter meetings.
If he does, we will be contenders next year. There is an underbelly of talent in our SP dept, as well as an influx of young talent about to graduate. How good they'll be is what is riding on us taking the next step up. Also, how well Eppler addresses our woeful BP.
We are nowhere near the Stros right now. But we are closer than SEA, imo, to competing for a Chip. And we have the best player of his generation. And Shohei is an alien who has proven his most ardent critics and naysayers (I was very skeptical, myself) wrong.