Dipoto didn't get a raw deal though. He made a ton of terrible moves, drafted poorly, then jumped ship at the first sign of controversy. He was just as bad as Reagins was IMO, the only difference is that he fooled people by being good at giving interviews.
-Signed Baldoquin instead of Moncada or Vladdy Jr.
-Traded Segura for a half season of Greinke
-Signed Hamilton instead of giving that money to Greinke
-Blanton, Hanson, Manson, etc
-Even CJ Wilson was a meh signing
I don't blame him for Pujols, but The list goes on and on past that, I just can't remember right now
Eppler actually understands how to evaluate talent, which is the most important part of being a GM. We kind of lucked into the Ohtani thing, but Eppler got Simmons, he's restocked the farm, and he added to the offense this past offseason
DiPoto came to the org where the FO was run differently. Owner Arte Moreno meddled into baseball operations. Moreno wanted Pujols AND Hambone. What people don't realize is that by signing Pujols and Hambone in different seasons took away the Angels' first round pick in the ensuing draft from those signings. DiPoto wanted to build the pitching. Trading for Greinke was the correct move, but the fact the Owner wanted Hambone overruled retaining Greinke, who would not have cost the org a first round pick.
DiPoto leaving mid-season caused the whole FO to reflect and change. I never would have thought that Sosh would ever bend to a GM, but he has with Eppler's insistence of using the bullpen more to supplement a lack of true aces. Now, Sosh is accomodating to the six-man rotation so that Ohtani can get hits in games. Ohtani has hit three dingers in four games and 7 RBIs. In those limited events, Ohtani has been the Angels best HR and RBI producer.
Now, as for acquisitions by Eppler, he's been very good. Grabbing Simmons was a great grab! A lot of Eppler's moves included moving pitching prospects to acquire players. To get Simmons, the org had to trade away top pitching prospect Sean Newcombe. A lot of other pitching prospects were moved b/c that's what the org had in stock. To land Justin Upton last year, Eppler traded away Angels' #9 prospect RHP Long and RHP Elvin Rodriguez (both under DiPoto era). On the roster today that were from DiPoto are Skaggs, Heaney, Tropeano, and bullpen Middleton.
No GM is perfect, especially if the owner meddles in baseball affairs. DiPoto did some very good things here and some misses as well. Stocking up on pitching gave Eppler ammo to change the Angels into his vision. I'm liking what Eppler has done and where he's taking the Angels. Landing Ohtani sweepstakes was amazing (and mostly on Ohtani's preference). Then we land a new #1 prospect SS Maitan because the Braves were abusing the international bonuses. Lucky for us! We're in good hands with Eppler.
Anyhow, without DiPoto putting the org on blast, then Sosh would never become a "Yes man", owner Moreno would still be taking orders from manager Sosh instead of the General Manager, and we would never have landed Eppler. Those three things would never have happened if DiPoto didn't have the balls to stand up to an upside-down front office organization.