Billy Eppler

Billy Eppler
Born 1974/1975 (age 40–41)
San Diego, California
Alma mater University of Connecticut
Occupation General manager
Organization Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Billy Eppler (born 1975) is an American baseball executive. He is the general manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Major League Baseball. He previously served as the New York Yankees' director of professional scouting and assistant general manager.

Career

Eppler is a native of San Diego, California, and graduated from University of San Diego High School in 1993.[1][2] He attended the University of Connecticut and pitched for the Connecticut Huskies baseball team, until an arm injury ended his playing career.[3] He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in finance in 1998.[4]

After graduating from Connecticut, Eppler interned with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.[4] The Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball hired Eppler as a scout in 2000.[3] After the 2004 season, he was hired to scout for the New York Yankees, working in the Tampa office run by Mark Newman and Damon Oppenheimer. When Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman was given the authority to restructure the Yankees' front office after the 2005 season, he created a professional scouting department and promoted Eppler to serve as its director.[3][5] In that role, Eppler and his staff were responsible for scouting acquisitions, which led to the signings of Bartolo Colón, Eric Chavez, Cory Wade, Freddy García, Russell Martin, Andruw Jones, and Luis Ayala.[6] He was promoted to Assistant General Manager during the 2011–12 offseason.[7]

Eppler is well versed in the statistics of baseball, using them to sign Edwar Ramírez out of independent baseball.[8] In 2011, Eppler interviewed for the general manager opening for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was one of the finalists for the position, which went to Jerry Dipoto.[9] In August 2014, he interviewed to be the general manager for the San Diego Padres,[1] but the Padres hired A. J. Preller.[10] When the Arizona Diamondbacks fired Kevin Towers as their general manager in September 2014, Eppler was one of the five candidates they identified as a potential replacement.[11] Eppler declined to interview for the position,[12] and the Diamondbacks chose Dave Stewart.[13]

In 2015, following Dipoto's resignation, Eppler again interviewed with the Angels for their general manager position.[14] The Angels hired Eppler as their general manager on October 4,[15] signing him to a four-year contract.[16] Later in October, the Angels lost front office executives Matt Klentak, Tim Bogar, and Scott Servais, who were hired by other organizations.[17] Eppler developed his own analytics department, and brought some executives, including special assistant Eric Chavez, to the Angels from New York.[16]

Personal life

Eppler and his wife, Catherine, married in 2007 and have a son.[2][17]

References

  1. 1 2 "SD native Eppler interviews for Padres' GM job". San Diego Padres. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Destination wedding for New York couple meant lots of prep time via phone, e-mail - The San Diego Union-Tribune". Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Kepner, Tyler (February 28, 2009). "Yanks’ Top Scout Has Eye for Talent and Ear for Nuance". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Kuty, Brendan (September 5, 2015). "Billy Eppler to Angels? What you should know about Yankees' assistant GM". NJ.com. NJ Advance Media. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kepner, Tyler (September 22, 2006). "BASEBALL; From Arizona, to Columbus, to the Bronx". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ Carig, Marc (October 30, 2011). "Yankees' expanded scouting is a key resource during offseason". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Yankees hire former Cubs GM Jim Hendry as Special Assignment Scout". MLB.com. January 31, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  8. ↑ Neyer, Rob (July 17, 2007). "Yanks use stats to find a gem". ESPN. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Jerry Dipoto to be new Angels general manager". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler can't cash in on experience". NY Daily News. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  11. ↑ Magruder, Jack (September 5, 2014). "Tony La Russa lists 5 candidates for D-backs general manager". Fox Sports Arizona. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  12. ↑ Gilbert, Steve (September 14, 2014). "La Russa set to trim list of GM candidates: D-backs' chief baseball officer may have finalists meet club brass soon". MLB.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Stewart reportedly D-backs' choice to be general manager". Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ Fletcher, Jeff (October 4, 2015). "Angels closing in on GM decision, likely Billy Eppler". Orange County Register. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Angels hire Yanks assistant GM Billy Eppler as general manager". Associated Press. October 4, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  16. 1 2 Kepner, Tyler (March 20, 2016). "Billy Eppler Is Rebuilding the Angels, but on a Fast Track". The New York Times. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  17. 1 2 Gonzalez, Alden (October 26, 2015). "Eppler mulling all options for front-office staff: New Angels GM wants a group to work well together moving forward". MLB.com. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

External links

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