Miami Marlins have a former Angels GM in mind to build a World Series winner

The Miami Marlins might go after Billy Eppler to help them take a young team to the next level. 

The Miami Marlins might’ve lost a playoff series for the first time in franchise history in the NLDS, but Don Mattingly took a ragtag group of players and ended up pushing them into the postseason when many left them for dead.

However, to keep up with the Marlins’ bizarre self-imposed restriction that they have to get rid of good personnel after playoff success, Derek Jeter made the decision to part ways with president of baseball operations Michael Hill, who has been with Miami for almost two decades. A name that could be high atop Jeter’s list of replacements is Billy Eppler, who recently served as the GM for the Los Angeles Angels.

Before the Angels, Billy Eppler was in the Yankees front office

Eppler got his start as a major decision-maker with the Yankees, as he was assistant general manager under Brian Cashman from 2012 to 2014. The Angels named him general manager in 2015, and his tenure was incredibly frustrating for most Angels fans.

After taking over a 98-64 team, Eppler never won more than 85 games in the season. While he was able to convince stars like Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon to pick the Angels over other suitors, his inability to draft and develop prospects coupled with his struggles at finding good starting pitching has been a major reason as to why Mike Trout has yet to win a playoff game in his career. Still, Eppler might be able to land on his feet with his old pal Jeter in Miami.

Eppler is not a perfect GM, and some would say he isn’t even a good GM, but he does have a talent for bringing in stars. Maybe this ability to reel in the big fish is what a young Miami team needs right now.