“We were finally making some corrections, and we ran out of runway,” first-year manager Joe Maddon said. “But the heart of this group is impressive.”

The Angels started 9-22, and that hole proved too deep to escape even with a subsequent 17-9 surge. The Angels won 14 of 20 games in September before getting eliminated from the playoff race Friday and ending the season with a three-game sweep by the major league-leading Dodgers, who went 6-0 against the Halos.

“Outside of these three games in LA, I’m very happy with how we finished,” Maddon said before heading off to drive his RV back to Pennsylvania. “We played a much better brand of baseball. We started getting clearly defined roles. Loved the fight.”

So yet another long offseason begins with a GM search by Moreno, the same owner who gave a $240 million contract to a nearly 32-year-old Pujols nine years ago. Pujols will be the majors’ oldest player at 41 next season, when he’s scheduled to make $30 million.

If Angels fans aren’t exactly sold on Moreno’s ability to make the right hire, his next general manager will have plenty of assets left to him by Eppler, along with the ability to do more. The Angels look closer to contention than they’ve been since shortly after Eppler took over, but the new front office will have plenty of work to do.

What lies ahead for the Angels: