Billy Eppler Resigns Amid MLB Investigation For Improper IL Use
Updated Post – Oct. 5, 20:29
The New York Post reports that Billy Eppler resigned as New York Mets GM because he didn’t want to be a distraction to the organization as Major League Baseball investigates for improper use of the injured list.
The Post reports that Eppler has not yet talked to MLB officials.
Original Post – Oct. 5, 16:29
The New York Mets announced on Thursday night that general manager Billy Eppler has resigned as the teams GM. “I wanted David to have a clean slate and that meant me stepping down,” Eppler said in a statement.
Billy Eppler. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
“We accepted Billy’s resignation today as he decided it is in everyone’s best interest to fully hand over the leadership of Baseball Operations to David Stearns,” Steve Cohen said.
The Mets introduced David Stearns as the first president of baseball operations in team history on Monday.
Eppler’s time with the Mets, while short, was influential. In his first offseason, Eppler signed cornerstone players in Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Adam Ottavino, and traded for Chris Bassitt, who finished the 2022 season with a 3.42 ERA in 181 2/3 innings pitched.
The most monumental move of the 2021-2022 offseason, however, was the signing of Max Scherzer. The signing of the former two-time Cy Young award winner was a key moment in franchise history and forever changed the narrative about the New York Mets organization.
While the 2022 season didn’t end like Mets fans had hoped, the team still won 101 games and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
After losing in the National League Wild Card round in 2022, Eppler doubled down the next offseason. He signed the reigning American League Cy Young winner Justin Verlander to a two-year, $86.7 million deal, along with the Japanese phenom Kodai Senga and former All-Star José Quintana to bolster the rotation.
Eppler also re-signed key core players in the 2022-2023 offseason. Brandon Nimmo returned on an eight-year, $162 million deal and Edwin Díaz returned on a five-year, $102 million deal after having a historic season in 2022.
Unfortunately for Eppler and the Mets, the 2023 season became a complete disaster. Díaz injured himself in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and didn’t throw a pitch for the Mets in 2023. Verlander and Quintana both missed the beginning of the season, with the latter missing the entire first half.
These injuries were too large for the Mets to overcome. The team floated around .500 for the majority of the first half and eventually were decimated by a 7-19 June. These circumstances led to a shift in approach by Eppler and the front office, and by the time July came around, the team entered into sell mode.
The first move Eppler made marked the beginning of a controversial deadline for the Mets. David Robertson was shipped off to the Marlins first for Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernández, two minor leaguers in low-A ball.
This trade led to Scherzer openly questioning Eppler, who stated he had to “have a talk” with him and Steve Cohen about the direction of the organization. The talk, of course, resulted in Scherzer being traded to the Rangers for Luisangel Acuña.
After shipping away Scherzer, Verlander was next. Eppler sent him back to the Astros on the day of the trade deadline and in return, received the Astros’ number one overall prospect Drew Gilbert, and number fourth overall Ryan Clifford.
The trades of Scherzer and Verlander sparked more controversy after Scherzer publicly spoke about his discussion with Eppler and Cohen post-trade. Scherzer reported that Eppler told him 2024 would be a “transitional” year and that the team wouldn’t compete until 2025 or 2026.
Despite 2023 being a failed season, Eppler’s trade deadline improved the Mets farm system. His trade returns included four new top 10 organizational prospects (MLB.com), including Gilbert and Acuña, who are both top 100 prospects in the majors.
Eppler also made smaller moves that proved to be fruitful. He traded Dominic Leone, who the Mets had acquired off waivers, for Jeremiah Jackson, who posted an .801 OPS with seven homers in 37 at-bats with the Mets. The Angels also sent over Coleman Crow and Landon Marceaux for Escobar earlier in the season. Escobar slashed .219/.259/.303 after the trade while Crow had a 1.88 ERA in Double-A before he had Tommy John Surgery in the summer with the Mets.
Eppler has added top talent in his two drafts with the Mets. Over the last two years, he has drafted Jett Williams, Kevin Parada, Blade Tidwell, Brandon Sproat, Tyler Stuart, Colin Houck, Jacob Reimer, and Paul Gervase, among other many talented names. With these moves, along with stellar drafting in later rounds, Eppler improved the Mets’ farm system from 20th overall (2021) to 11th by mid-season (2023) (MLB.com).
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