Billy Eppler resigns as Mets general manager
The Mets announced on Thursday afternoon that general manager Billy Eppler has resigned.
“Billy Eppler led this team through a 101-win season and postseason berth last year and he will be missed,” owner Steve Cohen said in a statement. “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. On behalf of the Mets organization, we wish him all the best.”
“I wanted David to have a clean slate and that meant me stepping down,” Eppler said. “I hope for nothing but the best for the entire Mets organization.”
Hours after the announcement, league sources told SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino that Eppler stepped down due to Major League Baseball investigating him for improper use of the injured list.
The story is still developing.
With Stearns coming on board as the new president of baseball ops, the thinking was the Eppler would work under Stearns, but the 48-year-old had other plans.
Martino called the move "a major surprise," as Eppler was expected to be part of the Mets' leadership team.
Eppler was hired by the Mets in November 2021 after previously serving as an assistant GM with the Yankees (2012-14) and as GM with the Angels (2015-2020).
As Mets GM, Eppler helped bring in players like Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana. He also re-signed key players like Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo and extended Jeff McNeil.
When things went south for the Mets during the 2023 season, Eppler flipped Verlander, Scherzer and other veterans to revamp the team's farm system, bringing in highly-touted prospects like Luisangel Acuna, Drew Gilbert, and Ryan Clifford, among other prospects.
With Eppler's resignation, the Mets will now likely look for a new GM, though there's a possibility that those responsibilities could just fall on Stearns. The Mets, of course, will also be searching for a new manager and a new team president on the business side.
