Buck Showalter doesn't 'want to know anything about the trade market' as Billy Eppler, Mets mull moves
The Mets figure to be active at the 2023 MLB trade deadline, as SNY's Andy Martino reported Friday, and New York manager Buck Showalter trusts in GM Billy Eppler to make the right moves -- whatever those end up being when the dust settles this coming Tuesday.
"I don't know and want to know anything about the trade market," Showalter said before Friday's 7:10 p.m. game against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. "Got a lot of confidence in those people. Believe me, Billy and his staff, it's 24/7. We both left here about 1 last night, and I know he was back at it early this morning. Whatever direction, whatever they choose to do, I know it's well thought out and researched."
The Mets, who entered the weekend at 48-54 after Thursday's 2-1 win, traded closer David Robertson to the Miami Marlins for prospects Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernandez.
While Eppler did not declare the Mets as sellers Thursday, Martino reported Friday on a handful of players generating interest.
Either way, Showalter is staying in his lane.
"As much as I need to know," he said of how much Eppler consults the manager about the Mets' potential targets. "We talk every day, sometimes six or seven times (a day). It's a tough time for him and his staff. I mean, it's a challenge and I've been there and I've been in their shoes. So I've got a lot of respect for it. Fortunate -- running a scouting department and player development, doing that in your past, you get a feel for that and you have a real respect and not sympathy but empathy for what goes on. So I get everything I need to know."
