After busy trade deadline, Billy Eppler says Mets will field a ‘competitive’ team next season
After a massive offseason in which the Mets posted the highest payroll in baseball, what could go wrong went wrong for the team, and they ultimately found themselves in the midst of a historic teardown ahead of the trade deadline.
It started with closer David Robertson being shipped within the division to the Marlins and then led to more shocking trades of aces Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander just days later. In all, they ended up moving six different players in an effort to rebuild the farm system.
While speaking with reporters Tuesday night, Mets general manager Billy Eppler explained the thought process in the decision to sell some of their biggest pieces.
“Given the place that we were in we were just trying to be strategic, we wanted to see what opportunities exist on some of our players. We had certain price points we were looking for and if those were met we were going to execute it,” he said.
“One of the goals here is to expedite the longer-term goal,” Eppler added. “We’re trying to restock and reload the farm system. You have to go through a little pain to get where we want to go, but I feel like the organization is making strides towards a better future.”
With the roster looking a bit depleted as currently constructed, Eppler knows he’s going to have to do some restocking this offseason. The organization is prepared to invest in the 2024 team through free agency.
“We’ll end up watching our players for the rest of the season and make some further evaluations and see how our depth chart looks,” he said. “We’re going to have to go into free agency and that’s okay.
“Whether we go in for a couple of starting pitchers or not will be seen over these next couple of months. Whether we have to go in for a couple of outfielders, that might be the case as well. We’ll go in for some bullpen as well. We’ll just see how things unfold in the next couple of months.”
While it may seem a bit difficult right now with their attention turned towards the future, Eppler reiterated that the Mets are prepared to do what it takes to put together a winning ball club next year.
“Going into 2024 we don’t see ourselves having the same odds that we did in 2022 and 2023, but we will field a competitive team," Eppler said. "Now is the time when we start to think about what opportunities can exist in the winter, what kind of resources we’ll have at our disposal and put our best foot forward.
"Our goal is ultimately to build that sustainability. We won’t have the same odds in 2024 but we will put together a competitive team."
