Billy Eppler Appears Ready for the Challenge
Mets' new GM talks the talk in introductory presser despite a mountain of work ahead
The New York Mets officially announced Billy Eppler as their general manager on Friday afternoon, welcoming the longtime Yankees and Angels front office executive into the family with a first-class ticket from the frying pan directly into the fire.
Major league teams welcome new GMs into their ranks every year. This hire is, um, different. And that's putting it bluntly.
Not only did the Mets reportedly exhaust over a dozen avenues this offseason before landing on the 46-year-old after striking out on two GM hires in the last 12 months (effectively dulling the luster of Steve Cohen’s purchase of the team last November), the Mets now have a punch-list as long as the third-inning line at Shake Shack waiting for him upon saying his hellos.
“This was not a linear process,” team president Sandy Alderson noted with regard to the epic search that was conducted. “This was not a matter of making inquiries, making offers on a serial basis. Billy is the only one who received an offer from [the Mets]. It was an exhaustive process. We talked to many people. And we’re very happy that, as a result, Billy is our new general manager.”
Never mind what already happened, only worry about what’s ahead, right? Plenty of that.
Between hiring a manager, replenishing the rotation (x2, with Marcus Stroman off the books and Noah Syndergaard in SoCal), configuring an outfield, figuring out the third base situation (trading for Chapman or Ramírez would thrill the masses, but let’s see), reinforcing the bullpen (Aaron Loup has to be the priority), making a push for Javier Báez, and determining a course of action with regards to their incumbent core, there’s no shortage of work to get done in a concerningly short amount of time.
Oh, and of course there’s sorting that whole applying data to game situations dilemma the Mets reportedly found themselves in last season. One thing at a time…
Taking into consideration the timing of the hire with respect to the offseason schedule and the multiple layers to the gig Eppler’s taking on, this will be a process, no doubt about it. Though, per Eppler himself, it appears the new guy is ready for the challenge.
“I’m tremendously excited to be here and be a part of the Mets organization,” Eppler told the 80-plus media member Zoom congregation. “We’re going to kick it into high gear as soon as we’re done here today […] It’s evident we’re going to have some resources behind us.”
According to Eppler, those efforts will be on the free agency front, as the organization would like to see the development of their top prospects through. But, as noted, he’s been informed that he’ll have plenty of financial flexibility to address the litany of shoring needed to get this boat sailing again.
Per Cohen, that is 100 percent accurate.
“I’m willing, for the right deals and right free agents, to go get the players we need,” the Mets’ owner and CEO told the press corps. “We want to be competitive. We want to win our division and be in the playoffs and get deep into the playoffs. I’ve let Billy and Sandy know, it’s whatever they need.”
Cohen and Alderson were asked about some of the concerns we laid out here earlier this week regarding Eppler’s potential involvement in the hiring of embattled former Mets manager Mickey Callaway and the Angels’ possible negligence in the 2019 death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, doubling down on their self-proclaimed revamped vetting process and expressing full confidence in their long-awaited hire.
“We’ve done our due diligence,” Cohen said. “It’s an organization. [Eppler was] just one person in that organization. We vetted it in multiple ways. We spoke to a lot of people that were around the organization at that time, spoke to people within baseball and we’re incredibly comfortable with Billy and his decision making and his ethics and his integrity.”
Let’s hope so. There are a lot of people with a lot more than money invested in this team. And, as Eppler intimated, whatever the Mets are doing this winter, they’re doing for them.
“I look at the role of our baseball operations department as one to serve you,” he said. “We realize that we have a duty and an obligation to you and we will take that seriously.”
Let’s get to work.
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