The New York Mets have officially announced Billy Eppler as general manager.
Eppler, 46, had served in the same role with the Los Angeles Angels for nearly five years, from October 2015 through the end of the 2020 season. The Angels did not enjoy a winning season under his watch, instead winning between 72 and 80 games in four of those five tries. (They would've won 70 in 2020 had their winning percentage held up over the course of a full 162-game schedule.)
Prior to taking over the Angels, Eppler served in a variety of roles for the New York Yankees organization, including as a scout and later as an assistant general manager. He's also worked for the Colorado Rockies, and, more recently, on the agency side.
The Mets' executive search prior to hiring Eppler had been as lengthy as it had been fruitless. New York seemed to be turned down by a new potential candidate on a daily basis, beginning with big names such as Billy Beane and Theo Epstein and extending to individuals who the average fan would not be able to identify by name alone.
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The Mets are in this situation because of the failures of Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson's first hires last winter. The Mets fired former general manager Jared Porter after ESPN reported about his sexual harassment of a female journalist. The Mets named Zack Scott as their interim GM, only to see him get arrested on the suspicion that he was driving drunk late in the season. Scott was recently let go by the team as well.
Eppler and Adam Cromie, a former assistant general manager with the Washington Nationals who has spent the last several years working as a lawyer, had recently emerged as the top candidates for the position.
