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Billy Eppler

Billy Eppler Placed On Ineligible List Through 2024 World Series

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Major League Baseball announced that former Mets general manager Billy Eppler has been placed on the ineligible list, beginning immediately and through the conclusion of the 2024 World Series. Per the announcement, Eppler violated rules regarding “improper use of Injured List placements, including the deliberate fabrication of injuries; and the associated submission of documentation for the purposes of securing multiple improper Injured List placements during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.” The league added that the investigation “concluded that the pattern of conduct was at Mr. Eppler’s sole direction and without any involvement of Club ownership or superiors. MLB considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

The Mets also released a statement on the matter: “The Mets have been informed of the conclusion of Major League Baseball’s investigation. With Billy Eppler’s resignation on October 5, 2023, and with David Stearns leading the Baseball Operations team, the Mets consider the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

Eppler himself provided comment to Joel Sherman of The New York Post: “I cooperated fully and transparently with MLB’s investigation, and I accept their decision.”

Eppler, 48, was hired to be the general manager of the Mets in November of 2021. The club hired David Stearns to be president of baseball operations in September of 2023, with the plan reportedly being for Eppler to stay on GM, working under Stearns. But on October 5, he resigned and it was reported that same day that the league was investigating him for improper use of the injured list.

It’s still not clear which specific players were involved or what the details of the transgressions were. A “phantom IL” placement has been sort of an open secret in baseball for years. If a player is struggling but cannot be sent to the minors due to being out of options or having more than five years of service time, then a club may place him on the injured list with some sort of nebulous injury such as “neck stiffness” or “back tightness”, then send him on a rehab assignment to get some work in the minors and try to get things back on track.

Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports relays that she spoke to various players about the issue who agreed that “every team does it” and expressed confusion as to why Eppler was being singled out. To this point, it’s unclear if the practice was taken to some unprecedented level or if this is the start of the league planning a bigger crackdown on the practice league-wide.

Per Joel Sherman and Dan Martin of The New York Post, the league was tipped off to the practice with the Mets via an anonymous letter, so it’s possible that the club simply got caught in a way that the league felt had to be addressed. Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the investigation back in October, saying he wanted the department of investigations to “figure out whether we have a bigger problem” regarding injured list usage.

Time will tell whether this becomes a larger issue or if it goes down as an isolated incident. For now, it seems like no other members of the Mets will receive any punishment. By being on the ineligible list for the remainder of the 2024 season, Eppler won’t be able to get a job with any other MLB club until then.

Rob Manfred Discusses Eppler Investigation, Potential Rules Changes

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Rob Manfred spoke to reporters (including Evan Drellich of The Athletic) ahead of the World Series opener this evening. The conversation covered an array of topics regarding the game, including the ongoing investigation into former Mets GM Billy Eppler and potential future rule changes.

Manfred told reporters that the investigation into Eppler, which looks into allegations of improper injured list use, should be completed before the end of the calendar year. While Manfred makes clear the league is not currently aware of a more widespread issue beyond the Mets, he does note that he directed the league’s department of investigations to “figure out whether we have a bigger problem” regarding misuse of the injured list. While Manfred notes that the issue with the Mets isn’t “quite the same” as other issues the league has investigated that, in his words, “arguably affect the integrity of the game,” he still considers the alleged offense by the Mets to be one of significance, adding that the investigation is a high priority for the league.

Of course, so-called “phantom IL” stints have been commonplace in the league for decades, and have occurred on every team at one point or another, with some players even openly admitting that they aren’t actually injured while on the shelf. More nebulous diagnoses such as soreness or fatigue can be used by a club to offer a struggling player a physical and mental reset while clearing their roster spot for a period of time. While the practice is technically illegal, it’s not currently clear what specific injured list transactions are at issue that spurred the league to investigate Eppler and the Mets specifically for the relatively widespread practice.

Manfred also spoke about potential rule changes the league could see in the future. The 2023 season saw one of the more aggressive changes to the league’s rule set in recent years, as the league implemented a pitch clock, larger bases, and shift restrictions ahead of the campaign. Those changes have generally been well-received after their first season in use, and it appears the league could look to continue making rule adjustments. Specifically, Manfred acknowledged recent discourse around the league’s playoff format— which has seen six of the eight teams that secured a first-round bye over the last three seasons fail to win a series— has prompted the commissioner’s office to “discuss” possible changes, though he notes that he’s a fan of the playoffs as currently designed.

“My own view on this is that our teams play really hard all year long to get into the playoffs,” Manfred said, “But one of the greatest things about the playoffs in baseball is, anybody can win. …I don’t think what happened this year is all that out of line with history.”

Another change Manfred discussed was potentially lowering the maximum allowable number of pitchers on the active roster to 12. He noted that the 13 pitcher limit currently in place hasn’t “had the desired effect” of encouraging teams to push their starting pitchers to stay in the game longer. While the eight teams that saw their starting pitchers throw less than 800 innings this season is a noticeable drop from 12 in 2021, the last season before the current limit was introduced, it’s actually one more than in 2022 and the same number as 2019. Prior to 2019, only the 2018 Rays and the 2012 Rockies had gotten less than 800 innings out of their starting pitchers in a season this century.

Such a change, however, would not be on the table for the 2024 season. Manfred didn’t discuss potential rules changes for the 2024 season, though he did note that any changes would be on a smaller scale after the significant rules adjustments the sport experienced in 2023.

NL East Notes: Nola, Eppler, Hefner, Lundquist

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The longest-tenured player on the Phillies, All-Star starting pitcher Aaron Nola, is set to hit free agency following the conclusion of the World Series. Meanwhile, his long-time rotation mate, Zack Wheeler, is entering the final season of the five-year, $118MM pact he signed ahead of the 2020 campaign.

Speaking to members of the media on Thursday (including Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia), president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that re-signing Nola is a priority and he hopes to retain the former Cy Young finalist. Nola, for his part, told reporters on Tuesday (including Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer), “I hope I’m back, for sure.” Thus, there seems to be mutual interest in keeping the right-hander in Philadelphia for the long haul.

However, a deal still has to get done, and both sides have acknowledged that it might not happen. Dombrowski says he will pivot to other front-line starters on the open market if he can’t come to an agreement with Nola, while the 30-year-old starter was more cryptic, simply admitting that he doesn’t know “what the future holds.” The two sides reached an impasse in extension talks last winter, with the ace reportedly seeking a much longer deal that the team was willing to offer.

Dombrowski also expressed a vague desire to keep Wheeler beyond the terms of his current contract, although he would not reveal if extension negotiations were part of his offseason plan.

In other news from the NL East…

  • Earlier this month, Billy Eppler stepped down from his role as general manager of the Mets amidst an investigation into his misuse of the injured list and injury rehab assignments. His departure from the organization came as quite a surprise, since most were expecting him to stay on as GM under new president of baseball operations David Stearns. Now, however, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Eppler would have been fired had he not resigned, and thus, he will be paid for the two years remaining on his guaranteed contract. Sherman notes that the inquiry is still ongoing, and it is unlikely MLB will announce a ruling before the end of the World Series. Given the scope of the investigation, it’s not hard to understand why the team chose to part ways with Eppler; Stearns has a busy enough offseason ahead of him as it is.
  • Sticking with the Mets, Martino reports that other teams are “under the impression” that Mets coaches are essentially available for hire, given the likelihood that a new manager will come in and clean house. Indeed, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is already drawing interest from at least one other club, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. However, Hefner prefers to wait and see if he fits into the team’s future plans (in other words, if the new manager wants to keep him on) before he takes an interview with another club. Hefner, who played for the Mets from 2012-13, has already survived two managerial hirings in his four years as the pitching coach, so it makes sense that he isn’t ready to pack his bags just yet.
  • Back to the Phillies, the team has announced that bullpen coach Dave Lundquist will not return for the 2024 season. Lundquist, 50, has been with the organization since 2018, starting as the pitching coach for Triple-A Lehigh Valley before becoming assistant pitching coach and then bullpen coach for the major league team. The bullpen has become a legitimate strength under his guidance, going from one of the worst in the league to one of the best in just three seasons. The Phillies are also parting ways with assistant hitting coach Jason Camilli, who joined the staff in 2022 after spending 15 years as a minor league hitting coach with the Nationals, Diamondbacks, and Reds organizations.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: The Mets’ Front Office, TJ for Alcantara and the D-Backs Extend Their GM

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What does Atlanta do with Vaughn Grissom? (14:00)
  • Where should the Phillies put Bryce Harper next year? (16:25)
  • What do the White Sox do if they intend to compete next year? (19:10)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Mariners To Spend? Tigers To Contend? And Managerial Vacancies – listen here​
  • Free Agent Pitching Dark Horses, Padres To Cut Payroll, and If The Angels Should Rebuild — listen here
  • Front Office Changes in Boston and New York, and the New Rays Stadium Agreement — listen here

Billy Eppler Steps Down As Mets’ General Manager

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6:10PM: Eppler resigned to avoid being a distraction to the club during an ongoing MLB investigation into Eppler and the Mets allegedly making improper use of the injured list, as per a report from the New York Post.  (Link to our full post on this story.)

3:23PM: Mets general manager Billy Eppler has resigned from his position, according to a press release from the team.  Mets owner Steve Cohen said that Eppler “led this team through a 101-win season and postseason berth last year and he will be missed.  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.”

Eppler himself issued a comment in the release, saying “I wanted David to have a clean slate and that meant me stepping down.  I hope for nothing but the best for the entire Mets organization.”

Given how Stearns’ first few weeks have seen the Mets cut ties with manager Buck Showalter and make some other personnel changes within the front office, it doesn’t seem shocking on paper that Eppler is also on the way out.  That said, Eppler had been expected to continue as GM and serve as Stearns’ top lieutenant, making today’s news “a major surprise” in the view of SNY’s Andy Martino.  Two full years remained on the original four-year contract Eppler signed with the Mets in November 2021.

The Amazins brought Eppler into the fold with the hopes of stabilizing a front office that had become a revolving door.  Sandy Alderson stepped away from the GM position in July 2018 due to a battle with cancer, with John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi, Omar Minaya handling matters on an interim basis until Brodie Van Wagenen was hired a few months later as the new general manager.  Van Wagenen’s tenure lasted for a little more than two years (until Cohen bought the team), and incoming GM Jared Porter lasted only six weeks before being being fired due to reports of a past incident of sexual harassment.  Zack Scott then became interim GM but lasted less than a year, as a DWI charge led the Mets to ultimately part ways.

Even with the lockout interrupting much of the 2021-22 offseason, the Mets still spent big both before and after the transactions freeze, with some of Eppler’s biggest strikes happening in the few weeks between his hiring and the early-December shutdown.  That winter saw the Mets bring Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Chris Bassitt into the fold, while also hiring Showalter as the new manager.  The result was a 101-61 record, the second-highest win total in the Mets’ franchise history.  However, New York still had to settle for a wild card slot after losing the NL East crown to the Braves on a tiebreaker, and the Mets’ playoff run quickly ended with a three-game loss to the Padres in the NL Wild Card Series.

With Cohen sparing no expense on player payroll, Eppler kept the big moves coming last winter, bringing both new faces (Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, and more) to Queens on pricey free agent deals, re-signing Mets staples Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo, and even extending other regulars like Jeff McNeil.  The result was an Opening Day payroll of over $330MM — far and away the biggest in baseball history, with a record luxury tax hit to match.

Unfortunately for the Mets and their fans, the large payroll meant an equally large disappointment when the team simply failed to get on track.  With injuries playing a factor, New York finished only 75-87, resulting in a midseason pivot that saw Scherzer, Verlander, Canha, Escobar, Tommy Pham, Dominic Leone, and David Robertson all dealt, primarily to add some new young talent to the organization since the Mets ate most of the remaining salary involved in these trades.

“One of the goals here is to expedite the longer-term goal.  We’re trying to restock and reload the farm system,” Eppler told reporters at the trade deadline.  “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…..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.”

It remains to be seen how the Mets could operate under Stearns, and whether their plan to take some level of a step back next season will impact how they spend, or how they acquire talent.  Whatever the outcome, Eppler won’t be part of the plan going forward, so hiring a new general manager as Stearns’ number two will now also be on the Mets’ to-do list.

Only 48 years old, Eppler already has a lengthy resume in baseball.  Beginning as a scout in the Rockies organization, he moved on to a decade-long run in the Yankees’ front office that saw Eppler promoted first to scouting director and then to assistant GM under Brian Cashman.  The Angels hired Eppler as their general manager heading into the 2016 season, but was fired in September 2020 after the team failed to post a winning record in any of Eppler’s five seasons in charge.  He then briefly explored a new career path running WME’s baseball representation division, but was only in that job for a few months before stepping down to take the Mets’ GM job.

Eppler’s seven seasons as a general manager saw his teams deliver a 508-523 record, with only the 2021 Mets finishing above the .500 mark.  Despite the lack of results, it is still difficult to truly evaluate Eppler as an executive given the circumstances of both his jobs.  Angels owner Arte Moreno is known to carry a heavy influence over his front office’s decisions, and the Halos’ string of losing seasons has continued even after Eppler’s departure.  Eppler had more autonomy in New York, though Cohen’s desire to instantly make the Mets into a contender with no regard to payroll created its own set of unique pressures.  Eppler also had to combat the perception (and perhaps even the reality) that was something of a placeholder GM, only brought in once the previous choices were fired in quick succession, and with Cohen ultimately always intending to hire Stearns or a bigger-name executive like Theo Epstein or Billy Beane.

While Eppler’s resignation appears to have caught the Mets somewhat off-guard, there may no ulterior motive beyond what Eppler expressed in his own statement.  Having the former front office boss still in the organization as the second-in-command is an unusual situation, and it could be that Eppler had a change of heart after his first few weeks working under Stearns.  Resigning now gives Eppler a jump on the offseason, perhaps for a fresh start with another club or for a job outside of front office work, given his past association with WME.

MLB Investigating Mets, Billy Eppler On Allegations Of Improper Injured-List Usage

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Major League Baseball has a probe looking into allegations that the Mets made improper use of the injured list, according to Mike Puma, Joel Sherman, Jon Heyman, and Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post.  The exact nature of the investigation and the specific allegations or players involved aren’t yet known at this time.  Former Mets GM Billy Eppler (who stepped down from the job earlier today) is cooperating with the investigation, though he has yet to formally speak with league officials.

Eppler’s resignation was seen by many as a surprise, since by all appearances, he was fully ready to act as the front office’s new number two behind president of baseball operations David Stearns.  As per the Post’s report, the league’s probe was the reason for Eppler’s departure, as he informed Mets upper management that he didn’t want to be a distraction to the club.

More will be known once more details of the league’s investigation surface, or when MLB announces (if any) its final findings.  On the surface, improper uses of the injured list would simply seem to suggest that the Mets placed a player or players on the 10-day, 15-day or 60-day IL when they weren’t actually hurt, thus allowing the club to add a new player to the 26-man or 40-man rosters.

These kinds of “phantom IL” transactions have existed within the game for decades.  A team might send a struggling player to the injured list with a harder-to-define issue like arm soreness or a bad back, when in reality the player is just getting a mental and physical break to reset.  Every club in baseball has made such a move at some point, and in some cases, players have openly admitted that they aren’t actually hurt.

While this practice is technically illegal, it is also relatively widespread enough that it is rare to see MLB launch an official investigation into improper IL usage.  That might suggest that the Mets’ alleged violation is particularly egregious, or (speculatively) that the league might have given the club an initial warning, and are now proceeding with a probe because Eppler’s front office didn’t stop.

Whatever the details, it amounts to “another embarrassing exit for a Mets official,” in the words of the New York Post’s writers.  Within the last five years, former Mets GM Jared Porter and former manager Mickey Callaway were each accused of sexual harassment, with the Mets firing Porter and MLB putting Callaway (who had moved on from the Mets to work as the Angels’ pitching coach) on the ineligible list.  As well, interim GM Zack Scott was fired when he was arrested on DWI charges, and ex-manager Carlos Beltran was fired due to his part in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, before Beltran had even officially managed a single game.

Improper IL placements aren’t nearly as serious as some of those off-the-field concerns, of course, but it is possible Eppler or the Mets might face some kind of penalty (suspensions, fines, etc.) as a result of the league’s investigation.  The MLB Players Association might also have an issue, if the situation involves service time or perhaps just a player gaining an “injury-prone” reputation when none was warranted.

Mets Reach Agreement To Hire David Stearns As President Of Baseball Operations

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What’s long seemed like an inevitable pairing has come to fruition, as the Mets have reached an agreement with David Stearns to oversee their baseball operations department, SNY’s Andy Martino reports. Stearns, who was the president of baseball operations with the Brewers before stepping down and taking on an advisory role following the 2022 season, will hold that same president of baseball operations title with his hometown Mets. He’ll officially start in his new role at the end of the regular season. He will be signing a five-year contract, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Martino adds that Billy Eppler will stay on in his general manager position.

David StearnsStearns, now 38, has long been speculatively connected to the Mets based on his roots. Born and raised in Manhattan, he worked for the Mets earlier in his career, though his baseball journey would take him to many other places before winding back to New York. After graduating from Harvard, he interned with the Pirates, then worked for the Mets before bouncing to Major League Baseball and then Cleveland.

In November of 2012, he was given the title of assistant general manager of the Astros, working under general manager Jeff Luhnow. That club was deeply committed to a rebuild at the time, as that year was their second of three consecutive 100-loss seasons. They would eventually emerge from that period of futility in 2015 by going 86-76, starting a run of excellence that continues to this day, having made the playoffs in every full season from that year to the present.

But for most of that success, Stearns was in Milwaukee, having been hired away by the Brewers in September of 2015. That club made him general manager and hoped to follow a similar trajectory to the Astros. The Brewers had been hovering around .500 for a few years but dipped to 68-94 the year Stearns came aboard. The next three years saw the win total increase to 73 and then 86 and then 96, as the club won the National League Central in 2018, their first of four consecutive trips to the postseason.

As the Brewers flourished under Stearns, rumors about bringing him back to New York naturally followed. As far back of November of 2020, when the Mets were looking to replace general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, Stearns was connected to the job. But the Brewers had already signed him to an extension and promoted him to president of baseball operations. Standard practice in baseball usually sees teams allow their front office employees to pursue promotions but not lateral moves. Since Stearns already had the top job in Milwaukee, the Brewers denied the Mets the opportunity to speak with him.

As Stearns stayed in Milwaukee, the front office search for the Mets didn’t yield a permanent solution. Jared Porter was hired in December of 2020 but fired just a few weeks later when it was revealed that he harassed a female reporter in 2016. Zack Scott was then named acting general manager but was charged with driving while intoxicated in September of 2021. He would eventually be acquitted of those charges but the club had already moved on and hired Eppler as general manager in November of that year.

The results of late have been mixed, to say the least. Owner Steven Cohen has signed off on unprecedented spending levels, with the club signing many marquee free agents in recent years. That resulted in 101 wins last year, the second-best record in franchise history. But the club was quickly eliminated from the playoffs and didn’t carry their success into 2023. Various injuries, particularly to the starting rotation, quickly pushed the club out of contention and they went into the recent trade deadline as sellers instead of buyers. They are currently 65-78, just half a game ahead of the last place Nationals in the East division.

As the Mets have been going through those highs and lows over the past few years, they would continue to be connected to Stearns in rumors but his position in Milwaukee continued to be an obstacle, with his deal running through the 2023 season. Stearns stepped down as president of baseball operations last October, though he stayed with Milwaukee in an advisory capacity for the final year of his contract. At the time, he said he was “looking forward to taking a deep breath, spending time with my family and exploring some other interests.”

David StearnsThis led to immediate speculation that Stearns was setting the table for a move out of Milwaukee. The Astros parted ways with general manager James Click at the end of last season and owner Jim Crane was reportedly interested in bringing Stearns back to Houston. That job ultimately went to Dana Brown and Stearns stayed in Milwaukee with diminished responsibilities. It was then reported a week ago that Stearns had been reinvigorated by his smaller role and was contractually able to pursue other opportunities after August 1. He had already spoken with the Mets and Astros and now, at long last, he and the Mets are officially reuniting. As mentioned, he’ll take on the president title with Eppler beneath him as the general manager.

The Mets will be hoping that this is the perfect marriage to set off a proper dynasty in Queens. Since taking over the club at the end of 2020, Cohen has cited the Dodgers as a model franchise that he wanted the Mets to emulate. The Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman away from the Rays in October of 2014, allowing him to implement the creative, data-driven and analytical approach he deployed in Tampa but with more resources for signing or retaining star players. That club has continually produced significant players from its own system and indeed spent at the top of the market to great success. They last finished under .500 in 2010 and haven’t missed the playoffs since 2012.

Stearns already has a strong track record from his time in Milwaukee, even without massive financial resources. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, Milwaukee’s payroll was never in the top half of the league during the Stearns tenure, topping out at 17th place in 2019. Their success has been built on homegrown players like Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Devin Williams, as well as trading for players like Christian Yelich, Willy Adames and many more. The Mets, on the other hand, ran up the highest payroll in baseball history this year.

Time will tell what kind of timeline the club has in mind for its next steps. After being traded to the Rangers, Max Scherzer said he was told that the Mets would be taking something of a step back in 2024, focusing a bit more on the future and being a bit less aggressive in pursuit of short-term competitiveness. Eppler and Cohen responded and more or less confirmed that would be the case. Perhaps Stearns will take a year to get to know the club’s inner workings, keeping the moves modest until he gathers the necessary information to guide the club into the future.

The short-term trajectory will be revealed as the summer turns to fall and then to winter. But the long-term goal seems clear, as both Cohen and Eppler have long stressed the importance of building a strong farm system to supplement the club’s financial might. The Mets and their fans will be hoping that the combination of Stearns leading the baseball decisions and Cohen writing the checks will lead to a similar run of success as the Dodgers have enjoyed.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Scherzer: Mets Planning 2024 As “A Kind Of Transitory Year” With Focus On 2025-26

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The Mets had a Major League record payroll of close to $357MM on Opening Day, as they followed up their 101-win season in 2022 with an incredibly aggressive offseason.  However, just as the Mets broke new ground in building their roster, they have also been as aggressive in pivoting in the wake of a very disappointing four months.

With just a 50-55 record entering today’s action, the Mets have been one of the trade deadline’s busiest teams, unloading both major and minor names, rental players and some players controlled beyond the 2023 season.  The long list of players departing Queens in the last six weeks includes Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, Dominic Leone, and Eduardo Escobar, as the Mets have pursued a strategy of absorbing most of the salaries of those departed players in order to obtain more young talent in return.

As Scherzer told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Mets’ plan apparently extends to rebuilding not for the 2024 season, but for future seasons.  Scherzer had to waive his no-trade protection in order to be dealt to the Rangers, and before making his decision, the ace first spoke with GM Billy Eppler and the Amazins’ longer-term plans.

According to Scherzer, “I was like, ’OK, are we reloading for 2024?’  [Eppler] goes, ’No, we’re not.  Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026, ’25 at the earliest, more like ’26.  We’re going to be making trades around that.’  I was like, ’So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?’  He said, ’No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys.  We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. ‘24 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.’ ”

A follow-up chat between Scherzer and Mets owner Steve Cohen took the same tack, which inspired Scherzer to waive his no-trade clause and approve the deal to the Rangers.  “That’s basically what Steve said: ’I never thought in a million years we’d be in this situation, being at the deadline and we’re actually selling.  But the math is the math.  And the math says this organization needs to retool.’  That was Steve saying that.  I said, ’I get it. I’m not here to say you’re wrong.’  It is what it is. I understand from Steve’s perspective that’s the direction he wants to take the team based on where everyone is at within their contracts, arbitration, free agency.  That was the new vision for the Mets.”

However, Scherzer also noted that “if they had said, ‘We’re going to hold on to all the ‘24 pieces,’ that would have been a different story.”

“But they were saying no, we’re going to be moving players that are under contract for 2024 before the deadline.  We walked through some players I had in mind who would be that.  It turned out it was much more extensive than that.  The players we ended up talking about who are free agents after ‘24, they were more substantial names.  Any player who was a free agent after 2024 at the right price could be moved right now at the deadline.  That’s a completely different vision from what everybody had in the clubhouse.  All the players had a vision of, we reload for 2024.  That was no longer the case.”

Scherzer (who had an opt-out clause), Canha ($11.5MM club option for 2024), and Verlander were the only players controlled beyond 2023 who ended up being moved, as the likes of Jose Quintana and other club-option players like Brooks Raley, Omar Narvaez, and Adam Ottavino are all still with New York.  Still, obviously moving two cornerstone aces like Scherzer and Verlander marked a severe change in direction for the Mets’ plans, as trading either pitcher in a deadline deal would’ve seem far-fetched given the hefty investment made in both future Hall-of-Famers over the last two winters.  Verlander was signed to a two-year, $86.67MM with a conditional player option for 2025, while Scherzer came to Queens in the 2021-22 offseason on a three-year, $130MM pact.

In the wake of Scherzer’s trade, Eppler stated to reporters that “I do want to be clear that it’s not a rebuild.  It’s not a fire sale.  It’s not a liquidation.  This is just a repurposing of Steve’s investment in the club, and kind of shifting that investment from the team into the organization.”  Talking with media (including SNY’s John Flanigan) today, Eppler didn’t comment on Scherzer’s statements to Rosenthal, but expanded on his previous statement and reiterated that the Mets weren’t going to tank.

“One of the goals here is to expedite the longer-term goal.  We’re trying to restock and reload the farm system,” Eppler said.  “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…..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.”

Cohen made similar remarks in a text to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, saying “We will be competitive in ’24 but I think 25-26 is when our young talent makes an impact.  Lots of pitching in free agency in ’24.  More payroll flexibility in ’25.  Got a lot of dead money in ’24.”

Since buying the Mets in November 2020, Cohen has been quite open about his bigger-picture dream for the club — citing the Dodgers as the model, Cohen wanted to field a consistent contender with the resources to acquire premium free agents or trade targets, but largely fueled by star talent developed by the Mets’ own farm system.  Cohen didn’t want to wait for that prospect base to be fully built before the Mets started winning, however, and said that he would spend heavily to make the team a contender in the interim.

As it has turned out, this initial plan might just result in one winning season in Cohen’s first three years running the club.  The Mets were 77-85 in 2021, are on pace for a losing record this year, and even the 101-win performance last year was muted when the Padres ousted them in the wild card series.  Rather than splurge again to restock a flawed roster for 2024, it makes sense that Cohen and Eppler might view taking a step back in order to hopefully two steps forward in 2025 or 2026, rather than continue to tread water in a competitive NL East.  The Braves look like surefire contenders for years to come, the Phillies won the NL pennant last year, and the Marlins have also gotten themselves back into the playoff race.

The new direction opens a wealth of new possibilities for the Mets this coming offseason.  It can be assumed that highly-touted youngsters Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty aren’t going anywhere, if New York wants to expand its young core.  Players recently signed to longer-term contracts or extensions (i.e. Francisco Lindor, Kodai Senga, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz) aren’t likely to be moved either, since this group will all still be around during the Mets’ new timeline for contention.

Beyond that core, it’s fair to wonder if any other Mets player might be on the trade market this winter.  That includes Jose Quintana (signed through 2024) and Starling Marte (signed through 2025), as while neither has amassed much of a track record in 2023, the Mets have shown that they’re more than willing to eat money to accommodate trades.  The biggest question mark might hang over Pete Alonso, as the slugger has one final arbitration-eligible year remaining before he enters free agency following the 2024 campaign.

Roster Resource projects that New York has roughly $204.2MM on the books for 2024 already, but a step back from contention might also logically mean a desire for the team to reset its luxury tax status.  The Mets obviously blew past the highest tax levels in both 2022 and 2023, but getting out of tax territory entirely ($237MM is the lowest threshold level in 2024) would both reduce the team’s financial penalty, and more importantly the asset-related penalties attached with tax overages.  For instance, the Mets would be able to sign qualifying-offer free agents for a lesser cost of draft picks, while also netting a higher draft return for any of their own free agents who reject a QO and sign elsewhere.  In other punishment for incurring such a high tax bill in 2022, the Mets also had their first pick in the 2023 draft pushed back by ten slots, and their international signing pool was reduced.

If the Amazins aren’t planning to be big spenders this winter, that naturally has a big impact on this offseason’s free agent class, given how Cohen’s largesse has driven the market over the last two years.  Given the relatively thin nature of the 2023-24 class, the Mets front office might be planning to capitalize by using some of their roster as trade chips, as rival clubs might not find what they’re looking for in free agency.  As Cohen noted, there are plenty of interesting pitchers available following the 2024 season if the Mets do intend only a one-year step back, such as Scherzer again, Max Fried, Zack Wheeler, Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and many others.

Speaking Burnes and Woodruff, it would remiss if we didn’t mention the persistent rumors that the Mets will pursue David Stearns as the next president of baseball operations, as Cohen said last month that he is still looking to install a new executive above Eppler on the decision-making pyramid.  Stearns’ contract with the Brewers is up after the season, and if the speculation is true and he does head to New York for his next job, it might make sense if Stearns eventually pursues some of his old Milwaukee players.  That said, whether Stearns or someone else is the new president, it would make sense that the Mets gives the new hire at least a year to fully assess the organization, before turning back towards contending in 2025 or 2026.

Steve Cohen Discusses Mets’ Front Office, Deadline Outlook

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Steve Cohen conducted a press conference this afternoon, as promised. The Mets’ owner addressed the struggling franchise, which goes into play tonight carrying a 36-43 record that has them 8 1/2 back of the National League’s final playoff spot.

Cohen predictably expressed frustration with the team’s performance. However, he stressed he had no plans to remove general manager Billy Eppler or skipper Buck Showalter midseason (link via Andy McCullough of the Athletic).

“If you want to attract good people to this organization, the worst thing you can do is be impulsive, and win the headline for the day. You’re not going to attract the best talent. You’re not going to want to work with somebody who has a short fuse,” Cohen told reporters. “I know fans want something to happen. I get it. But sometimes you can’t do it, because you have long-term objectives.”

While there’s no sweeping leadership change in the near future, Cohen hinted at a noteworthy front office move further down the line. He indicated the club planned to hire a president of baseball operations at some point, though he declined to put a timetable on that process. The Mets have been without a team president since Sandy Alderson moved to an advisory capacity last offseason.

Initial expectations were that Alderson’s replacement would be focused on the business side while Eppler retained baseball operations autonomy. Cohen’s comments this afternoon suggest he’s likely to bring in a new baseball operations leader, pushing Eppler into the #2 role in the front office. Andy Martino of SNY writes that the Mets still also intend to hire a business-oriented team president. The president of baseball ops/GM hierarchy is relatively common around the game, though it’s rarer for a club to hire a president to take over the front office while retaining the same GM who previously led baseball operations. Martino suggests Eppler would be involved in the hiring process for the baseball operations president.

“My view is this is a very complex job and there’s a lot to do, and it’s a lot on one person,” Cohen said of the front office structure (relayed by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). “That’s still out there. We’ll see. At some point, we will fill that position.” How that might affect Eppler’s future with the organization is undetermined. No new hire seems imminent, so the second-year GM will continue running the front office for the near future at least.

If that hiring process runs into next offseason, it’s sure to invite plenty of speculation about David Stearns’ future. The Mets reportedly showed interest in Stearns over the 2021-22 offseason prior to hiring Eppler. He was still serving as Brewers’ president of baseball operations at that time, though, and Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio declined to grant the Mets permission for an interview.

Stearns remained Milwaukee’s front office leader through the end of last season. At that point, he stepped into an advisory role and ceded day-to-day autonomy to GM Matt Arnold. At the time, the 38-year-old spoke of a desire to “to (take) a deep breath, (spend) time with my family and (explore) some other interests” with fewer baseball operations responsibilities. He remains under contract with Milwaukee through the end of the 2023 season, so other teams would have to wait until the upcoming offseason to gauge his interest in new opportunities.

Whether the Manhattan native has any interest in jumping back to the top of a front office isn’t clear. For now, ties between the Mets and Stearns are simply speculative. Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News wrote again last week that some within the industry expect the Mets to renew their pursuit of Stearns next winter.

While the front office structure will be a pivotal decision for Cohen in the long term, the more immediate focus is on navigating the trade deadline. With a little over a month before August 1, he declined to commit to the club’s direction. However, Cohen did imply the team would have to cut into their deficit over the next four weeks for the front office to consider short-term help.

“If I’m in this position, I’m not adding,” Cohen said (via McCullough). “I think that would be pretty silly.” He didn’t sound anxious to tear the roster down, either, saying the team “would probably do very little” if they’re out of contention. David Robertson, Tommy Pham and Carlos Carrasco are the club’s notable impending free agents. Max Scherzer, Omar Narváez and Adam Ottavino all have opt-out clauses at year’s end. The team has options on Mark Canha and Brooks Raley, while Pete Alonso is arbitration-eligible for one more season.

NL East Notes: Nola, Strahm, Suarez, Mets, Wright

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Phillies starter Aaron Nola will go into the off-season as one of the top available free agent pitchers, but Philadelphia’s expected to make a strong push to re-sign him, according to a report from the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.

It’s reported that the Phillies had at least some discussion with Nola this past winter about an extension, but their offer – which came in north of $100MM but south of the $162MM Carlos Rodon received from the Yankees – clearly didn’t get the job done. Heyman adds that Nola prefers a return to Philadelphia, and while 29 other teams could make a run at him in the winter, the Phillies will likely try again to keep him in town.

Nola’s off to a slower start than usual this year, working to a 4.64 ERA through his first seven starts, but has been one of the game’s most durable pitchers in recent seasons. He’s made more than 30 starts in every full season going back to 2018, and has compiled a very healthy 3.47 ERA in that time with above average walk and strikeout rates. As for this season, seven starts is not an insignificant sample size, and a slight drop in velocity in his fastball has seen his strikeout rate dip to just 19.2%, the lowest rate of his career.

As Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer noted about a week ago, Nola is a slow worker and the pitch clock change has been a tough adjustment for him. In any case, it’s certainly too early to write off Nola based on seven starts and it’s worth noting that the bulk of the damage was done in his first three starts, and he’s averaging almost seven innings per start with a 3.29 ERA since then.

While there’s still a full season to play out, Nola’s track record should stand him in good stead to do well in free agency. While he may not possess the dominant stuff Rodon displayed in the past two seasons, his durability is far superior and as we see so often, that is a huge value add for starting pitchers. With that in mind, it’s unsurprising Nola seemingly wasn’t interested in a deal below Rodon’s $162MM.

Here’s some more notes from around the NL East:

  • Sticking with the Phillies to begin with, and they’ll move Matt Strahm back to the bullpen with Ranger Suarez expected to return to the rotation shortly, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Strahm’s given the Phillies some solid value out of the rotation, making six starts and working to a 3.51 ERA – including three scoreless starts. That’s been hugely helpful to a Phillies rotation that’s been slow out of the gates, with Nola and Zack Wheeler sporting ERAs above four and off-season recruit Taijuan Walker sitting at 6.91. The return of Suarez from an elbow injury will be a welcome addition, particularly if he can continue the excellent work he put in last season, where he worked to a 3.65 ERA across 29 starts. The Phillies have made a slow start to the season, sitting 15-18 entering play Saturday and seven games adrift of the Braves in first place, so the return of players like Suarez and Bryce Harper will be critical to getting them back in the race for one of baseball’s more competitive divisions.
  • The Mets are one more team off to a slower than expected start, after another busy off-season they sit 17-16 entering play Saturday. That’s not concerning GM Billy Eppler though, who told reporters (including Tim Britton of The Athletic) that he still believes in this roster. “I believe in this team and the players that are here. There’s too much track record, there’s too much these guys have accomplished, there’s too much know-how,” Eppler said. While a 17-16 record is certainly not the end of the world, the Mets expected better and one focus might be the top of the team’s payroll, where some of their highly-paid stars are underperforming through the first month. Starling Marte is hitting just .219/.299/.286 while Max Scherzer has a 5.56 ERA, yet Eppler says he’s not concerned by either. The Mets also just welcomed back Justin Verlander from the IL, so his return to the rotation will provide a big boost as they look to keep up with the Braves.
  • Kyle Wright’s MRI revealed a right shoulder strain which the Braves will re-evaluate at a later date, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There is currently no timetable for his return. After a breakout season in 2022 which saw him finish tenth in NL Cy Young voting, Wright’s struggled in 2023, working to a 5.79 ERA in five starts. It seems likely the shoulder played a part in that step back, given Wright dealt with shoulder problems during spring training, and started the season on the IL. That’s a blow for Wright, who made 30 starts and pitched to a 3.19 ERA last season. The Braves, at least, are in a good position to weather the loss of Wright, with Spencer Strider, Max Fried and Charlie Morton all well established arms in Atlanta’s rotation, and Bryce Elder enjoying a strong start to the season.
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