Official: Mets Sign Billy Eppler To 4-Year Deal To Be Next GM
After a long and drawn out search, the Mets finally have their leader.
On the evening of Nov. 18, the Mets announced that they've agreed to a four-year deal with Billy Eppler to be their next general manager.
Eppler was previously the GM of the Los Angeles Angels from 2016-2020 and spent 10 years with the Yankees as their scouting director before being promoted to assistant GM in 2012. The 46-year-old will be the 16th GM in Mets history.
“Billy has the experience, character, and respect of the baseball community that will allow him to attract the players and front office talent to lead the Mets forward,” said Mets Owner, Chairman, and CEO Steve Cohen. “He is a leader who has worked in two of baseball’s biggest markets and his talents and personality will move us closer to my goal of sustained success.”
Although he failed to get the Angels to the playoffs during his tenure as GM, he signed now 2021 AL MVP Shohei Ohtani away from the Nippon Professional Baseball League, and locked down superstar Mike Trout on a 12-year extension.
Eppler has ideal experience for a GM candidate given his background in scouting and analytics. And with the Yankees, he learned what it was like to work in the front office of a New York team in North America's biggest market. He also built out the Angels' first full-time analytics department.
“Over the past two decades, Billy has been a scout and an assistant GM. He’s also more than familiar with the New York Market. This uniquely qualifies him to lead our efforts going forward,” said Mets President Sandy Alderson. “He’s smart, he hustles and has a keen eye for identifying talent. He’s going to make us better. I am really pleased that we have someone of his caliber leading the Mets.”
While Eppler joined WME agency in September to help lead their baseball department, the Mets made him an offer he could not refuse.
Now, he will get a chance to redeem himself as a GM, and is expected to have full control of the baseball operations department and final say on all decisions, per SNY.
“I’m so thankful to Steve and Sandy for what I consider an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Mets new GM Billy Eppler. “We have a lot of work to do and will systematically begin to work towards our goal of building a perennial winner. I also have to thank WME for the amazing opportunity to join their baseball group, which is building something very special.”
As Eppler mentioned in his statement, there is certainly a lot of work to do, and it starts with hiring a manager. From there, the Mets will need to act fast in free agency with a Dec. 2 lockout looming.
