The Mets’ new era of hope has begun with a touch of familiar chaos.
In a stunning development, Billy Eppler resigned as general manager of the Mets on Thursday amid a Major League Baseball investigation into alleged improper use of the injured list during the 2023 season, The Post has learned.
MLB confirmed the investigation to The Post, but not its nature.
According to a source, MLB was informed of alleged IL abuses through an anonymous letter.
A source said MLB plans to interview several Mets employees as part of the investigation.
It was not immediately clear whether the Mets could face some sort of penalty.
When MLB informed the Mets of the investigation, Eppler decided to resign rather than potentially distract David Stearns’ new administration.
Billy Eppler resigned Thursday amid an MLB investigation into his use of the injured list. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Eppler had not spoken to MLB officials as of Thursday evening but was expected to cooperate with that investigation, sources said.
Placing healthy players on the IL can help a team be competitive. By classifying healthy players as injured, clubs can maintain control of these players rather than risk losing them to other organizations.
Eppler resigned three days after attending the news conference introducing Stearns, the new president of baseball operations, who said he looked forward to working with Eppler.
Instead, the Mets’ front-runner won’t see third place in the last two seasons.
“I wanted David to have a clean slate, and that meant my resignation,” Eppler said in a statement released by the Mets. “I hope only the best for the entire Mets organization.”
Mets owner Steve Cohen, center, talks with GM Billy Eppler, left, at Spring Training. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Eppler declined further comment.
Stearns was not quoted in the press release. Owner Steve Cohen thanked the former head of his front office.
“Billy Eppler led this team through 101 regular season and postseason victories last year and we will miss him,” Cohen said in the statement. “We accepted Billy’s resignation today as he has decided that it is in everyone’s best interest to hand over full control of baseball operations to David Stearns. On behalf of the Mets organization, we wish him all the best.”
The GM’s resignation marked another unceremonious departure of a Mets official.
Before team president Sandy Alderson resigned in early 2023 and became a special adviser, he helped Cohen hire Eppler, saying the “vetting process was broader and deeper than any vetting process we had ever gone through” because of past mistakes.
Eppler’s two immediate predecessors were Jared Porter and Zack Scott, both of whom were fired due to off-field issues.
In January 2021, it was discovered that Porter had previously sexually harassed a female journalist while working for the Cubs.
David Stearns now needs to hire a GM for the Mets. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Scott took over and served as assistant manager until September 2021, when he was arrested and later acquitted of drunk driving charges.
Before Porter and Scott, there was Mickey Callaway, the Mets manager from 2018-19.
In 2021, he was suspended and placed on the MLB ineligible list for sending inappropriate messages and photos to female reporters.
Amid the revolving door in Queens entered Eppler, who was hired as GM in November 2021 after a lengthy search for a president of baseball operations came up empty.
He impressed early and led an organization that relied heavily on free agents and brought in Max Scherzer, putting together a formidable team in 2022 that was eliminated in the wild card round.
This season was a much bigger struggle, culminating in the trade deadline selloff that saw the trades of Scherzer and Justin Verlander, among others, as the Mets rebuilt their farm system.
Eppler was particularly praised for his strength in the international market, having signed Shohei Ohtani when he led the Angels and Kodai Senga with the Mets.
He won’t be there during an offseason in which Ohtani is a free agent and Japanese right-back Yoshinobu Yamamoto hits the open market.
Virtually as soon as Eppler was hired, it was known that Cohen would eventually appoint someone above him.
Publicly, Eppler has always been comfortable serving as GM under a president of baseball operations, and as recently as Monday, the Mets spoke as if they expected Eppler to be a part of their future.
“Billy and I have had a really good relationship for years as competitors,” Stearns said Monday. “Talk to each other, whether it’s about transactions or industry events. I have a lot of respect for the experience he has in this game, the experience he has in New York, and I look forward to working with him.”
Cohen stated that he wanted the front office to be as deep as possible.
“My goal is to grow the management talent in this organization,” Cohen said. “Baseball operations are pretty complicated. There are a lot of moving parts. And building a strong management team is of utmost importance to me.”