Mets GM Billy Eppler Resigns After David Stearns Hired as President of Baseball Ops

The New York Mets underwent a fire sale ahead of August's trade deadline as they endured one of the sport's most disappointing seasons despite having one of its biggest payrolls.

Now, the front office is getting a reshape, too.

The Mets announced on Thursday that general manager Billy Eppler has resigned.

"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," Mets owner Steve Cohen noted in a statement.

Stearns is New York's president of baseball operations.

"I wanted David to have a clean slate and that meant me stepping down," Eppler said in his own statement. "I hope for nothing but the best for the entire Mets' organization."

Eppler, 48, was hired as the team's general manager in Nov. 2021. In his first offseason on the job, he made a number of big moves, including the signings of Max Scherzer, Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha and Starling Marte. He also traded for Chris Bassitt.

Those Mets won 101 games, though they blew a chance at winning the NL East late in the season and were dismissed in the playoffs in the Wild Card round by the San Diego Padres, ultimately registering as a major disappointment after such a promising campaign.

It got worse in 2023.

The Mets made more huge splashes in free agency, bringing aboard Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana, among others, and re-signed Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo.

Expectations were through the roof, but instead, the Mets finished 75-87 and gutted the roster ahead of the trade deadline, trading players like Scherzer and Verlander in advance of what is expected to be a slower, more sustainable rebuild than offseasons past.

"I think the expectations were really high this year and my guess is next year will be a lot lower," Cohen told reporters in August. "But I can't speak to what is going to happen in the offseason. There might be opportunities—I am opportunistic. I don't want to roll a team out there we are going to be embarrassed by. But we also know that spending a fortune... doesn't guarantee you a trip to the playoffs."

Stearns and Eppler were set to be the pair to orchestrate that new chapter. Now, Cohen, Stearns and the Mets will be seeking a new general manager.