Oh Yeah, Mets to Hire Billy Eppler as GM

Lost in all the hullabaloo over the shocking Noah Syndergaard news is that the Mets have apparently settled on a GM (“settled” is a very loaded word here) — Billy Eppler.

Eppler was the general manager of the Angels for five seasons before being fired after 2020 — all losing seasons despite having the best player on the planet, Mike Trout. Before that, he spent 11 years in The Bronx, rising from the scouting department to assistant GM. So he is no stranger to the fiery cauldron that New York can be.

His record in Los Angeles was mixed. On one hand, he did re-sign Trout and won the rights to Shohei Ohtani. However, from what I’ve read, he consistently failed to build a pitching staff. Oh, and he hired Mickey Callaway as pitching coach, so he’ll fit right in with his overlord, Sandy Alderson.

I have no idea if this is a good hire. He did fail with the Angels, but many around the league speak very highly of him. So perhaps he is worthy of a second chance. On the plus side, the Mets managed to nab a GM who has experience instead of the second-tier people they were interviewing (third or fourth tier if you count that lawyer who used to work for the Nationals).

In the end, I think the Mets did the best they could considering everything that is going on in Flushing.