Low-key introduction set for Mets GM Eppler on Friday
Billy Eppler during spring training baseball on Feb. 17, 2020, in Tempe, Ariz. Credit: AP/Darron Cummings
Usually, a team likes to trot out a pricey free agent acquisition or make a major trade ahead of the day it begins selling tickets for next season.
The Mets, though, will have to "settle" for introducing new general manager Billy Eppler on Friday just a few hours after single-game 2022 tickets go on sale at 10 a.m.
The Mets announced Eppler’s four-year contract in a news release on Thursday night. The 46-year-old former Yankees executive and Angels GM will be introduced in a 12:30 p.m. Zoom news conference on Friday.
Usually, the Mets do these sort of important introductions with a lavishly-catered news conference at Citi Field. But the carving board has been left in the cupboard as the team is going with a more low-key approach to finally finding someone to take its GM job.
Team president Sandy Alderson will probably insist the Mets are not "settling" on Eppler after the club struck out for the second straight offseason on hiring a new head of baseball operations under owner Steve Cohen, with Alderson then shuffling off to run the business side.
Cohen, in the release, said: "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. 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."
After pivoting to a GM-only strategy again, the Mets centered on Eppler, who is considered a capable executive with a mixed track record during his five seasons as GM of the Los Angeles Angels.
"I’m so thankful to Steve and Sandy for what I consider an opportunity of a lifetime," Eppler said. "We have a lot of work to do and will systematically begin to work towards our goal of building a perennial winner."
The Angels had a losing record and didn’t make the playoffs during Eppler’s tenure (2016-’20) despite having the game’s best player in Mike Trout.
On the positive side, Eppler did sign Trout to a record $426.5 million contract extension and brought in two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who on Thursday was a unanimous selection for AL MVP.
The baseball world is bracing for a lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1. No business would be transacted. That could end up being a silver lining for Eppler, as it will give him time to get up to speed on the Mets organization until whatever date the lockout ends.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
