Reese Kaplan -- Billy Eppler Has Had Some Success Here...Really!

It’s a rare day when people pull out champagne to toast the current Mets GM, Billy Eppler.  However, when the announcement was made on Saturday that the Japanese rookie pitcher Kodai Senga would replace Marcus Stroman at the All Star Game, it was a feather in the cap of Eppler who had more bullet holes than bird plumage based upon his career in charge of the Mets roster.

So it’s time to think a moment about what positives have come out of the Billy Eppler tenure as the Mets General Manager when he was kind of an eleventh hour addition after no one else was interested or deemed suitable to take on that role.  Yes, Eppler had experience in both the Yankees and Angels organizations but success was not something prominent on his resume.  

• Nick Plummer
• Mark Canha
• Starling Marte
• Carlos Carrasco
• Max Scherzer
• Chris Bassitt
• Adam Ottavino
• Travis Jankowski
• Chasen Shreve
• Jordan Yamamoto
• Tyler Naquin
• Michael Perez
• Daniel Vogelbach
• Darin Ruf
• Stephen Ridings
• Jeff Brigham
• Elieser Hernandez
• Tyler Saucedo
• Edwin Diaz
• Jeff McNeil
• Brandon Nimmo
• Brooks Raley
• Justin Verlander
• Jose Quintana
• Kodai Senga
• Omar Narvaez
• Adam Ottavino
• Tommy Pham
• Sam Coonrod
• Gary Sanchez
• Tim Locastro
• Luke Voit
• Trevor Gott

So the goal here for us contributors at Mack’s Mets is to create a 500 or more word piece each time we post an article.  The honest intention here was to focus on Eppler’s major league transactions and applaud what’s gone right.  Hmmn...it might be a bit more difficult than I had initially thought.  Let’s go...

Starling Marte was a somewhat surprising acquisition when he was signed as a free agent but no one at all had a problem with it as he was known to be a high quality outfielder, a speedster on the basepaths and exhibited decent power.  His 2022 season couldn’t have gone any better to make his employer look good until the late season injury that took him out for a month.  Still, applause here for this terrific addition to the team.  2023 has not been nearly as good, but signs are there that he’s breaking out of his half season slump and should increase his batting average and continue running with abandon.

A similar set of thoughts could be made about Max Scherzer.  When he’s on his game, he’s focused, dominant and multiple Cy Young worthy.  However, he did have some injury issues in both seasons as well as the infamous sticky substance issue that left him unable to pitch for 10 games this year.  Overall no one is unhappy Scherzer is here after his 2022 season and his now dominating 2023 performances but the way things have gone April through June it’s possible though not likely he may be suiting up elsewhere for the balance of his deal.

The Chris Bassitt deal was one we’d repeat 8 days a week as he delivered like an All Star during his single year in New York.  Unfortunately the luster comes off that deal when the Mets declined the ability to retain him for another season and he went off into the land of free agency.

Tommy Pham was initially slated to fall into the infamous Darin Ruf/Daniel Vogelbach stratosphere as “What was he thinking?” but all of the sudden Pham got red hot and is looking to be even better than Eppler and his scouts could have fantasized.  Oddly, that very success in the middle of an inexpensive one-year deal may make the veteran a hot commodity for another team for the second half of the season.

Contract-wise, you have to hand it to Eppler for helping secure the services of both Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo.  McNeil is obviously struggling this season but no one questions his innate ability to hit and field both infield and outfield starting assignments.  Nimmo has quietly turned himself into not only a valuable offensive weapon but a centerfielder with skills among the best in the league.  

Speaking of contract, there was Edwin Diaz who was awesomely rewarded for his unhittable 2022 season.  Then came the World Baseball Classic and we all know he fell to a season skipping injury while celebrating Puerto Rico’s victory.  You can’t blame that on Eppler but you can give him credit for securing services of the Mets closer of the future.  

Adam Ottavino was one of the key reasons the 2022 squad won 101 games.  He was invincible in the eighth inning role leading up to Sugar Diaz.  His work was so good it lead to him being signed again this offseason.

Brooks Raley was one of those deals that made people scratch their heads as New Yorkers are savvy about a lot of things but Tampa middle relievers is not one of them.  His earlier career was quite unimpressive but he put up outstanding numbers in 2022 and that led to the Mets making the veteran lefty a part of their team.  Apparently 2022 was not an outlier as he’s been just as good in 2023.  

Jose Quintana and Omar Narvaez are both great unknowns.  Quintana has yet to pitch for the major league club due to injury and Narvaez didn’t get started until he recovered (by which time Francisco Alvarez cemented the job as the number one catcher).  Still, they were solid players and made sense at the time of acquisition.

No one was upset when Justin Verlander was brought in to replace Jacob deGrom who fled for the yellow roses of Texas, but Verlander also got a late start.  He’s been far more good than bad but not quite at the multiple Cy Young Award level he’s shown in the past.  Right now he’s an incomplete as an acquisition.  

There are more positives here than anyone would think Eppler deserved but we can’t forget the imbalanced side of the scale where he flubbed and flopped in his deal making decisions.  Again, I think his Mets future is inextricably tied to the pursuit of Angel Shoehei Ohtani, but he has been better than some of his immediate predecessors.