One of the biggest points from Mets GM Billy Eppler’s statements on Friday was his desire to to improve the team’s starting pitching in free agency.
When talking about the free agent starting pitching market — which includes the likes of Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Marcus Stroman — Eppler said on WFAN, “A lot of those agents are going to hear from me.”
In his subsequent introductory press conference, he talked about his wanting to be aggressive.
“We want to tackle the free agent market, as well as the trade market,” Eppler said. “We want to look for opportunities. In my dialogues with Steve and Sandy, it’s evident that we’re going to have some resources behind us. So I don’t think anything eliminates itself from the outset here.”
This approach will not just be beneficial, but necessary to a team that underperformed its expectations in 2021. Even under the reigns of new owner Steve Cohen, there hasn’t been much of a shift in terms of how the Mets have managed their roster, which included poor results at the trade deadline and a second-half collapse.
Eppler hopes to change that.
“I look at the roster and definitely want to address the pitching,” he said. “We’ve had a player recently somewhere else in Noah [Syndergaard], and just really want to reinforce the overall depth.”
He went on to say that he’s looking to address things in the infield and outfield as well, with his focus on improving the team as a whole. But with some attractive options on the pitching market, that’s likely going to be one of his first areas of attack.
