The Mets have had to drastically change their front office structure in the last week.
With no GM in place, the Mets are trying to piece together a front office. They hired Ben Zauzmer to run the R&D department and they also hired Kevin Howard as their farm director. Despite the recent hires, the Mets are still not done.
According to Andy Martino of SNY, former Angels GM and Yankees executive Billy Eppler is a candidate to join the Mets newly structured front office. Martino mentions that Eppler would help Sandy Alderson as an advisor while also mentoring Zack Scott.
Eppler used to be the the Director of Pro Scouting under Brian Cashman and eventually ascended to being one of Cashman’s top lieutenants. He served as the Angels GM from 2015-2020.
There are likely not a lot of former GM’s sitting on the open market who have Eppler’s resume. The only one who comes to mind is Michael Hill but the Mets turned him down for both the President of Baseball Ops job and the GM position.
There is a former GM sitting on the market who was an agent turned executive but only lasted two years on the job after he infamously traded a first-round pick for a volatile player.
I will let you figure out if I am talking about Brodie or Dave Stewart.
It is also worth mentioning that in the article, Martino says that Scott “has been functioning as a de facto GM.” He also mentions that the Mets are optimistic that he can grow into the GM role over the course of the season.
The Mets will be in the market for a GM and/or President of Baseball Ops next winter. It is fairly easy to imagine a scenario where Scott becomes the GM next offseason without an extensive search.
