Billy Eppler

However, like, when you're talking about GMs and president of baseball operations and executives, their impact is often felt long after they've left.

The Mets are still dealing with, like, the ramifications of Billy Eppler and Zach Scott and even Sandy Alderson part two and Jared Porter.

S- sometimes you don't f- even feel the negative effect until years after they're gone because, you know, the, the impacts are happening in the minor league system.

It's not just at the major league roster.

I have a relationship with, you know, whoever's been the GM here.

Uh, you know, I was here for, you know, the, the end of the Dipoto time, uh, from Billy Eppler.

I was close with Billy.

I had a good relationship with Perry Minasian.

Paul DeJong, uh, uh, Matt Carpenter I think, you know, who declined with St. Louis was another name that had some of the same things to say about Jeff Albert and St. Louis.

Been with the Mets a while dating back to Billy Eppler.

And, and now he was the, on the major league side, but he's been basically running the organization hitting philosophy for a while.

Let's face it, during his tenure, top prospects like Beatty, like Alvarez, like Mauricio, they really have not, uh, consistently shown, uh, the best version of themselves.

But what has happened since, now that you are, you know what, three seasons removed from any influence of Stearns and four seasons removed from him actually running the show, this is all Matt Arnold's team.

Just like when I look at the current Mets roster and I see, you know, A.J. Ewing or Noel McLain that were technically drafted by Billy Eppler, I don't really give that credit to Billy Eppler.

Like, yeah, Eppler was the GM at the time of those selections.

But you have entire scouting departments that, you know, it's a lot of holdovers that still remained that are just as responsible for scouting those pr- those players and making the recommendation as Eppler was for pulling the trigger.

Like, like, the current Mets roster, it's, it's David Stearns' team.

And because they did not do well, that is also on Stearns.

But if they find success next year, I'm not gonna retroactively be like, "Yeah, well, Billy Eppler did a great dra- job drafting A.J. Ewing all those years ago, or drafting Noel McLain." Like, yeah, they were good draft picks, absolutely.

But where they're at presently is due to the current Mets, just like where the Brewers are at presently is the current Brewers and, and Matt Arnold.

We have faked injuries for decades and centuries.

Just don't tell Billy Eppler.

He'd get a little sensitive about it.

Like, if I'm the New York Yankees today, I would've done it yesterday, but today, I go to Giancarlo, I say, "How's your groin feeling? Are you sure it feels good?"

That's what the Angels have tried to bank on a- season after season after season, especially under Perry Minasian.

There's a little bit of that under Billy Eppler.

We did have, you know, younger, better players.

He did get Shohei Ohtani, and then injuries did undermine some of that early on.

... because there are checks and balances.

Remember, Billy Eppler got fired from the Mets because they said he faked injuries to roster manipulate.

So, a- and I think that the, the, the microscope is gonna be even bigger in a postseason series 'cause nobody wants to manipulate a roster because the other team, you know, their, their season's on the line, too.

So I, I, I don't think you could do that as cavalierly as you're making it out to be.