MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday that former Mets general manager Billy Eppler has been placed on the Ineligible List through the conclusion of the 2024 World Series for violation of Injured List rules.
According to a statement released by Major League Baseball, Eppler was disciplined “for directing the following pattern of conduct in violation of MLB’s rules: improper use of Injured List placements, including the deliberate fabrication of injuries; and the associated submission of documentation for the purposes of securing multiple improper Injured List placements during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.”
MLB added the “pattern of conduct was at Mr. Eppler’s sole direction and without any involvement of Club ownership or superiors.”
MLB was investigating at least 10 questionable IL stints between 2022-23
Eppler can seek an earlier reinstatement, which would be considered by Manfred.
The league’s Department of Investigation conducted interviews with over three dozen individuals and that Eppler and the Mets fully cooperated with the process.
The former GM resigned in October amid the investigation.
“With Billy Eppler’s resignation on October 5, 2023, and with David Stearns leading the Baseball Operations team, the Mets consider the matter closed and will have no further comment,” the Mets said in a statement.
“I cooperated fully and transparently with MLB’s investigation, and I accept their decision,” Eppler said in his own statement.
His sudden departure came just days after David Stearns was named the team’s new president of baseball operations. The two had been expected to work together, with Eppler staying on in his GM role.
That plan came to an abrupt end, according to sources, when the league was tipped off about the IL allegations in an anonymous letter.
Eppler resigned after he and the organization became aware of the investigation, with sources saying that he would have been fired if he didn’t resign.
Placing non-injured players on the IL allows teams to keep those players under club control instead of potentially losing them to other organizations.
This could often involve fringe players on the roster without minor league options.
The Mets used the IL 28 times in 2023, which was just 16th-most in the majors. The Giants (46), Angels (42) and Twins (39) led the majors in that category.
And in terms of number of days lost to the injured list, the Mets ranked 14th with 1,610. The Dodgers (2,465), Angels (2,346) and Yankees (2,158) were tops in that category.
During the World Series, Manfred said, “One of my directions to the [department of investigations] people is we need to finish the Mets and then we need to figure out whether we have a bigger problem.”
Eppler spent two seasons as Mets GM and helped build a roster that won 101 games in his first season at the helm before last year’s disappointment, when the Mets crumbled despite the high-priced addition of Justin Verlander to a rotation led by Max Scherzer.
Both veteran right-handers were part of a trade deadline selloff and the season ended with Buck Showalter being replaced as manager by Carlos Mendoza.
When Eppler was first hired, he brought some stability to a front office that had been in turmoil.
He arrived in November 2021 following a lengthy search for a president of baseball operations that failed to land a candidate.
Eppler’s two immediate predecessors, Jared Porter and Zack Scott, were both fired for off-the-field issues.
In January 2021, Porter was found to have previously sexually harassed a female journalist while working for the Cubs.
And Scott, after replacing Porter, was forced out in September of the same year after being arrested on drunken-driving charges. He was later acquitted.
Prior to that duo, former manager Mickey Callaway was suspended in 2021 and placed on MLB’s ineligible list for sending inappropriate messages and pictures to female reporters.