The list of names connected to the Mets’ front office search continues growing with each passing day. The newest addition is former Angels general manager Billy Eppler. Andy Martino of SNY reports that the Mets “have interest” in Eppler, though he has not yet been interviewed for the position.
Eppler has around 20 years of organizational experience at this point in his career, hired by the Rockies as a scout in the year 2000. He moved over to the Yankees in 2004, eventually getting promoted to the director of the scouting department and then to assistant general manager prior to the 2012 season. He became the Angels’ general manager prior to the 2016 season and stayed in that role until being fired in September 2020. Two months ago, it was revealed that Eppler joined the William Morris Endeavor agency as a business partner. Given that Eppler is not currently employed by a rival club, he could seemingly avoid the typical song and dance that the Mets have had to go through with many other candidates, asking the club for permission for an interview and often being denied. At this point, it’s not clear if the Mets’ interest is reciprocated from Eppler’s side or if he’s committed to a new role on the other side of the bargaining table.
It was recently reported that the Red Sox were going to give assistant GM Raquel Ferreira permission to speak with the Mets, and it now seems a conversation is imminent. A report in the New York Post from Ken Davidoff, Joel Sherman and Mike Puma says that Ferreira and Mets officials will speak in the coming days, although it may not exactly be a formal interview. “It’s believed that the talk will be more of a 'Get to know you’ session,” says the article, “in which both sides will determine whether they want to take this idea any further.” However, Jon Heyman of MLB Network does use the word “interview” in a tweet about the matter. Regardless of semantics, it seems that Ferreira’s process is further along than many other executives who have either been denied permission to speak with the Mets or quickly turned down their advances.
That same article also confirms previous reporting that the Mets are interested in Orioles assistant GM Sig Mejdal, although it’s not known if the Orioles will allow the Mets to interview him. As the piece states, “There is uncertainty within the industry whether Mejdal wants to run a baseball operations department.”
Elsewhere in the organization, the Mets also have a vacancy at the manager level, and Heyman reports that they spoke with Bob Melvin before he made the leap from Oakland to San Diego. His preference for remaining on the West Coast kept talks from coming to fruition. There were no rumors of Melvin leaving Oakland before it was announced that he was hired by the Padres, but it appears it that at least a few teams knew he was available and were discussing things behind the scenes.
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