Brewers Make Big Addition to Front Office With Hire of Former GM

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dave Gasper | Last updated Mar 2, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Milwaukee Brewers have one of the best front offices in the league. Despite modest budgets, the Brewers are consistently successful and have made the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons.

They've lost their lead executive in David Stearns, they lost their analytics-friendly manager in Craig Counsell, they've seen a number of other executives leave for promotions elsewhere, yet they still have an incredible collection of baseball minds and keep churning out quality teams.

Part of that success is had by bringing in good baseball people, including ones with experience leading their own front office as the Brewers have just done once again.

Brewers hire former Mets GM Billy Eppler to front office

According to Andy Martino of SNY, the Milwaukee Brewers have hired former Mets general manager Billy Eppler as a special advisor to scouting and baseball operations.

Eppler served as the GM of the Mets from 2021-23 and prior to that he was the GM of the Los Angeles Angels from 2015-2020. Eppler stepped down from the GM job in New York when David Stearns made his move from Milwaukee to Queens.

Eppler had to sit out the 2024 season as he was serving a suspension from Major League Baseball for his use of the "phantom IL", placing non-injured players on the injured list as a way to manage the roster.

Coming up through the ranks in the Yankees front office as a scout, Eppler earned a reputation as a very good scout with a keen eye for talent. His tenures as the lead decision-maker in front offices haven't gone as well as the Angels sputtered under his watch, though that's not entirely his fault as no GM has been able to fix things over there. Then his Mets tenure always felt like he was just a bridge GM until owner Steve Cohen could get who he wanted, which was Stearns.

This is the second former GM from a big market team that the Brewers have hired in recent years. Former Phillies GM Matt Klentak serves in the Brewers front office as an Executive Advisor to the General Manager.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: