Mets

The New York Mets have several positions to address during the offseason if they want to have a shot at taking first place in the NL East division in 2022. While the next step would be appointing a manager, they are still monitoring the market to look for roster upgrades.

Their most pressing needs are center field, a third baseman, and pitching, both for the rotation and the bullpen. Free agency is an obvious avenue to bring players, but the trade market is also an option.

These three players, potentially available via trade, would fit in the Mets with ease.

Byron Buxton, CF, Minnesota Twins

Buxton would represent a huge upgrade in center field for the Mets. It would also be a direct replacement for free agent Michael Conforto, because the team would slide Brandon Nimmo to a corner and plug Buxton in the middle.

Buxton put an amazing .306/.358/.647 line with 4.2 Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, which is amazing considering he only participated in 61 games. He is injury-prone, sure, but remains one of the game’s best all-around players and would fit in the Mets like a glove.

Matt Chapman, 3B, Oakland A’s

The Mets have been looking for a reliable third baseman for a while. They have had to play JD Davis there, and while he can hit, he struggles to stay healthy and is a liability on the field. Chapman, on the other hand, is a magician with the glove.

Additionally, he carries severe power in his right-handed bat. He hit 27 homers this season and his career-high is 36. However, he carries some batting-average risk by virtue of his high strikeout rate. Still, he is a 6-win player when at his best and could be a major upgrade for the Mets.

Luis Castillo, SP, Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds have made it clear that they are not looking to shop Castillo. Still, it could be a move to maintain some leverage, and the Mets don’t lose anything if they knock on the door.

Castillo had a rough first two months of the season, but finished with a 3.98 ERA as a whole and a 2.73 mark from June to the end of the campaign.

The Mets need rotation help after losing Noah Syndergaard to the Los Angeles Angels and with Marcus Stroman still testing the free agent market.

The New York Mets recently welcomed their new general manager, Billy Eppler, after a long search that included no less than 10 candidates. He has extensive scouting experience and was the GM of the Los Angeles Angels from 2015 to 2020.

One of Eppler’s first things to do in his new position is finding a new manager to lead the Mets “for years to come”. Asked whether he would prefer a skipper with more analytics-based thinking or an old-schooler, he said:

“I’d love to find somebody that checks every single box and is great in all areas. It’s interesting that you bring it up, because over this past year just learning and reading and kind of re-thinking some of the ways that you approach things, I wanted to be able to sit down with the senior baseball ops group, and then sit down with Steve [Cohen] and Sandy [Alderson] and kind of all collectively talk about what kind of criteria we think might be important for the next manager of the Mets.

“I have a little bit of my own feeling on that, but I’d rather hold back on giving exactly what that criteria is at this moment in time because I want to have the group engaged. And get a sense of, do you value, for example, tactical in-game management as your primary criteria or primary element? Do you value analytic in-game probabilistic thinking as your No. 1 criteria? Or your ability to connect with the media and fan base, obviously that’s critical, and clubhouse culture.

The Mets are considering at least five names

SNY reported that the Mets are currently considering at least five names: Brad Ausmus, Joe Espada, Eric Chavez, John Farrell, and Buck Showalter.

However, Eppler told media over the weekend that he doesn’t anticipate a quick resolution, and thinks the Mets will take their time to pick the manager that will replace Luis Rojas.

“As far as the manager process, I don’t expect it to be done overnight or even be done in the next week,” Eppler said. “I know we’re about to embark on a holiday week. Starting to have those conversations and carve out time each day to meeting a candidate, I think could be done simultaneously, just as you manage your time.”

At long last, the New York Mets will finally have someone in charge of baseball decisions and running the team. Billy Eppler is reportedly finalizing a deal to become their new general manager, according to multiple sources including ESPN’s Jeff Passan and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.

Eppler, 46, had accepted a position with William Morris Endeavor, which is a talent representation agency that recently ventured into the baseball world and had free agent shortstop Carlos Correa as its highest profile client. However, he will now take over the Mets, and the offseason, for them, can finally get started.

Eppler is best known for his time as the Los Angeles Angels’ general manager, which lasted from 2015 to 2020. He couldn’t deliver a playoff berth, but under his leadership, the Halos signed Mike Trout to an extension and brought two-way star Shohei Ohtani.

Before his stint with the Angels and joining the Mets, Eppler had spent 10 years with the Yankees, so he knows what it’s like to work in New York and deal with the huge expectations of a demanding fan base.

The Mets’ extensive search comes to an end

Before turning their attention to Eppler, the Mets had failed to convince at least 10 other candidates to join the team either as general manager or president of baseball operations.

David Stearns, Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, Billy Eppler, Matt Arnold, Raquel Ferreira, Michael Girsch, Jean Afterman, Scott Harris, Brandon Gomes, and Mark Shapiro were considered for the positions, but all of them turned them down, citing different reasons.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, Eppler broke into baseball as a scout with the Rockies in the early 2000s “before joining the Yankees in that same role. He was eventually named the Yankees’ director of scouting and, in 2011, promoted to the title of assistant general manager — a role he’d hold until being hired to lead the Angels’ baseball operations staff following the 2015 season.”

The New York Mets kicked off their offseason by announcing general manager Zack Scott wouldn’t be back with the team regardless of the outcome of his DUI case. As a result, they have been actively looking for a president of baseball operations and a general manager, too.

They have talked with at least ten people, including David Stearns, Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, Billy Eppler, Matt Arnold, Raquel Ferreira, Michael Girsch, Jean Afterman, Scott Harris, Brandon Gomes, and Mark Shapiro, about one of their top executive positions. They swung and missed with everyone, bafflingly.

Mets’ legend John Franco finds it hard to believe. “I’m scratching my head every day, when I read about people turning it down,” he said, per SNY, while explaining the position would be an ideal one because the team has an owner willing to spend.

Franco admitted, however, that some or most of the candidates may have passed on the chance because they like their current positions with their respective teams or because of family reasons.

Nobody wants to take on the Mets’ challenge

Franco, who leads the Mets in saves (276) and appearances (695), said at the fundraising gala for Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation in midtown Manhattan that “there’s no place like New York. I was born and raised here, played here 15 years, was team captain. I’ve worked with the organization a little bit. There’s a new owner looking to spend.

“I speak to a lot of former players and teammates and we’re speechless on what’s going on and why it’s taking so long to get a president of baseball operations or a GM or even a manager. It shouldn’t be like that for a big-market team.”

The Mets have several holes to fill in the roster, particularly third base, center fielder, and the always-necessary pitching. “But you still have to have a face, a GM, and a manager. If you had a manager, maybe he could help out and recruit some players. That’s the difficult part right now,” Franco admitted.