Former Mets GM Suspended for 2024 Season Over Faked Injuries

Former New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler has been suspended through the end of the 2024 season, Major League Baseball announced Friday, after a league investigation determined Eppler ordered the franchise to fabricate injuries and submit false documentation to create open roster spots.

Eppler directed the “deliberate fabrication of injuries” and the “associated submission of documentation” for the Mets to secure “multiple improper injured list replacements” during the 2023 and 2023 seasons, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. Examples of Eppler’s conduct—including which roster spots were created—were not released by MLB, which concluded Eppler’s actions were his own and did not involve any of the Mets ownership. Eppler’s efforts involved about seven players, a person familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press.

An investigation by MLB covered interviews with three dozen unspecified individuals in addition to the review of relevant documents and electronic records, according to the league. Eppler—who resigned in October—will be ineligible for another job with another team until the end of the 2024 World Series unless Manfred allows his reinstatement. The Mets said in a statement the organization had been informed of the league’s investigation, though it considered the “matter closed” after Eppler resigned.

Eppler is the first baseball executive to be disciplined for using the “phantom injured list,” a practice considered to be common throughout baseball, according to the Associated Press. MLB rules require team physicians to certify a player’s injury in the league’s computer records, though some teams will place players on the injured list when they are not hurt. The practice allows teams to fill a roster spot while also allowing players placed on the injured list to rest.

Eppler, 48, was hired as the general manager for the Mets in November 2021 and resigned on October 23, 2023, after the MLB opened an investigation into Eppler’s conduct. His resignation also followed the announcement of David Stearns being introduced as the Mets’ new president of baseball operation under owner Steve Cohen. Eppler said at the time he “wanted David to have a clean slate,” which included him stepping down as general manager. In his first season with the Mets, the team finished with a 101-win season in 2022 before falling to a 75-win season in 2023. Prior to his stint with the Mets, Eppler served as the general manager for the Los Angeles Angels for five seasons and as the assistant general manager for the New York Yankees for three seasons.