Former Mets GM Billy Eppler banned for season over fabricated injuries
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.”
Eppler can seek an earlier reinstatement, which would be considered by the commissioner.
The league’s Department of Investigation conducted interviews with more than three dozen people and said that Eppler and the Mets fully cooperated with the process.
The former GM resigned in October amid the investigation and, following the announcement, the Mets said in a statement: “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.”
Eppler said in a statement, “I cooperated fully and transparently with MLB’s investigation, and I accept their decision.”
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.
MLB investigated at least 10 questionable IL stints between 2022-23.
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.
According to Article XIII, Section C of the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement, for a player to go on the IL there must be a Standard Form of Diagnosis that is “completed by a Club certified athletic trainer and shall include, as separate items, a certification that the Club physician has confirmed an Injured List placement is necessary and an estimated time period for recovery.”
The Mets��� team physician during Eppler’s tenure was Dr. Lawrence Gulotta, who works for the Hospital for Special Surgery.
Gulotta’s contract expired sometime after the 2023 season, and according to a source familiar with the situation, the Mets didn’t renew the contract because of this issue.
HSS released a statement on behalf of Dr. Gulotta that read, in part, “I am grateful for my recent turn on the Mets medical staff and would be honored to have that opportunity again in the future. For now I am focused entirely on my very busy practice and Dr. David Altchek continues to serve as Mets Medical Director. I have no further comment at this time.”
The hospital also said in the statement that it “is proud of our long and successful relationship as the Official Hospital of the New York Mets. We support all recommendations that safeguard player health and the integrity of the sport. Over the years several HSS doctors have been honored to serve on and rotate through the Mets medical staff, including Dr. Gulotta.”
One person who wasn’t interviewed during the investigation was reliever Tommy Hunter, who pitched for the Mets in 2021 — when he was first placed on the IL with lower back pain — and again in 2022 and part of ’23.
He was sent to the IL with back issues three times in 2022 and had a lengthy IL stint due to “back spasms” last season before he was released in June.
“It’s crazy Billy got singled out,’’ Hunter told The Post by phone. “It’s kind of mind-blowing. I had multiple back [issues] and no one from MLB talked to me. I don’t know what their strategy was. It’s no secret what goes on [with the phantom IL], so to go after one person seems unfair. I feel bad for Billy. … He didn’t do anything different than any other GM I’ve been around.”
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.
In 2022, Eppler’s first season as Mets GM, he helped build a roster that won 101 games and reached the postseason.
Last year was a 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 sell-off and the season ended with Buck Showalter being replaced as manager by Carlos Mendoza.
When Eppler was hired in November 2021 following a lengthy search for a president of baseball operations that failed to land a candidate, he brought some stability to a front office that had been in turmoil.
Eppler’s two immediate predecessors, Jared Porter and Zack Scott, were 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.
