3 biggest Mets winners and 3 biggest losers from the first half of the season

Biggest NY Mets winner: Job security for Billy Eppler and Buck Showalter

Steve Cohen isn’t going to fire Billy Eppler or Buck Showalter during the middle of the 2023 season—at least according to his recent press conference where he addressed the ball club in late June. Cohen has kept to his promises thus far. We shouldn’t expect him to suddenly decide to make a change midseason unless something drastically changed like Showalter spray-painting Cohen’s car.

It’s a big win for Eppler and Showalter to know they don’t have to feel the hot seat burn up too quickly. Each could get lit up after the year ends. A slow and agonizing demise for either remains a possibility. They don’t have a lifetime pact with the Mets. We should fully expect that if the team fails to make the postseason something major changes even if it’s just the hiring of David Stearns which puts Eppler in a slightly reduced role.

Nobody wants to show up to work thinking they could be fired. The awkward exit with security following is bad enough. Try having it happen with a job where you’re scrutinized as much as Eppler and Showalter are and will continue to be.

The recent turnaround by the Mets in July at least temporarily delays any further discussion of an in-season firing. Their job security, for now, is a big win for them but maybe not so much for the Mets. We’ll find out.