Mets Monday Morning GM: 5 worst moves and decisions Billy Eppler made

It was a relief when the New York Mets moved on from Brodie Van Wagenen and his predictability in the front office. We knew each of his former clients was fair game for the Mets even if they weren’t a roster fit. 

With Billy Eppler, it took some time for us to figure out his faults. Many of those same weaknesses from his time with the Los Angeles Angels turned out to be true. It didn’t matter if he had a high salary. Eppler’s shortcomings made them irrelevant.

Now that his tenure is over with, we can look back at exactly which moves or decisions he made that hurt the Mets most. The big problem with most of them is how much they repeated themselves. The man was too stubborn when it came to certain players.

5) Picking up the Carlos Carrasco option for 2023

Mets fans, for the most part, agreed this wasn't such an unwise move to make. Carlos Carrasco was effective in 2022 after all. Picking up his $14 million option for 2023 was at least a safety net if they missed in free agency at building a complete rotation.

Unfortunately, Cookie was left in the oven a little too long. His 2023 campaign somehow became worse than what he did in 2021.

Carrasco ended up with a 3-8 record this year and 6.80 ERA. This is the type of performance you pay zero dollars to acquire. His walks were up. His strikeouts were down. He gave up one more home run this year than he did in all of 2022 despite logging 62 fewer innings.

This is one of the bad Eppler decisions he won’t get wrung out for. Carrasco looked like a capable fifth starter heading into the year. That’s not how it went down as he ended up as a roster burden for his 20 starts where we never thought the Mets would have a chance to win.

3) Constantly delaying the promotion of rookies

Eppler handled the top Mets prospects with kids gloves wrapped in bubble wrap with an N95 mask on it. They couldn't have been more cautious with promoting the prospects no matter how obvious it was they deserved a shot. It was a running theme in 2022. Without mercy, it continued in 2023.

The real issue took place when the Mets needed a DH boost in 2022 and didn't even try Francisco Alvarez or Mark Vientos until it was too late. Would it have made a difference? The results from what they did decide aren't any better than the worst case scenario with the kids. It’s frustrating now at the end of the 2023 season to know the Mets didn’t try everything possible to win in 2022.

It's good to be cautious about promoting young players. Whether you don't think they’re ready, want to manipulate service time a bit, or just aren't a fan of what they bring, there are reasons to sometimes hold young players back. The excuses the Mets had never seemed strong enough when the options they had at the major league level failed so mightily.

This past year, Ronny Mauricio added his name into the mix of talented prospects with numbers deserving a look in the major leagues. Mauricio wouldn’t get called up until September when the Mets had already rolled themselves up into a carpet.

2) The Omar Narvaez free agent signing

Will this go down as Eppler's worst free agent signing with the Mets? It depends on how you grade all of the factors. Omar Narvaez is more of a lock to end up as the most inconsequential signing under Eppler. Compared to Eduardo Escobar who gave the Mets something in 2022, the Max Scherzer addition that disappointed yet delivered more often than not, and the Starling Marte contract that's beginning to give off a smell the neighbors have noticed, this deal is the most inferior.

Narvaez hit .211/.283/.297 for the Mets in his 146 trips to the plate. He was injured for most of the year and by the time he did rejoin them from the IL, Francisco Alvarez had made his presence known as the unquestioned starter behind the plate. Where does this leave Narvaez? He got to take on the backup role while making starter money.

What makes this signing most frustrating is the player option for 2024. We can excuse one year. A mutual or team option for 2024 could've worked, too. Not today. This one is all up to Narvaez, yet another expensive free agent catcher who isn't cutting it in the lineup.

Did Eppler have this little faith in Francisco Alvarez? It would seem to be the case. You don’t offer Narvaez a chance to return in 2024 unless you believe Alvarez is going to take a while.

1) The Darin Ruf trade

Without question, the worst move of all made by Eppler is the 2022 Darin Ruf trade. It's what we may remember him for most aside from any major fallout from his handling of the IL. The Ruf trade wins unanimously as the biggest head scratching move of all by Eppler. Why not just keep J.D. Davis and limit his playing time or demote him? He had minor league options. 

Why give up three prospects for a struggling right handed hitter who'll be only slightly less limited than his platoon partner, Vogelbach? These are the questions we should ask the gatekeeper, whichever one it may be, when we die.

Martin Luther put together a list of 95 theses. Mets fans could easily top the list for reasons as to why this trade felt icky from the start. The spin was how well Ruf had hit lefties in the past. What’s so bad about the present?

Ruf didn’t hit a single home run for the Mets in any of his 74 chances. He was a putrid .152/.216/.197 hitter for the ball club. Most painful of all, he came days within making the 2023 Opening Day roster.

This trade is the Jason Bay signing for a whole new generation. It doesn’t even matter if the players the Mets gave up do nothing. The addition of Ruf and insistence on giving him a chance the following year alone make this one of those trades that’ll give a fan nightmares forever.