NEW YORK — Billy Eppler quit as New York Mets general manager Thursday, three days after David Stearns was hired above him as the team's first president of baseball operations.
Eppler's decision continues an overhaul that followed a fourth-place NL East finish for a team with playoff expectations and World Series aspirations. Mets owner Steve Cohen fired manager Buck Showalter on Sunday, saying Stearns deserved to bring in his own manager.
"I wanted David to have a clean slate and that meant me stepping down," Eppler said in a statement released by the team.