The former Mets general manager was placed on MLB’s restricted list Friday after the completion of an investigation into improper use of the injured list. Eppler, who led the Mets’ baseball operations efforts during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, resigned from his position Oct. 5, a few days after the completion of the season and the hiring of president of baseball operations David Stearns.

Eppler was found to have “fabricated” injuries to place players on the IL in 2022 and 2023.

“Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations (DOI) has completed its investigation into allegations that former New York Mets General Manager Billy Eppler and other Mets employees violated MLB’s rules,” the league said in a statement. “The Mets organization and Mr. Eppler fully cooperated with MLB’s thorough review, which included interviews with over three dozen individuals, in addition to the review of relevant documents and electronic records.

“Having reviewed the results of the investigation, Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. announced today that Mr. Eppler has been placed on the Ineligible List beginning immediately 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.”

The Mets will face no further discipline and no other staffers or players were named directly in the league’s report. Owner and CEO Steve Cohen was not a part of the investigation and the league determined that Eppler called the shots without ownership’s knowledge.

“MLB’s investigation concluded that the pattern of conduct was at Mr. Eppler’s sole direction and without any involvement of Club ownership or superiors,” the league said in a statement.

Oct. 6, 2023: The end of Billy Ball

MLB’s department of investigations opened an inquiry into Eppler’s use of the “phantom injured list” in October after a complaint from a staffer.

It’s common for teams to utilize the “phantom IL” to give struggling players a break. An injured list transaction allows teams to hold roster spots for players who might not have minor league options and would have to pass through waivers to receive a minor league assignment. Proper documentation to verify the injury or illness has to be obtained by a team doctor, but it’s easy to find something minor like tendinitis or inflammation in professional athletes.

By suspending Eppler, the league could be signaling a crackdown on these types of transactions. While Eppler is far from the only executive to utilize this tactic, he’s the only one being punished for it. That could change if the league decides to get serious about this issue.

Eppler will be eligible to return following the conclusion of the World Series unless the commissioner grants an application for an earlier reinstatement.

The Mets will not be elaborating on the investigation.

“The Mets have been informed of the conclusion of Major League Baseball’s investigation,” the team 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, 48, previously worked as an assistant general manager with the Yankees before being hired as the Los Angeles Angels GM in 2015. He was fired following the conclusion of the 2020 season. The Mets signed him to a four-year contract Nov. 18, 2021.

The club announced its full player development staff and minor league coaches for the upcoming season Thursday. Andy Green will lead the player development efforts this season, transitioning from an on-field role to a front-office role for the first time. The former San Diego Padres manager and Chicago Cubs bench coach had always envisioned himself working in a front office and an interview for the managerial job that went to Carlos Mendoza turned into that opportunity.

Green has several holdovers on staff, including much of his front office staff and the managers of minor league affiliates. It’s a mix of familiar and new for the Mets as they continue to make changes to their player development system in order to meet their goal of becoming a “sustainable” contender.

Dick Scott will return as the manager of Triple-A Syracuse. Scott has been with the Mets for 11 seasons in several different roles, including player development, coaching development and as a bench coach for Terry Collins. Hitting coach Collin Hetlzer and bench J.P. Arencibia also returns to the Syracuse staff, with Grayson Crawford joining them as pitching coach. Crawford previously coached for the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate in Somerset, as well as coached Division I baseball.

Much of the Double-A Binghamton staff will return after guiding the team to the Eastern League Championship series last season. Manager Reid Bringac will be in the dugout for the third straight season and he’ll be joined by the same pitching, hitting and bench coaches, AJ Sager, Darin Everson and Mariano Duncan. Juan Loya replaces Jeremy Cologna as the Rumble Ponies’ development coach.

Gilbert Gomez has been promoted from the Low-A St. manager to the High-A Brooklyn manager. His bench coach in Port St. Lucie, Yucarybert De La Cruz, will replace him in the Low-A dugout.

Andrew Christie, Max Vogel-Freedman and Eric Jagers all received promotions. Christie is now the director of player development, Vogel-Freedman is the manager of player development and Jagers is the vice president of pitching. They will report to Green.

The backstop has agreed to a one-year deal with the Brewers, according to multiple reports. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added that the contract is for $7 million and comes with an option for 2025.

It’s a good get for Sánchez, who bounced between the Giants and Mets last season before settling down in San Diego. Although the 31-year-old only hit .218 with a sub-.300 on-base percentage for the Padres, he added 19 home runs and 46 RBI over 72 games. Sánchez, whose receiving has been criticized since his days in pinstripes, also caught Blake Snell a team-high 18 times.

Snell, a free agent, is coming off the second Cy Young campaign of his career.

“Gary was very comforting behind the plate,” the southpaw said after he and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole won the award. “He always told me how hard I am to hit, especially when I command the zone.”

Sánchez had seven defensive runs saved last year, a personal best. His blocking, framing and pop time also improved before a broken wrist ended his season in September.

Sánchez will join a Brewers catching core that also includes William Contreras. The 26-year-old just won his first Silver Slugger after slashing .289/.367/.457 with 17 homers and 78 RBI over a career-high 141 games.

Milwaukee could also use Sánchez as a designated hitter.

A Silver Slugger himself in 2017, Sánchez debuted for the Yankees over two games in 2015 before enjoying a meteoric stretch in 2016. He crushed 20 homers in just 53 games that season, earning himself a second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.

Sánchez hit .278 with another 33 homers in 2017, his first full season, as he earned his first All-Star nod. Another came in 2019 after a dreadful 2018, but Sánchez hit just .187 from 2020-2021 while his defense remained a detriment.

The Yankees traded him and Gio Urshela to the Twins for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt prior to the 2022 season. That was Sánchez’s only year in Minnesota.

The club came to terms with veteran left-hander Jake Diekman on a one-year contract with a club option for 2025 on Tuesday afternoon. The Mets designated right-hander Austin Adams for assignment to clear space off the 40-man roster. They will have to make another transaction to be able to announce the signing of right-handed reliever Shintaro Fujinami.

“Jake has a proven track record and has shown the ability to get batters out from both sides of the plate,” said president of baseball operations David Stearns in a statement. “He gives our bullpen another option to provide key outs. In addition to his work on the field, he has shown an admirable commitment to impacting others away from the ballpark through his Gut It Out Foundation.”

Diekman and his wife, Amanda, created the Gut It Out Foundation to help connect those who suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases and provide them with resources. Diekman, 37, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis as a child.

A Nebraska native who was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 30th round of the 2007 draft, Diekman spent the 2023 season primarily with the Tampa Bay Rays where he posted a 2.18 ERA in 50 appearances, striking out 53 (10.5 strikeouts per nine innings).

He joins Brooks Raley as the only other left-hander in the bullpen. Raley is often saved for high-leverage situations, which left the Mets without any weapons to counter left-handed hitters in the middle innings. In 12 seasons, Diekman has held left-handed hitters to a .233 average.

Diekman’s deal is worth $4 million and Fujinami will be paid $3.5 million, which brings the Mets’ projected payroll total to over $285 million for 2024. The Mets were already well past the luxury tax threshold of $237 million and will once again pay over $300 million once the tax bill is included. The Mets paid $101 million in luxury tax penalties last season, according to the Associated Press.

The recently fired skipper shared some insight on how the Mets handled resting their players and the analytical data shared with him late in games during an appearance on the “Foul Territory” podcast.

“I love when those guys come in about their load management,” Showalter said Tuesday.

“We had a guy that hit a triple and two doubles and they came in and said he probably needs a day off cause he ran too much around the bases. So what do you want me to tell him, don’t get any hits, so you can play the next day? I didn’t quite understand that one. I said, ‘Ok, you go out there and tell Brandon Nimmo that he’s not playing today because he did too well last night.’”

Showalter, 67, is known to be an old-school type of manager. Load management and analytics for lifelong baseball people can sometimes fall on deaf ears, as he somewhat suggested on Tuesday.

“They present a lot of things to you but sometimes it’s a lot different in the dugout in the eighth and ninth inning when you know what’s going on mentally with a guy, emotionally with a guy,” Showalter said. “You know things that are going on on and off the field. There’s so many factors that figure into it. So the best guys that I’ve dealt with are receptive to the other part of it — they bring something I can’t bring, but the coaching staff brings something that they can’t bring just from your experiences.

“The best organizations — like Texas, you saw a great example. Their general manager [Chris Young] went to an Ivy League school but he played the game. And their manager [Bruce Bochy], there’s a great relationship there. The guys that mesh and have respect for what each one brings and don’t make any of those people feel uncomfortable in the locker room.”

Showalter was relieved of his duties as new president of baseball operations David Stearns was hired and attempted to bring a sense of freshness to a team that finished 75-87. Former Yankee bench coach Carlos Mendoza was hired as his replacement.

However, Showalter felt as if the Mets may have been postseason-bound had the club not sold off their best assets at the trade deadline.

“I still think if we stayed the course we would have slipped in [the] Wild Card. I’m always going to think that,” Showalter recalled. “They walked in and someone was saying bye to me and I looked up and said, ‘what’s going on?’’ Tommy Pham got traded. That’s the first time I knew we were abandoning ship, sorta speak. I had Max Scherzer in there that day because he was trying to make up his mind.”

A year ago, the lineup and the rotation were more or less locked in before camp even opened. The Mets returned much of the same lineup from their 2022 Wild Card team and had replaced departing starters with high-end veteran talent. This spring, however, things are far from settled.

A new president of baseball operations (David Stearns) and a new manager (Carlos Mendoza) will oversee a team with elite veteran talent and plenty of emerging question marks as well. The Mets opted not to get a big bat this winter, instead choosing to prioritize at-bats for young players like Mark Vientos and Brett Baty. The Mets fortified the pitching staff but also have some back-end pitchers who will push for starting spots and relief roles.

Here’s a look at where the Mets stand as they head into spring training and some anticipated position battles.

INFIELD

Without Ronny Mauricio, Baty and Vientos will compete for the starting job. Utility infielder Joey Wendle will be an insurance policy of sorts.

Baty struggled at times last year and at others, the 24-year-old showed flashes of power. Vientos brought three gloves to spring training last season and he may do the same this year, though he’s not expected to be a part of the outfield conversation. He’s expected to be utilized heavily as a DH, but he’ll get a shot to win that job.

Wendle was signed to a one-year contract in late November. His bat hasn’t been the same since his All-Star season in 2021, but he’s a capable defender at several spots. Look for Wendle to play at second when Jeff McNeil starts in the outfield.

OUTFIELD

The biggest question here is whether or not Brandon Nimmo will move to left field full-time to accommodate Harrison Bader in center field. Bader is an elite defender and Stearns has made it clear that run prevention is a key emphasis, but the answer as to whether or not Nimmo will move permanently is still somewhat unclear.

Maybe. Probably. It’s likely.

Bader will make $10.5 million next year, which isn’t fourth-outfielder money. Nimmo told Stearns that he’s open to doing whatever the club feels is best. Last month, Stearns said the team plans to wait until after spring training to evaluate all options. Bader has been somewhat injury-prone throughout his career, but then again, so has Nimmo.

Tyrone Taylor, who was acquired in the trade with the Brewers for right-handed starter Adrian Houser, can play all three outfield positions and limit runs. In 331 games, Taylor has never made an error, and while errors might not be a defining metric, it’s still an impressive number. His +2 OAA indicates range and he has a plus-arm. He has some pop in his bat as well.

All of this is to say that Taylor is there if Starling Marte can’t return to old form. He’s finally healthy after dealing with groin injuries last season, which should bode well for the Mets moving forward.

CATCHER

It’s not much of a competition behind the plate. Francisco Alvarez is coming off a banner rookie season highlighted by 25 home runs and rave reviews from pitchers. Omar Narvaez is No. 2 on the depth chart. Stearns, who traded for Narvaez in 2019 as the head of baseball ops with the Milwaukee Brewers, has said that the catcher is eager to play and will

STARTING ROTATION

Tylor Megill has faced competition for a starting role in each of the last two years and yet ended up starting the home opener in 2022 and 2023. Once again, he’ll have to compete with a veteran group for a spot. Kodai Senga, Luis Severino, Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea and Houser are penciled in to go 1-5, so that means Megill, Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi (left) will compete for a potential sixth spot in the rotation.

Once again, the Mets plan to use a six-man rotation periodically next year, depending on the schedule. Lucchesi, Megill and Butto all have minor-league options left, so they’ll all receive starts at some point. For now, they’ll compete with a more established group in camp.

BULLPEN

Outside of Edwin Diaz, Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley, the bullpen competition is relatively open. Right-hander Drew Smith can be penciled in once again and should the Mets complete the deal with Jake Diekman, he’ll give the Mets another left-handed option outside of Raley. Shintaro Fujinami is a wild card given his up-and-down rookie season. Michael Tonkin, Jorge Lopez, Yohan Ramirez, Sean Reid-Foley, Grant Hartwig and left-hander Josh Walker are all in the mix for the remaining spots.

Right-hander Shintaro Fujinami and left-hander Jake Diekman are expected to join the Mets in 2024. A source confirmed that Fujinami will make $3.35 million with incentives next season while the club continues to work toward signing Diekman.

Fujinami played with Mets ace Kodai Senga on Team Japan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Like Senga, the 2023 season was his first in North America and the results were mixed. The Oakland A’s signed him as a starter and he lost his first four decisions, including one to the Mets at the Coliseum. The A’s then moved him to the bullpen.

The results didn’t come immediately but he showed improved command over time. After a trade to the Baltimore Orioles, the 29-year-old had some good stretches of play. He held opponents to a .067 average over 9 2/3 innings in late July and August, then went 2-0 with a save and a 1.35 ERA in August and September.

He was mostly used in low-leverage situations and did not make the Orioles’ playoff roster, but the Mets see something in him that they can work with and it gives manager Carlos Mendoza a hard-throwing option out of the bullpen.

Fujinami’s calling card is his velocity. The Mets did not have a lot of exceptionally hard throwers last season and the Nippon Professional Baseball alum averaged 98.5 MPH last season, reaching 100 on multiple occasions. He also throws a splitter, cutter sweeper and a slider. A lanky righty at 6-6, Fujinami finished the season 7-2 with a 5.14 ERA and a .209 opponent batting average as a reliever.

Overall, he struck out 23.2% of hitters, walked only 12.6% and kept the ball on the ground 39.2% of the time. He also has minor league options remaining.

Diekman, a 12-year veteran, is coming off a stellar season with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Mets currently have only one left-hander in the bullpen (Brooks Raley) and president of baseball operations David Stearns has talked about giving Mendoza as many options and looks as possible. Diekman, 37, was released by the Chicago White Sox in May and signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay, where he went 0-1 with a 2.18 ERA in 50 appearances. If the Mets can get him to replicate that success, then he should be a solid addition to the relief corps.

Diekman, who suffers from ulcerative colitis, missed much of the 2017 season after undergoing a three-step J-pouch procedure to remove his diseased colon. He and his wife Amanda created the Gut It Foundation to connect people and provide education in the inflammatory bowel disease community.

The Mets will need to open up space for both relievers on the 40-man roster. There is risk in signing both of them, but Fujinami and Diekman add necessary elements to the bullpen. The Mets added experience in Adam Ottavino last week and have also added depth options in Michael Tonkin, Jorge Lopez and Yohan Ramirez. Phil Bickford and Reed Garrett will return and homegrown arms like Sean Reid-Foley, Grant Hartwig and Josh Walker.

Right-handers Dominic Hamel, Mike Vasil, Christian Scott and Eric Orze, left-hander Nate Lavender, outfielder Drew Gilbert, infielder Jett Williams and catchers Tomas Nido, Kevin Parada and Hayden Senger will start spring training on the Major League side. Infielder Luisangel Acuña, the Mets’ top-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, and outfielder Alex Ramirez will also be with the Major League group since the Mets currently have them on their 40-man roster.

This means the Mets’ top five organizational prospects will be in the same clubhouse during spring training, including infielder Ronny Mauricio, who will rehab from knee surgery. The Mets will also have their Nos. 9 (Vasil), 11 (Ramirez), 12 (Scott) and 16 (Hamel) prospects in camp as well.

The club has struggled to get their pitching pipeline flowing recently, but that could change soon. Vasil and Hamel impressed last spring, having good showings against tough lineups.

Vasil may be the first starter of a promising group to reach the big leagues. The 23-year-old Boston native drafted out of Virginia appeared in the Futures Game during All-Star weekend last year and was promoted to Triple-A last summer after posting a 3.71 ERA in 10 starts with Double-A Binghamton. Triple-A proved to be the challenge Vasil needed and he went 4-4 with a 5.30 ERA in 16 starts.

Hamel, the club’s 2022 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, spent the entire season in Double-A, helping the Rumble Ponies advance to the Eastern League Championship.

Scott, the 2023 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, quickly rose through the Mets’ system last year. He posted a 2.57 ERA (25 ER/87.2 IP) over 19 starts across three levels of play (Low-A, High and Double-A) and led all Mets minor leaguers with a 0.86 WHIP and a .199 opponent batting average (.199). His ERA was the lowest of all Mets minor leaguers with at least 75 innings pitched.

Relievers Orze and Lavender could make their big league debuts as soon as this season, with Lavender having especially impressed Mets officials last season. They could join right-hander Grant Hartwig (undrafted) and left-hander Josh Walker (37th round) as homegrown scouting success stories.

Orze, a fifth-round pick out of the University of New Orleans during the COVID draft, overcame testicular cancer to play professional baseball. Lavender, a 14th-round pick in 2021 out of the University of Illinois, was one of the best relievers in the Mets’ system last year.

Nido was cut from the Mets last year after struggling to hit early in the season. He faces an uphill battle to get back to the Major Leagues with Francisco Alvarez and Omar Narvaez on the roster, but he’ll be a good clubhouse mentor for Parada and Senger.

Catcher Austin Allen, infielders Rylan Bannon, Jose Iglesias and Yolmer Sanchez, outfielders Taylor Kohlwey and Trayce Thompson and pitchers Kyle Crick, Cam Robinson, Yacksel Rios Chad Smith Cole Sulser and Danny Young (left-hander) also received invitations to Major League camp.

It’s true that Ottavino is insightful with the media and that insight extends to the bullpen where the 38-year-old Brooklyn native has been able to continually reinvent himself throughout his 13-year Major League career. The addition of Ottavino gives the Mets an established setup man and the veteran high-leverage reliever the club badly needed.

“I’d like to thank the Mets for keeping me around,” Ottavino said as he concluded his acceptance speech. “And let’s go Mets.”

However, this signing doesn’t come without some scrutiny. Ottavino, who pitched for the Mets in 2022 and 2023 after stints with the Cardinals, Rockies, Yankees and Red Sox, regressed some last season. This isn’t exactly surprising considering his age. His ERA went from 2.06 in 2022 to 3.21 in 2023 and his walk rate nearly doubled, going from 2.2 per nine innings to 4.2. He was hit harder and stranded fewer runners.

But he also changed his pitch mix. After years of working primarily off of his sinker and slider, he threw his cutter more, which naturally complements a sinker/slider mix, and also threw a sweeper and a changeup at times.

After years of getting lit up by left-handed hitters, he became a go-to guy to face lefties in late innings. Lefties hit .217 off Ottavino last season, a marked improvement over previous years, and he credited the cutter.

There were bumps in the road against left-handers last season — a home run by Michael Harris II in a particularly brutal June series in Atlanta stands out — but Ottavino gives the Mets another weapon against left-handers in late innings.

This is valuable since Brooks Raley is the only left-handed reliever on the roster. Josh Walker will compete for a spot in spring training and likely make some appearances throughout the season, but he’s lacking the leverage experience of Raley and Ottavino.

Walker looked to Ottavino for advice during his brief time in the big leagues last season, as did another homegrown reliever, right-hander Grant Hartwig. The Mets have had trouble developing pitchers in recent seasons and those two could be success stories if they can improve on their 2023 performances. Ottavino embraced the role of bullpen mentor late last year, taking the lessons he learned from his mentors and passing them along to Walker, Hartwig and anyone else who needed some guidance. Raley, Ottavino and Edwin Diaz are assets in the bullpen for many reasons, one of which is leadership.

Ottavino has also proven durable, having made 66 appearances for the Mets in each of the last two seasons and 69 for Boston in 2021. He also knows what it takes to pitch in New York. Ottavino grew up reading the sports sections of the city’s tabloids on his way to school every morning and saw the pitchers who won in the city and the ones who couldn’t handle the intense spotlight. President of baseball operations David Stearns, a Manhattan native, has shown an affinity for players who have had success in the city.

Ottavino was never shy about his desire to stay in New York, so it came as a surprise when he declined to exercise his player option for 2024 shortly after the World Series concluded. At the time, he cited uncertainty in the direction of the team. With a $6.75 million price tag attached, the option would have paid him more, but much of that money was deferred. His current contract is for $4.5 million.

The group behind Diaz and Raley looked thin without Ottavino. Right-hander Drew Smith returns and further down the depth chart are returning right-handers Phil Bickford, Sean Reid-Foley and Reed Garrett. The Mets made some minor additions this winter with right-handers Jorge Lopez, Michael Tonkin, Jorge Lopez and Yohan Ramirez. It would benefit the Mets to add another established reliever to that group, but regardless, Ottavino makes the group better.

The right-handed reliever has agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract on Saturday, according to multiple reports. Ottavino has spent the last two seasons in Flushing where he has pitched to a 2.62 ERA in 132 games.

Ottavino had a $6.75 million player option that he declined at the beginning of this offseason, however, he now returns to the Mets for less money.

The 38-year-old will likely return to his set-up man role with Edwin Diaz set to return as the closer after missing all of last season after tearing his patellar tendon in a World Baseball Classic celebration.

David Stearns’s job likely isn’t over this offseason in the bullpen. After building a suspect starting rotation, the Amazins could still use a few arms for rookie manager Carlos Mendoza to utilize out of the pen.

Wandy Peralta, Ryne Stanek and Ryan Brasier are among the names still available.