If there is one thing that all Atlanta Braves fans can agree on, it is that it is a hell of a lot of fun watching the Mets implode. After the Mets spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to chase down the Braves in the National League East, their collapse in 2023 was a sight to behold and Atlanta fans thoroughly enjoyed drinking Mets' fans tears.
Unfortunately, the Mets seemed to smarten up from the experience. Billy Eppler resigned as their general manager and the team brought in David Stearns who sadly actually has a brain in his head. Their moves to retool their roster and farm system have largely been pretty good and while the Mets still aren't good, they do seem to have some good things coming especially with the backing of Steve Cohen.
Luckily, the Mets' dumpster fire gave Braves fans one last gift today as it was announced that their former GM Billy Eppler was found by MLB to have manipulated the use of the injured list and was promptly made ineligible for the 2024 season.
Former Mets GM Billy Eppler declared ineligible for 2024 due to rules violations
Eppler's discipline is the cherry on top of what was a truly spectacular failure while heading the Mets' front office. After a decidedly underwhelming stint as the Angels general manager where he failed to get the team to the playoffs despite having both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, the Mets hired him before the 2022 season. New York had a nice run in 2022, but still couldn't dethrone the Braves in the NL East and were promptly bounced in the wild card round.
The best part of all of this is that Eppler very clearly cheated in very obvious ways and it wasn't nearly enough. Every executive fudges injuries from time to time, but Eppler was so bad at it that the league essentially had to punish him given how brazen he was in managing the Mets' roster. Despite breaking the rules repeatedly, the Braves still remained NL East division champs and the Mets have to wonder what might have been.
You love to see it.