Former MLB Mets General Manager Eppler
Former MLB Mets General Manager Orders "Ghost Injured List"... Suspension Until WS
Forging documents to facilitate movement of athletes
Former New York Mets general manager Billy Eppler was suspended by the Major League Baseball (MLB) office on charges of falsifying documents to place players on the injured list (IL).
The MLB Secretariat said on the 10th (Korean time), "Former general manager Eppler cannot work for an MLB club until the end of the 2024 World Series," and added, "Eppler instructed club employees to "falsify injury-related documents."
“I did it,” he said.
The Associated Press explained, "The expedient called "ghost injured (IL) list" was used quite often by MLB clubs in the past.
Eppler was the first to be disciplined in this regard."
MLB must go through a "release waiting" procedure when downgrading players from the big league roster to the minor league.
During this process, the player may be nominated to another club.
In addition, players who were able to play were placed on the IL for reasons such as contractual relationships that were not disclosed to the outside world, thereby avoiding minor league demotion.
Former general manager Eppler was accused of manipulating injury-related documents for seven players in order to allow free movement of players.
The MLB Secretariat concluded, "No "higher-ups", including the Mets owner, were involved in the document forgery.
Former general manager Eppler arbitrarily gave instructions to his employees."
The Associated Press reported, “No Mets employees were disciplined for this incident.”
Former general manager Eppler took office as the head of the Mets front office in November 2021 and resigned in October of last year.
At the time, the reason for his dismissal was interpreted as "poor performance", but the MLB secretariat was already investigating former general manager Efler on charges of "forging IL-related documents".
It is known that the Mets have already paid former general manager Eppler his annual salary until 2025, which was the original contract.
Former general manager Eppler said in a statement, "I faithfully responded to MLB"s investigation.
I accept the decision."