Despite early playoff exit, Mets and Steve Cohen will entrust GM Billy Eppler with a crucial offseason

The Mets do not expect to engage in a search for a president of baseball operations this fall, and will entrust Billy Eppler to run one of the most consequential offseasons in the team’s history, according to high-ranking club sources.

Organizational meetings regarding next steps for the roster are expected to begin by next week.

In its ongoing search for a team president to succeed Sandy Alderson, the Mets continue to focus on business-side candidates.

In the aftermath of the Mets' earlier-than-expected exit from the postseason, the mood in the organization Monday morning was disappointed but evenhanded. Owner Steve Cohen is not pulling a George Steinbrenner, who would famously order his executives to angry meetings in the hours after postseason exits.

Instead, Eppler and his group will be tasked with coming up with a plan for how to approach the free agencies of Jacob deGrom, Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo and many more. How aggressively should the team pursue a reunion with deGrom? Should they try to trade for Shohei Ohtani instead (they're tempted)? How can the team improve its chances to advance in future postseasons? Those and many other questions will be Eppler’s responsibility.

As far as the long-term future of Mets leadership, it’s still possible that Cohen will seek a president of baseball operations at some point.

If Eppler aces the offseason, he might be promoted someday. If Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns strikes Cohen as an appealing candidate in 12 months, perhaps he will be interviewed -- though the Mets view the constant link to Stearns as overstated but not totally off base.

If Brian Cashman and the Yankees somehow part this month -- and that feels like a longshot -- the Mets would of course have to consider the executive considered the best in the sport by many of his peers.

But this won’t be like last offseason, when the Mets looked far and wide for baseball leadership. Cohen and his inner circle believe that Eppler did well enough this season to maintain his position at the top of that department.

Team brass wants a sustainable, player development-driven winner, and supports Eppler’s decision not to part with top prospects at the trade deadline.

The morning after a crushing loss, it’s clear that the Mets' finish on the field did nothing to change the leadership dynamic.