New York Mets designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Former Brewer's playing time led to feud between Mets manager, GM?

Originally posted on WI Sports Heroics | By Tyler Koerth_ | Last updated 10/6/23

The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets organizations are linked together between a few players as well as front-office executives. Former Brewers players who are currently on the Mets include Omar Narvaez, Daniel Vogelbach, Phil Bickford and Trevor Gott. In the front office, David Stearns is now at the helm for New York as former GM Billy Eppler stepped down and manager Buck Showalter was let go.

One interesting rumor that connects these two organizations is that during the 2023 season Eppler and Showalter got into a feud regarding the playing time of Vogelbach. Eppler acquired Vogelbach via trade in 2022, and Showalter reportedly was reluctant to use him due to his "limited skill set."

Former Milwaukee Brewers player Daniel Vogelbach sparked a feud between former New York Mets GM Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter.

According to a report from Mike Puma of the New York Post, Showalter decreased Vogelbach’s playing time after a poor start to the season and felt as if he was unable to play him more in the field due to his limited mobility. This led to Showalter viewing the only viable way to play him as the designated hitter, but when he didn’t slug the ball particularly well or excel on getting base, it became difficult to justify continued playing time.

When Vogelbach’s playing time started to decrease, Showalter met resistance from Eppler. Puma indicates that Eppler was persistent with Vogelbach remaining in the starting lineup. With the Mets struggling to win games at that time, it is possible that Eppler wanted Vogelbach to get hot and boost his trade value, but after the deadline passed, he was still in the Mets organization.

Vogelbach had a great month of August, but in September Mark Vientos and Brett Baty returned to the club and ate into his playing time. He finished the season with a .233/.339/.404 slash line with 13 home runs and 48 RBI.

Stearns, who previously traded for Vogelbach as a member of the Brewers organization, will now have to decide whether to tender him a contract for 2024 or not.

This article first appeared on WI Sports Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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