NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Eppler quit as New York Mets general manager on Thursday, three days after David Stearns was hired above him as the team's first president of baseball operations.

“I wanted David to have a clean slate and that meant me stepping down,” Eppler said in a statement released by the team.

Eppler was hired in November 2021 and lasted less than two years in the job. The manager he hired, Buck Showalter, was fired Sunday by owner Steve Cohen, who said Stearns wanted to bring in his own manager.

The Mets had a record payroll this year but faded to fourth in the NL East.

“He decided it is in everyone’s best interest to fully hand over the leadership of baseball operations to David Stearns,” Cohen said in a statement.

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