The New York Mets named Billy Eppler the 16th general manager in team history, according to an announcement from the organization on Thursday night.

Eppler, 46, signed a four-year contract as part of Mets owner, chairman, and CEO Steve Cohen's plan for sustained success.

"Billy has the experience, character, and respect of the baseball community that will allow him to attract the players and front office talent to lead the Mets forward," Cohen said.

Most recently, Eppler was the Los Angeles Angels general manager from 2015-2020. He also worked within the New York Yankees organization from 2004-2015.

Over the past ten years, Eppler has been a scout and assistant general manager. He is smart and talented when it comes to identifying new talent, Mets President Sandy Alderson said, adding that Eppler will make the team better.

"I'm so thankful to Steve and Sandy for what I consider an opportunity of a lifetime," Eppler said. "We have a lot of work to do and will systematically begin to work towards our goal of building a perennial winner."

Earlier this week it was rumored Eppler was heading to Flushing.