Buck Showalter, Billy Eppler safe after Mets’ quick MLB playoff exit

The Mets’ hasty departure after the season will not lead to changes in two key positions in the team’s hierarchy.

The jobs of both general manager Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter are safely en route to next season, a senior Mets official told The Post on Monday. The Mets closed their season on Sunday with a loss in Game 3 of the wildcard series to the Padres.

Under Eppler and Showalter, the Mets won 101 games — the second-highest total in franchise history — but were overtaken by the Braves in the NL East race in the closing days of the season. That second place meant playing in an extra layer of playoffs, the wildcard round.

The Mets have a long-term goal to hire a president of baseball operations over the GM, but that initiative won’t necessarily be implemented this off-season. Brewer’s president of baseball operations David Stearns was a previous target. Stearns has a one-year contract left and the Mets may be able to wait until he becomes a free agent.

The Mets are also searching for a new team president – Sandy Alderson will step down from the position once his replacement is found – but that person doesn’t necessarily have a baseball background and could be hired primarily to oversee the organization business operations.

Eppler was hired last November after an extensive search by GM. Eppler’s offseason moves include acting quickly to sign Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar to multi-year contracts. Eppler also recommended hiring Showalter (with whom he shared Yankees roots) as the team’s manager.

Under Showalter, the Mets started quickly, building a 10 ½ game lead over the Braves on June 1. But the Braves have played at an epic pace over the last four months, taking 78-33 to win a fifth straight title in the division. Included was a three-game sweep of the Mets in the penultimate series of the regular season that virtually ended the Mets’ title chances in NL East.

But the Mets made it into the postseason for the first time in six years, despite receiving only 11 starts from ace Jacob deGrom and Scherzer losing twice to the injured list.