David Stearns: The Mets Prodigal Son

The New York Mets have been under the rule of the Wilpons for decades. Buying the Mets in 2020, Steve Cohen marked a change in direction for a franchise craving it’s first World Series win since 1986. Boasting the biggest coffers of any pro sports team owner, a fanbase dragged through years of Wilpon woes looked to Cohen as their saving grace. Trading for Francisco Lindor and then handing out a $325 million contract to the new leader of the Mets, Cohen looked like he meant business. Unleashing his wallet on the rest of the baseball world with a flurry of acquisitions the next few offseasons, the Mets were finally behaving like a team that called New York their home market. However, the past regime could still be felt at Citi Field. Besides hiring Billy Eppler as GM in late 2021, Cohen was still working with a front office that had the Wilpons’ fingertips all over it. Sandy Alderson is the biggest cog in the Mets machine left over from the old owners. Serving as GM from 2010 to 2018 and then President of Baseball Operations from late 2020 to early 2023, Alderson had been working for the Mets for a decade, and his resignation earlier this year left a glaring hole at the top of the food chain. In the midst of a disappointing 2023 season that had high expectations, this team has looked very much like a club without a captain at the helm. So what’s the answer for the Mets as they seem to revert to being the team of old?

All signs are pointing toward the Milwaukee Brewers being the pool Cohen pulls from this offseason. Milwaukee has been under the guidance of David Stearns since late 2015, serving as GM and then eventually President in addition to retaining the GM title. It’s important to note that Stearns was born in Manhattan, grew up a Mets fan, and got his feet wet out of college with them in 2008. It’s easy to see the interest he would have in potentially joining the team.

Since taking over the Brewers organization, Stearns has done nothing but win with a small market foundation. Besides his first year in Milwaukee and the covid shortened 2020 season, he has put together a winning ball club every year, always with a minimal spending plan. Not once in his tenure with the Brewers has Stearns placed a top 15 payroll on the field for Opening Day, including a 2017 season that found the cheapest team in baseball finish ten games above .500. It’s evident that Stearns knows how to run a winning ball club despite the handicap of a low budget. But how does he do it? With a limited ability to spend, trades and prospect development are paramount, yet that only covers half the battle. That’s where his ability to formulate a staff of incredibly talented analytical advisors and scouts should be commended. Acing pitching prospects like Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, Devin Williams and acquiring impactful and team controlled position players like Christian Yelich, Lorenzo Cain, Eduardo Escobar and others, Stearns puts an emphasis on key points his analytics team highlights. Elite rotations with high end arms out of the bullpen and a team behind those pitchers that rates above league average in defense and hard hit rate seem to be the formula for repeated success.

The Mets have a formidable core in place with Lindor, Alonso, Nimmo, and the Baby Mets called up this year, but there’s still loads of improvement that needs to take place in order to take on the freight train that is the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have a team core of superstars all locked up for seemingly pedestrian contracts over the next 7+ years. The Mets need to be smart this offseason if they want to be serious contenders and they have the chance to do that. The writing is on the wall for Stearns to step in with the Mets. Cohen just fired all the top analytic staff members and has been in deep talks with Stearns since discussions were allowed starting August 1st . Cohen can give Stearns the freedom to bring his own staff members and pair that with a budget that the baseball world has never seen before. The thought of that gets me excited for the future as the Mets have a revamped farm system (thanks 40 year old pitchers), a stout core in place and the prospect of an elite owner-president tandem.

By Karl Birkenstock

September 7, 2023