The Prince That Was Promised: Mets Hire David Stearns

Ever since Steve Cohen bought the Mets in 2020, he’s been looking for a president of baseball operations. Someone who can build the Mets front office, into one of the more advanced in the majors. Who can turn the Mets from a joke into the next Dodgers or Astros. Cohen has finally found his man in former Brewers president of baseball operations, David Stearns.

Now Stearns has been the favorite for this job for years. Even when he was still with the Brewers, everyone thought he would leave and join the Mets. The main reason for this is that Stearns grew up in Manhattan and was a die-hard Mets fan growing up. However, there’s a lot more to Stearns that makes him the perfect man for this job.

Who is David Stearns?

David Stearns started his career in baseball while he was attending Harvard. When was a sports writer for the student newspaper. He also interned with the Pittsburgh Pirates during that time. After graduating with a degree in political science, he would take a job with the Mets in the baseball operations department. It was during that time he really impressed the Mets front office. Specifically general manager Omar Minaya. He impressed Minaya so much that he went to owner Fred Wilpons and begged him to keep him on.

Now if you know anything about the Wilpons, you know that their concern wasn’t with fielding a winning team. It was about how much money they could make, and how to save every last dollar. So keeping Stearns wasn’t something they were going to do. Stearns would then do some work in the MLB Central Office but he would soon return to the front office. In 2011 he was hired by the then Cleveland Indians to be a co-director of baseball operations, focusing on player contracts and data analysis. He would then take a job as the assistant general manager for the Astros in 2012. He would stay in that position until 2015 when he would become the president of baseball operations for the Brewers.

Why Stearns is the Right Man for the Job

Now there are some people who believe the Mets were so connected to Stearns because he grew up a fan. While yes this is a positive for Stearns, it’s far from the only reason. It’s more of the icing on the cake. Stearns is without question one of the best executives in baseball. This can be seen in how he rebuilt the Brewers into contenders.

Think back to the 2015 Brewers for a minute. They were 26 games under .500 and it seemed like it would be a long time before this team could be competitive again. So when Stearns took over he had a lot of work ahead of him. However, in only three years, he was able to turn this struggling team into one of the best in the majors. How did he do that? Through player development. The Brewers don’t have the budget to go out a spend big. So Stearns hired smart baseball guys to come into his front office and scout team. Growing the farm, signing, and trading for under-the-radar guys, and turning them into stars. Look at how much Christian Yelich improved when he came to Milwaukee. This is the reason why the Brewers made the playoffs for four straight seasons.

The hope is he can now execute the same strategy with the Mets. He will be coming into the Mets front office that just cleaned house. He will be able to bring in his guys. Guys he trusts and will see the vision he is trying to create and build. Plus he will have an unlimited budget, which was the one thing he was missing while he was with the Brewers. With Stearns’s experience and smarts when it comes to building a team, and Steve Cohen’s wallet. The Mets have the chance to finally shake off the label of laughing stock, and turn into one of the model organizations in baseball.

Thanks for reading. Credit for my feature goes to Dylan Buell. You can find more MLB content at Belly Up Sports and follow me on Twitter.