Something finally appears to be going right for the New York Mets.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Tuesday that the Mets are hiring executive David Stearns to be their new president of baseball operations. Passan adds that Stearns will officially take over for the team upon the conclusion of the 2023 season.
The 38-year-old Stearns is a tremendous get for the Mets. A native of New York, Stearns became the youngest GM in Major League Baseball when the Milwaukee Brewers hired him in 2015 at 30 years old. He then proceeded to become a highly-respected executive in the sport, presiding over one of the most successful stretches in Brewers history. After Milwaukee went 68-94 the season before Stearns took over, Stearns helped turn them into division champions by 2018 (with four straight playoff berths from 2018-21). Stearns had been sitting out the 2023 season however after stepping down from his position with the Brewers late last year.
As for the Mets, their 2023 season quickly descended into disaster after they went all-in and opened up the year with the highest payroll in MLB (roughly $343 million). They would fall out of contention completely by mid-summer though and decided to hit the reset button, selling off Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Robertson, and other aging veterans at the trade deadline.
The Mets also decided weeks ago to make several major front office firings. Now the tarmac is clear for them to start fresh with a top-tier executive in Stearns calling the shots.
