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Contrary To Popular Opinion, Mets GM Is Capable Of Success
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- Contrary To Popular Opinion, Mets GM Is Capable Of Success
New York Mets GM David Stearns has taken a lot of heat this season, to the point where it feels like his middle name might as well have been "embattled." The "fire Stearns" lynch mob has been after the GM for a while, but Milwaukee's recent World Series win raised a different side of Stearns that's also part of the picture.
Specifically, those would be the moves Stearns made while he was working with the Brewers from 2015—22, and he made some big decisions that worked out rather well for Milwaukee, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com
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The list of names is impressive. Under Stearns' watch, the Brewers traded for Christian Yelich, who became the captain of the 2026 team,. Stearns also drafted current Brewers like Jacob Misiorowski, Sal Frelick, Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Logan Henderson, Aaron Ashby and others.
On the star-finding front, he signed outfielder Jackson Chourio. He established what DiComo called the roster-churning strategy that helped make the Brewers a sustainable force, trading reliever Josh Hader for prospects in the midst of a playoff push.
The writer added that despite the Hader move being widely panned at the time, it produced fruit in the acquisitions of Robert Gasser and, eventually, World Series MVP William Contreras.
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio praised both Stearns and former manager Craig Counsell for bringing a winning culture to Milwaukee, and also for putting a winning culture in place.
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Stearns tried to that in New York, but it backfired badly on him. The GM made a poor decision to get rid of the Mets core of Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Edwin Díaz, but he wound up admitting that he had probably changed too much of the roster too quickly, resulting in an "uncapped downside scenario."
That's Stearns-speak for "we had a disastrous season," and Stearns will now have another executive, Derek Falvey, watching over him as he tries to make up for last year's mistakes.
So what happened with the Mets? Simply put, winning changes everything. The ideaa of bringing a small-market executive and adding a big budget is a tricky move, because it changes the decision process. The only team to do this with success is the Los Angeles Dodgers, and they came up short against the Brewers despite their status as the ultimate baseball spendthrifts.
Stearns has hit on several free agents, including the younger version of pitcher Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and several others. His marquee signing was Juan Soto, but his massive contract was mostly the responsibility of owner Steve Cohen, who loves to spend and sign stars.
