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Former Mets coach Eric Chavez slams David Stearns in rant
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- Former Mets coach Eric Chavez slams David Stearns in rant
Former New York Mets hitting coach and bench coach Eric Chavez offered a brutal takedown of David Stearns, the team's president of baseball operations, in an episode of " The EC3 Pod " on June 28.
Stearns has come under heavy criticism for the Mets' struggles in 2026. Although manager Carlos Mendoza was fired with team off to a 35-48 start, many have pointed to Stearns' off-season roster moves as being primarily responsible for the team's poor play.
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For a fan or even a reporter to register that complaint is one thing. Chavez's time with the Mets began as the team's hitting coach in 2022, before he became bench coach in 2023. When the Mets hired Stearns after the 2023 season, Chavez moved back to the hitting coach position from 2024-25.
Chavez used his podcast appearance to unpack his (mostly negative) first-hand impressions of Stearns from their two seasons together.
Chavez said his first "red flag" was when Stearns asked him to take a "$30, 40 thousand" dollar pay cut after changing roles. The second was when Chavez openly disagreed, via email and in person, with Stearns' missive to have their minor league hitters focus on pull-side power, "and he sided with a Triple-A analytical hitting guy."
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The third was revealed in an incident involving star outfielder Juan Soto .
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"(Soto) struggled the first two months emotionally," Chavez recalled. "I don't blame him, a big move going from the Yankees . Maybe had a little bit of buyer's remorse.
"In between innings, (Soto) would run from the outfield and go sit in the batting cage on the couch, and not be in the dugout with teammates. This isn't a Juan issue. This is a lack of leadership, a lack of accountability, from the top down. And we had an assistant GM who would sit there with (Soto) — the assistant GM would sit there with him — and kind of coddle him, tap him on the shoulder, without saying 'hey dude how about getting in the dugout with your teammates.'
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"So I brought this up to Stearns. And I said, this is a huge problem because now younger players, we have younger players on the team, they're seeing this. You guys are allowing this. And he goes, 'well those players need to learn that they're not Juan Soto.' "
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Chavez concluded by saying, "this was the third red flag. This is not a backbone type of leader from a GM. Because it trickles down."
Stearns' use of the phrase "run prevention" in lieu of "pitching and defense" also drew criticism from Chavez, who called it "the biggest piece of garbage that has come out of his mouth.
"Let's not insult everybody with your big words," Chavez said.
Chavez reserved his insults for only one man.
