Photo Credit: thenewyorktimes.com

When he joined the New York Mets as president of baseball operations, it was a move that was praised by fans, as after years of instability and uncertainty, Steve Cohen finally got his exec that would guarantee success.

Before Stearns, the Mets went through five general managers in the first four seasons of Cohen’s time as the team’s owner. This was due to different scandals, allegations, and ineffectiveness resulting from each GM, leading up to the hire of David Stearns in October 2023.

2024

In 2024, Stearns joined the organization after a very underwhelming season in which the Mets went 75-87 and missed the postseason. This occurred when the team was viewed as a World Series contender, which pushed Cohen to make a move for a true president to lead the team.

Stearns had a successful offseason in 2023, as he banked on low-risk, high-reward signings on Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Jose Iglesias, J.D Martinez and Harrison Bader. In addition, he was responsible for hiring Carlos Mendoza, bench coach John Gibbons, signing Reed Garrett, Tyrone Taylor, and trading for backup C Luis Torrens.

Severino (3.94 ERA) and Manaea (3.48 ERA) both exceeded expectations heavily, while Iglesias’ “OMG” song became a staple of the 2024 Mets and Bader (.236 AVG, 12 HR, 51 RBI) was a serviceable CF due to his defense and pop. In addition, Martinez was a very positive leader for the team when they endured long losing streaks,

Heading into the trade deadline, the Mets were 57-50, which placed them in the NL WC hunt, but they had several weak spots (bullpen, OF, SP). This led to Stearns acquiring Ryan Stanek, Huascar Brazoban, Paul Blackburn, and Jesse Winker in deals to bolster the roster.

This led to the team making a surprising playoff push and sneaking into the postseason with a 89-73 record! Their success continued after beating the Brewers in 3 games and the Phillies in 4 games, but they ultimately fell short to the LA Dodgers in 6 games.

2024 showed a massive load of potential in Queens, and the #1 priority of Mets fans was to make Juan Soto be a part of 2025 and beyond!

Photo Credit: newyorkpost.com

2025

After a very successful 2024, David Stearns had to choose between signing Pete Alonso or Juan Soto to a long-term contract. He also had questions surrounding Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and other key free agents from the 2024 team.

Stearns made the decision to sign Juan Soto to a record-breaking 15 yr, $765M contract after a long and grueling wait on the generational star. Several weeks later, Pete Alonso re-signed with the Mets on a 2 year, $54M contract after an underwhelming 2024 (.242 AVG, 34 HR, 88 RBI).

On the other hand, Stearns took more safer signings in the offseason, such as signing Clay Holmes as a starter, Frankie Montas, AJ Minter, Griffin Canning, and acquiring Jose Siri for defense. In addition, he re-signed Manaea, Winker, and Stanek to team-friendly deals, while letting Severino, Iglesias, Martinez, and Bader go elsewhere.

This resulted in a similar dynamic to 2024 in which the team was hoping for breakout seasons from their signings instead of guaranteed success.

Jack Flaherty ($17.5M AAV) went for a similar price as Frankie Montas ($17M AAV), and while Flaherty has struggled in Detroit (5-9, 4.65 ERA), he may have been a better option than Frankie Montas (4 starts, 5.03 ERA).

A similar case was made in A.J Minter, as Minter was a significant part of the Mets’ bullpen (11 IP, 1.64 ERA) before needing surgery on a torn lat. Minter ($11M AAV) went for a similar price as Tanner Scott ($18M AAV), who has been up-and-down as the Dodgers closer in 2025. However, having Scott and Diaz as a 1-2 punch could’ve given the lefty flamethrower less pressure and resulted in a more dominant Mets bullpen.

In addition, Griffin Canning was enjoying a solid season through June, but was regressing significantly before he got injured (7-3, 3.77 ERA, 1.38 WHIP).

Lastly, Stearns’ handling of his pitching prospects have been questionable at best, as he’s elected to lean on 4 bullpen games in the last week instead of calling up either of his top pitching prospects.

Both prospects, Sproat and McLean, have been recently dominant at AAA, as Sproat hasn’t given up a run in 3 consecutive starts and McLean has a 2.17 ERA in 87 IP at Syracuse.

On the other hand, several of Stearns’ 2025 moves have been hits, as Alonso looks back to his 2022 form and Clay Holmes (3.29 ERA) has looked great as a starter. And of course, Juan Soto has looked the part in Queens after a surprisingly rough first 2 months.

Mets fans should have full confidence in David Stearns and his vision for the Mets, but he has to be more aggressive at the trade deadline and give the fans a big reason for optimism!