Reese Kaplan -- Trying to Understand David Stearns' Task Priorities

In the myriad of things on David Stearns' plate since joining the Mets, obtaining a manager and a general manager are two of the principle issues on his non-roster task list.  

During 2023 the Mets proved that while your roster can look like a real life version of a fantasy baseball team yet in the real world still function far from reasonable expectation.  While both Buck Showalter and Billy Eppler are no longer part of the organization, they were not the ones failing to swing the bats, failing to hit the strike zone with pitches and failing to stay out of the medical wards.  

In the best of all worlds, you hire a GM first, then look to that person to help in the evaluation of prospective managers.  This sequence of events appears not to be what will be happening with the Mets.  

First of all, David Stearns has already done the GM's job while in Milwaukee, so he is aware of the skills needed to repeat those tasks here in New York.  

Second, the resignation of Billy Eppler is still somewhat shrouded in mystery about phantom IL stints which in the realm of baseball crimes is at worst a misdemeanor and not a felony.  It may indeed turn out that the Mets front office told him to resign or be fired -- his choice.  Or it could be that the narrative is what was stated by Eppler, that he felt Stearns needed a clean slate to begin the new front office regime.  Yeah, and there's a bridge to Brooklyn we'll sell you on eBay, too.

Given the last minute and "seemingly" unexpected departure of Eppler, it is perfectly reasonable for Stearns to act as GM temporarily while he gets the deck chairs on the Titanic rearranged.  Towards that end, it's highly unlikely to see the Mets pursue Kim Ng for a quick and quality hire since her cover story was not wanting to work under a POBO but to become one herself.  Consequently she would not seem to be a good fit for Stearns' opening at the GM level.  

People everywhere seem to think that Craig Counsell is an understood done deal come November 1st when his October 31st contract with the Brewers comes to a close.  It may well be.  

It is also possible that Counsell is happy in Milwaukee or that he wants to sell himself to the highest bidder who may turn out to be someone other than Steve Cohen.  

Now, true to his word, Stearns has reached outside the organization to begin evaluating possible managerial candidates not named Counsell, but as was well reported, Will Veneble of the Texas Rangers who is currently serving as an Associate Manager to Bruce Bochy declined the interview.  

Venable would have been an interesting choice as he comes from a baseball family headed by his father Max who played in the majors as well.  Post playing days the younger Venable served as an assistant to Theo Epstein before becoming a 1st base and 3rd base coach in the majors, as well as serving as a right hand man to the manager in charge.  

Having graduated Princeton and eclipsing the record for base hits by a Princeton grad (previously held by none other than Moe Berg) he's obviously got some serious smarts to go along with his work experience.

It was also well reported that the Mets are solely looking outside the current organization for managerial candidates and there seems to be a penchant for considering coaches and other rookie managerial types rather than experienced skippers who might be available like Gabe Kapler or the potentially available soon Dusty Baker.  

Part of this approach may be Stearns' desire to have someone a bit younger who is analytical as he is and part perhaps due to the financial benefit of not paying top dollar for a more experienced retread.  A newly minted manager might be more amenable to taking direction from the front office rather than pushing back as a seasoned field general might do (as Showalter demonstrated with Eppler over the Daniel Vogelbach situation).  

Right now the fans and media are both anxious to see the Mets begin to make progress which may have to wait until both the Counsell deadline and the end of the World Series.  For a manager, it's important to land one before the top choices are gone.  For a GM, part of what that person will need to do is take over the transaction negotiating on trades and free agent signings.  

While Stearns can obviously do these things, the fact is that as POBO he has an awful lot to absorb in a short period of time and having a GM to assist him in some of these duties would certainly be helpful.

For now, changes to the roster are pretty far down the list of actions to take (beyond the recent removal of six players from the 40-man roster).  There are others who may face a similar fate in the near future due to limited skill sets like Tim Locastro and Daniel Vogelbach.  There are any number of relievers who are skating on the thinnest of ice as well.  It's a marathon, not a sprint, so be prepared to exercise your patience rather than your pitchforks and torches.