Reese Kaplan -- So What Good Things Did David Stearns Do?

One of my friends recently posed a challenge to me to evaluate the positive things David Stearns has done for the Mets.

Hmmm...

Well, let’s start with run prevention.  By year’s end in 2026 the Mets outfield was markedly better than it had been in the recent past.  You’ve got to give him credit for that improvement, right?

Maybe not.

First of all, right fielder Carson Benge was indeed a revelation not only with his bat but also with his glove and his arm, too.  No one is taking potshots at Benge for anything he accomplished on the field.  There is, however, a bit of history that many people have simply not acknowledged.

We all knew that AA player Benge had a cup of coffee in AAA where over the course of 90 ABs hit a cringe worthy .178.  He was going to get a long look in Spring Training, but at the time there was a veteran around named Mike Tauchman who’d played in the majors for the Rockies, Giants, Yankees, Cubs and White Sox and was was already penciled in as the spare oufielder with Tyrone Taylor.  

The man unfortunately suffered a torn meniscus in a March 21st game which required surgery to be performed five days later.  He was then gone and it opened up a spot for Benge to make the Opening Day roster though it had not been the David Stearns plan. 

Well, it had to be better with A.J. Ewing, right?

For reasons unknown to rational thinking baseball fans, writers and executives the Mets made a puzzling deal to pry loose the overpriced and injury prone Luis Robert from the White Sox.  He was going to anchor the defense out in center field while providing ample home run power and stolen base speed.  As we all know, that scenario never quite unfolded as intended.

While Robert was on the IL the Mets reached onto the AAA roster to pluck speedy Ewing to take over as a part time player in the majors to help fill the void.  While Ewing didn’t exactly hit the ground running with the offensive side of his game but his defensive acumen was revealed almost from day one.  

He quickly went from spare part to starting center fielder which enabled the Mets to cut ties with Robert to correct this colossal failure.  So that move wasn’t apparently a planned success by David Stearns either. 

We will give credit to Stearns for the 26th guy on the bench who turned into a starting first baseman in the form of Jared Young.  When he made the roster no one was overjoyed as this now 30 year old AAAA level player had failed to establish himself as a starting caliber offensive tool during his trials in the majors dating back to his 26 year old rookie season with the Cubs in 2022.  

During 2024 in AAA he hit 21 HRs and drove in 72 while hitting a robust .310 in just over a half season’s worth of ABs. 

From there he wandered off for an appearance in Korea and then split time between the various levels of the Mets minor league organization, finally reaching Citifield in 2025 where he hit a lackluster .188.  Consequently a 300 AB Mets season with 9 HRs and 39 RBIs with a .266 average was unexpected, to say the least.  

Still, as much of a surprise as it was, not too many people are confident the Mets have anything more than a decent bench player for 2027.  Stearns does get credit for this 2025 addition.