Many people from Steve Cohen to professional sportswriters to die hard Mets fans were dancing in the aisles when it was revealed that the Mets successfully lured front office executive David Stearns from his mid level team in Milwaukee to New York’s center stage to give him the exposure and budget he needed to prove to the world how good he could be. It’s currently June 11th and in the 2+ years he’s been here the Stearns Mets have won 201 games while losing 190. That’s a positive winning percentage of just .514. Hmmn...
Well, maybe his job as an evaluator of talent and procurer of free agent acquisitions and trades would explain the lackluster results. After all, if you put together a good roster then it is reasonable to expect positive numbers when evaluating performance.
In 2024 David Stearns created a roster that made a run to the championship game in October. He was responsible for adding the following major league players (or significant minor league options who eventually made it to Citifield for an extended period of time):
- Harrison Bader
- Max Kranick
- Sean Manaea
- Adam Ottavino
- Jake Diekman
- J.D. Martinez
- Jose Iglesias
- Jesse Winker
- Paul Blackburn
- Phil Maton
- Ryne Stanek
- Huascar Brazoban
Of this group only Sean Manaea, Adam Ottavino and Jose Iglesias wound up in the win column. Others underachieved (in come cases quite badly).
Did things improve in 2025? After all the club finished the year only barely over .500 and it would seem that new Mets faces would have some responsibility for how the team played. Let’s have a look:
- Jose Siri
- Frankie Montas
- Juan Soto
- Sean Manaea
- Griffin Canning
- Jesse Winker
- A.J. Minter
- Nick Madrigal
- Ryne Stanek
- Brooks Raley
- Dicky Lovelady
- Travis Jankowski
- Gregory Soto
- Tyler Rogers
- Cedric Mullins
Here Juan Soto was a full time quality ballplayer but was paid the biggest contract in baseball history to deliver. A.J. Minter started off well but went down with injury for the rest of the year early on. Brooks Raley eventually returned from injury and played well. The rest? Well, the year end results pretty much answer that question.
Come 2026 the club made some major roster revisions after losing closer Edwin Diaz and slugger Pete Alonso to free agency. Some could argue that the Mets did not make much of an effort to retain them. Then the trades came that sent veterans Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo packing. How has that worked out? Let’s see who put on Mets uniforms for the first time:
- Marcus Semien
- Devin Williams
- Fredd Peralta
- Jorge Polanco
- Luke Weaver
- Craig Kimbrel
- M.J. Melendez
- Bo Bichette
- Luis Robert
Of this group injuries have been the biggest obstacle they have not been able to overcome. Then there are the slumping and otherwise underperforming players on this list. Thus far AAAA returnee Jared Young is the lone standout.
So the question facing the Mets in the upcoming mid year roster reconstruction deadline is what kind of job has David Stearns done and what will he do to improve things now or in the future? Obviously if they continue in last place fighting not to have the worst record in baseball a selloff is understandable, yet the fans and media are so frustrated by the lack of forward progress last season and things going even worse this year it makes you wonder if it is indeed the players or the guy in charge who picked them?
Other than the July flurry last season with players who did not excel upon arriving in Queens you have to wonder what exactly is the waiting game in the front office? What has been done at the major league level to address the multitude of injuries and the fact that many of the 2026 acquisitions frankly are not earning their inflated paychecks. Isn’t correcting what’s wrong supposed to be a major part of a baseball executive’s job?
Boy, you are really “bringing the receipts” here. Collectively bad.
ReplyDeleteI think what is delaying the sell off is the pitching. They are also, I believe, now 21-16 in their last 37. They may be waiting to see if Lindor and Senga’s return soon will give them a shot in the arm.
Also, that Tong, Wenninger, Thornton, Santucci, Lambert and Ross have all struggled this season in the minors. I thought in February that all 6 would be dominating right now. None are. You want to call up replacement pitchers that are ready.
Bichette is also following the first year Lindor trajectory. Lindor was terrible in his Mets debut season, in the first several weeks, in no small part because the park is particularly stingy to hitters early in the season, magnifying the pressure. Bo is one reason they are not selling yet. He has 24 RBIs in his last 30 games.
ReplyDeleteA businessman is always judged by his or hers results.
ReplyDeleteReese,
ReplyDeleteAn excellent article regarding trades and free agents. Could you do the same observation regarding Stearns' MLB draft record during his time as GM for the Mets? That would shed an additional light on his record.
Really good piece. My only mild disagreement concerns Weaver and Williams who have fared well overall. It does also look like Bichette is timing his leg kick and getting his barrel moving better, so while he may not be a 42m player, he is becoming an overall asset; and without him the Mets would not have been able to withstand the long loss of Lindor. So he's a net plus for me. Also neither McNeil or Nimmo are lighting things up at their new homes; neither is Acuna, but then again, his failure is a success compared to Robert. The only thing he is lighting up is his bedside lamp.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Montas, Siri and Mullins go down as 3 of the worst additions in franchise history speaks volumes.
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece. As Tom stated: bringing the receipts.
ReplyDeleteAs long as it looks like .500 neighborhood gets into the playoffs, the real question is can they compete for playoffs without compromising the future. Still tbd. Mets fans would go berserk if they folded & a .500ish team got in. Don’t seek the future (make more dumb, panic decisions out of desperation, but compete.
Tough spot to sit in but that’s the consequence of the crappy start of the season.
Also Atlanta loses Freddy Freeman and pivots to Matt Olson could we make a move like that just once please and the thought that DS is gonna make the trade deadline decisions scares the crap out of me. The only upside of not making the playoffs is DS will be gone.
ReplyDeleteOr to paraphrase Mae West (ironically)'When I'm good, I'm barely OK, but when I'm bad, I'm genuinely horrible.'
ReplyDeleteAgain, I don't think Stearns is gone as so much of the time has been spent on backfilling and creating an organizational plan. I think he will be judged on the fruits that bears over a 5 year period, not 3 year; but the next two years have to show genuine contender status at the major league level as the young talent hopefully matures; and for the first time, really meaningful big trades will have to be made to get the team to top tier performance, while waves behind are generating projectible high level additions to the team.
ReplyDeleteDavid Stearns is overrated in my view. Here is a small town GM with money to spend who continues to try to put together a team by not signing the best available but hoping that players with a history of injuries will stay healthy and make him look good.
ReplyDeleteThat's how you end up with the Montas, Robert Jr., Polanco, etc.
Reese, it would be interesting to look back on the many prospects that were traded by DS while trying to fix the roster and see how they are doing these days.