Former Brewers’ GM survives Mets’ first round of leadership changes

When the Milwaukee Brewers announced that then-President of Baseball Operations David Stearns was stepping down from his role atop the organization's front office in October of 2022, fans were concerned about what his departure would mean for the success of their favorite ballclub. Stearns, who replaced Doug Melvin as the Brewers' general manager back in September of 2015, was a key reason for Milwaukee's ongoing Golden Age. During Stearns' seven-year tenure in Milwaukee, the team won two division titles, made four postseason appearances, and came within one game of the World Series.

However, even when Stearns was succeeding as the head of the Brewers' front office, there was a feeling that his true professional goals laid elsewhere. Stearns, who was born and raised in Manhattan, seemed to always have one eye on the New York Mets, waiting for an opportunity to head their front office to present itself. In 2023, after Stearns had stepped down from his role as the Brewers' President of Baseball Operations and handed the reins to Matt Arnold, that opportunity arrived. Before the 2023 season came to a close, the Mets announced that they had agreed to a five-year contract with Stearns, who finally landed his dream job.

Stearns' first season in New York was a memorable one. After a slow start, the Mets went on a tear during the second half of the campaign and snuck into the postseason in the NL's final Wild Card spot. As a result, they ironically matched up with the Brewers, who won the NL Central but had the worst record of the division winners, in the first round of the playoffs, and no Brewers fan nor current-Mets closer Devin Williams needs to be reminded of how that series ended.

For as memorable as the 2024 season was for the Mets, the 2025 campaign was the exact opposite. Mets fans would like to soon forget their team's second-half collapse, which saw their team go from the best in baseball on June 12 to eventually missing the postseason. As a result, calls for manager Carlos Mendoza to lose his role as the team's skipper started to arise.

Those calls only intensified when the Mets lost 12 consecutive games in April of this year, but while teams like the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies fired their managers after slow starts to the season, New York stuck with Mendoza.

However, another six-game losing streak in June, which involved a four-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs, once again put Mendoza in the hot seat, and this time the Mets' leadership finally elected to make a change.

David Stearns avoids blame for Mets' underperformance as New York fires manager Carlos Mendoza

The writing was on the wall for Mendoza. It's difficult to justify a roster as star-studded and expensive as the Mets' being 13 games below .500 on June 26. Though his success in 2024 certainly prolonged his tenure in New York, it felt like only a matter of time before the Mets made a leadership change in their dugout. The Mets have named Andy Green, who was the manager of the San Diego Padres from 2016-19 and served as New York's head of player development for the last three years, their interim manager.

For the time being, Stearns remains the head of the Mets' front office, but his seat is certainly growing hot as well. New York essentially blew up their roster this offseason, and it's safe to say it hasn't worked out up to this point. Trades for Freddy Peralta (0.4 bWAR), Marcus Semien (-0.6 bWAR), and Luis Robert Jr. (0.1 bWAR) haven't worked out nearly as well as Stearns and the Mets were expecting them to. To make matters worse, three of New York's biggest free agent signings of the offseason, Devin Williams (-0.4 bWAR), Bo Bichette (-0.1 bWAR), and Jorge Polanco (-0.3 bWAR), have yet to add any value to their new team.

It's certainly a different job, heading the Mets' front office with the ever-present input of New York's demanding owner, Steve Cohen. However, with all of the resources one could ask for, excuses tend to fall flat in New York. Should the Mets not start to show signs of encouragement under their new leadership, conversations about Stearns' job security will inevitably start to intensify.

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