Mets fans finally learning the David Stearns reality that Brewers fans already know

Oh, the New York Mets. A $341 million payroll in 2025 and nothing to show for it. While baseball fans talk about the $350 million Los Angeles Dodgers ruining baseball, Mets fans are quietly watching from the side, knowing that payroll doesn't equal championships.

So what went wrong for the Mets in 2025? They brought in the most expensive free agent of all time in Juan Soto for a whopping $765 million deal last offseason, before finally agreeing to a pricey two-year, $54 million deal with their franchise cornerstone, Pete Alonso (who has already opted out of said deal this offseason). Pair that combo with their $340 million shortstop, Francisco Lindor, and the Mets shelled out more than $100 million to three hitters in 2025 alone.

Even still, if you assume that one Win Above Replacement (WAR) equates to roughly $8 million, which is about the number that the market has decided on, all three players were roughly equal to or more valuable than their contracts in 2025. In fact, across the board, the Mets performed admirably on offense in 2025. Their team OPS (.753) ranked sixth in all of baseball, their offensive runs above average (98.9) ranked second in all of baseball, and as a team, they scored the sixth most runs in the National League. Pick an offensive metric, and it's likely that the Mets were ranked in the top half or even top third of the league.

So when it came time for former Milwaukee Brewers turned Mets' President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns’, postseason press conference, which occurred at the end of September, the discussion wasn't one harping on his and Steve Cohen's decision to give piles of cash to some of the best hitters in the game, but rather it focused on the Mets' biggest weakness in 2025: run prevention.

David Stearns prioritizing run prevention this offseason should strike a familiar chord for Brewers fans

Throughout his press conference, Stearns constantly talked about the Mets' need to improve their ability to prevent runs this offseason, as reported by Tim Britton of The Athletic, among others. Pointing to disappointing performances from both the pitching staff and the defense, Stearns made it clear that the Mets' priority this offseason won't be signing a big-name bat.

For Brewers fans, Stearns' emphasis on run prevention is nothing new. The term was used constantly throughout his tenure in Milwaukee to describe the Brewers' approach to roster construction. In part because of their financial shortcomings and in part because it played into their strengths at the time, Stearns' Brewers tenure is marked by teams with strong pitching and defense and below-average offenses. Now, after settling into his new job in New York and establishing a strong Mets' offense, Stearns is once again approaching the offseason with an emphasis on limiting the number of runs his team allows.

It's certainly not the flashiest strategy, sacrificing resources that could be used to buy top-tier hitters for pitching depth and glove-first players, but Stearns is accurately acknowledging that those are the areas that held the Mets back in 2025. That's the thing, Stearns may be preaching an unpopular approach -- surely prioritizing a long-term Pete Alonso contract would be more popular with fans -- but he's right. Take practically any pitching statistic, and the Mets are nowhere near the top of the league like they were in the offensive categories.

Prioritizing run prevention is not a reality that most fans welcome; perhaps it's just the nature of the game that a grand slam is far more exciting than a strikeout with the bases loaded. However, there's no denying that the strategy yielded positive results for Stearns in Milwaukee, and it's exactly the approach that the Mets need this offseason.

What does that look like in practice for Stearns and company?

For one, it may mean that the aforementioned long-term Alonso contract doesn't come to fruition for the Mets. Losing Alonso and the roughly 42 homers that he hits every 162 games surely wouldn't be easy to stomach for Mets fans, but neither is missing the playoffs with a $341 million payroll. It may also mean a return to Stearns' approach in Milwaukee, where he signed or traded for under-the-radar names knowing their profiles could lead to success in a new organization, which would stray from the strategy that led to him signing Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, and Clay Holmes last offseason, all of whom were disappointing during the 2025 campaign.

Whether the pressure of the big market forces Stearns to go after big-name starts like Dylan Cease or Framber Valdez, or he taps into the approach that made him so successful in Milwaukee, one thing is for certain this offseason: the emphasis on "run prevention" has made its way to the Mets' front office.