From New York Mets fanatic to baseball organization chief. It’s a dream come true for David Stearns, 38, who has been named the Mets’ new president of baseball operations.
The Mets officially announced Stearns’ appointment on Wednesday. The team held a press conference at Citi Field. Mets President Steve Cohen was also in attendance. “We’ve been very patient in our search for the right person to lead the organization,” Cohen said. “As I got to know Mr. Stearns, I realized we were on the same page. We’re a great fit.”
“Stearns used to sneak into Shea Stadium to cheer on the Mets decades ago,” said ESPN. Now he has the Mets’ entire roster in his possession. Stearns has been officially named the first president of baseball operations in Mets history, taking over his childhood hometown team.
“Thank you for letting me get in without a ticket,” Stearns said. “In the late 1990s, there were ticket takers and ushers at Shea Stadium who had a tie for a 13-year-old who wanted to see baseball. I saw baseball that way a few times, mostly as a legitimate paying fan,” he said, recalling his childhood memories of rooting for the Mets.
A Harvard University graduate, Stearns got his first taste of baseball in the summer of 2004, when he was 19, as an intern with the Mets’ high Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones stadium operations team. He started at the bottom, cleaning ballpark restrooms. From 2008-2011, he worked in the Commissioner’s Office of Major League Baseball, and in 2012, he worked in baseball operations for the Cleveland Guardians. He then served as assistant general manager of the Houston Astros from 2013-2015 before being named Milwaukee’s general manager in September 2015. He made a splash at the time at the young age of 30.
Under Stearns, Milwaukee was at its peak. Despite being a small-market club with little money to spend, they traded for Christian Yelich and made him their center fielder, and built their minor league farm into a sustainable powerhouse around a strong pitching staff that led them to fall ball for four straight years from 2018-2021. A first for the Milwaukee club.
Stearns, who was re-signed and promoted to president in January 2019, resigned after fall ball was eliminated last year. Since stepping down as an advisor to the organization, he’s been rumored to be headed to the Mets. Stearns was brought in after the Mets failed to build an efficient roster this year despite major investments and missed fall ball.
The contract is for five years. According to the New York Post, Stearns met with Cohen four times and had 12 phone calls before deciding to join the team. At an average of $10 million per year, including incentives, it is believed to be the highest salary for a Major League Baseball executive. For Stearns, it’s a dream come true to be the top dog at his hometown team with the best pay in the business.
“It’s great to be here,” Stearns said. “This is my home. It’s great to be back,” he said. “It also means a lot to me that my kids will grow up as Mets fans. I get to share what I’ve experienced with them. I feel very fortunate and privileged to be where I am right now. I recognize how amazing it is that this has happened to me.”
“You have to talk to people in the organization and understand internally what we’re doing well and what we need to improve on. I think the Mets can develop good starting pitchers. But it’s going to be different than what we did in Milwaukee. It has to be. No two organizations are the same. We’ve got to create our own blueprint here,” Stearns said, foreshadowing a very different franchise from his Milwaukee days.카지노
Stearns’ first choice is head coach. With the resignation of Buck Showalter, he will have to start with a new head coach. Craig Counsell, who worked with him in Milwaukee, has been talked about, but Stearns said, “I don’t have anyone in mind. We’re open to first-time coaches. We’re going to cast a wide net. We’re going to have a real process.” “I expect him to be our first baseman when we open next year. He’s a great guy in the clubhouse,” Stearns said, adding that he won’t trade him. /waw@osen.co.kr