New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns will remain in his role through the 2028 season, which represents the completion of his five-year contract.
Mets owner Steve Cohen said as much Wednesday in his first public comments since manager Carlos Mendoza was fired last week.
“I’m going forward with David as our leader,” Cohen said on the New York Post’s podcast, “The Show.”
“There’s no guarantees in anything. I’m going to evaluate this as we go along. David knows that it hasn’t worked out the way he thought it would work out, the way I thought it would work out. He’d be the first one to admit that he’s made some mistakes.
“We’ll figure out what changes need to be made. But the change that’s not going to be made is moving David out at this point. I’m just not going to do it.”
The Mets (36-50) reside in last place in the National League East.
That’s a far cry from Stearns’ first full season with the club, which advanced to the NL Championship Series before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Last year, the Mets collapsed and missed the playoffs after compiling the best record in baseball in mid-June.
“Does he get any credit for ’24?” Cohen said. “Does that not count? We almost made it to the World Series, and that was just two years ago. So, it’s a mixed record, OK? I’m not going to say it’s going great. But it’s too early to really make evaluations, and I feel really strongly that if we’re going to burn and churn, it’s a terrible place to be. And every time you burn and churn, guess what? The next time, nobody wants to come.
“Is someone going to put their career in your hands if you’re going to be short-term oriented? And, yeah, I have a contract. It’s a five-year contract. And we’re going to live that contract out.”
Under Stearns’ watch, the Mets allowed slugger Pete Alonso to leave in free agency and effectively replaced him with Jorge Polanco. The latter has played in just 14 games this season due to a heel injury.
Infielder Marcus Semien, 35, is batting a paltry .214 after being acquired from the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder Brandon Nimmo.
Fellow offseason acquisitions Bo Bichette and Luis Robert Jr. have struggled as well.
Stearns, 41, was named the Mets’ president of baseball operations on Oct. 2, 2023.
The native New Yorker and former Milwaukee Brewers general manager grew up rooting for the Mets and was an intern with the club in 2008.
–Field Level Media
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