David Stearns Strikes Again...

David Stern strikes again. The Mets president of baseball operations met the media yesterday and he had quite a bit to say including most notably confirming that Francisco Lindor will be the Mets shortstop in 2027 and further reiterating that Andy Green will not be the Mets manager moving forward and providing a pretty curious update on Jorge Polanco's future with the Mets. What's going on guys? I'm Josh Byrne. You're tuned into Mets Digest. Guys, thanks for all the recent support and engagement. As you can see, I'm not in my normal location. I am actually visiting a friend in Philly, so apologies for the background. But if you are enjoying the daily updates, guys, please do consider subscribing. 67% of viewers who are watching are not currently subscribed. It's free and you can also follow us on TikTokX and download the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Now, David Sterns, he met the media yesterday and spoke for about 15 minutes answering numerous questions about key players, about the team's recent performance, about Andy Green, what they're seeking in a manager, the possibility of bringing in a general manager to work under him. And we're going to start off here with the update on Francisco Lindor because this is, to me, very encouraging and I'm very happy to see that David Sterns is coming out in full support and with confidence that the Mets star shortstop will be their star shortstop for next year and moving forward. First of all, SNY Mets tweeted the confirmation that Sterns says he has no question that Francisco Lindor will be the Mets' everyday shortstop next season. Now, if you told me a year ago that there was even a question that had to be asked regarding this, I wouldn't have believed you, but it hasn't been the easiest season for Lindor. Lindor has missed a good amount of time with a grade two calf strain this season and when he's been on the field, the offensive numbers have been slightly down, although his advanced metrics suggest that he's right where he really always is offensively. The power's certainly been there. He has 16 home runs in just 326 at-bats, so no problem there with the slugging. But what's really been concerning for me this year, outside of the fact that he got hurt, has been the defense. And Lindor is my favorite player on the Mets. I've said it time and time again. I'm not shy about admitting it and it's still the case for me, but I have to look at this objectively. The guy has committed double-digit errors and has played basically half a season. And this is a star player that provides so much value out in the field. About half of his value comes from defense alone. Yes, he's one of the better hitters amongst major league shortstops, but coming into this season, he was also one of the best defenders of the shortstop position. And I can't sugarcoat it. He hasn't been that this season. He really hasn't. And there's been a lot of extracurriculars and speculations, especially surrounding the talk about his relationship with Juan Soto, which I believe is a bit overblown. But I do also think that it is on Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor for letting that kind of drama and intimate subject matter even get released to the public in the first place. But I think all bygones are bygones there. They're not best friends, but I don't think it's a huge deal moving forward. What I do think is perhaps a big deal is the defense, the mental errors that Francisco Lindor has made this year. And David Stearns was asked about that and this is what he had to say on the Mets 32-year-old shortstop's defense. Certainly a few more mistakes than we're accustomed to seeing. I think a lot of the underlying stuff is still pretty good and uncharacteristically, he just hasn't completed some of the plays that he normally completes. I think that's a pretty spot on answer. I mean, again, the offensive stuff, OPS plus is 107. It's not great. It's a little lower than where he normally is, which is I think his career OPS plus is about 119. But we know that the underlying metrics there are fine. He's right around where is. He got off to the slow start. He got hotter and he is where he is. But the defense, you hear what David Stearns has to say here. He can't really explain it. I can't really explain it. Is he just declining? Sure. Maybe his range is declining and he's just going south as an athlete because that's what happens to 32-year-olds. But what is harder to justify are the mental errors and miscues. That I can't explain because that doesn't pertain to the physical. That pertains to the mental. So I certainly hope and frankly expect that Lindor, who by the way, is inked through the 20-31 season, has plenty of money coming towards him at 34.1 AAV, figures that out in the mental side. And I know he's a guy who takes a lot of pride in his defense. So I do expect that to improve. Now moving on, Stearns was asked again about the future of Andy Green. And Andy Green is a guy who I think has done a respectable job as the Mets interim manager. I've been very impressed, especially with how he's communicated to the media and how he's really challenged his young pitchers and gotten the most out of them. You saw the other day, well yesterday, you saw Nolan McLean throw a career-high 105 pitches in a gutsy outing. And these are the kinds of things you want to see. And what's special about Andy Green is he has that background in player development. And you can kind of see that shine through, which is why he's been floated around as potentially being the Mets long-term manager. And I totally understand why, but David Stearns and Andy Green himself have both shot that down. He doesn't want that job. This is what David Stearns had to say on the matter. I think Andy's done a very good job in the dugout. I think we will get to the point where we're more fully described what we're seeking in our next manager. Apologies for the typo there. Today is not that day. It is certainly not that day. And he continued by saying, to some extent, it's good to see that we are competing against really good teams, some of the best teams in the league. It's also where we should be. That's what we expect of ourselves. I mean, certainly it is nice to see the Mets competing with decent teams, but again, playoffs are out of the question. David Stearns had too many fails this past offseason, but it's nice to see Andy Green leading a squad that is playing respectably. And I think if you had to choose which manager of you think did a better job this year for the Mets, Andy Green or Carlos Mendoza, I think you'd have to go with Andy Green. But ultimately, I still think that the next manager of the Mets is Carlos Beltran. All signs point to Carlos Beltran being the Mets' next manager. I don't think anything's changed in that regard. One thing that has changed is that we have finally heard an update on the Mets' first Jorge Polanco, who underwent an operation on his ankle that effectively ended his season. And David Stearns was asked, hey, what is the status of Polanco and are we going to see him perform in the field next year? And what David Stearns had to say here was pretty jarring. It's a little TBD, unfortunately. Clearly, it did not work out the way we anticipated this year. Yeah, you got that right. If there's one thing I've learned about Jorge is he's going to work incredibly hard to do everything in his power to be a good player for us next year. I think he will be, but we're not going to know exactly where he is physically until he gets on the field for us. I mean, you know, a lot of filler there, a lot of stating the obvious. I'm not overly impressed with this answer. In David Stearns' defense, he probably has no idea what the status of Jorge Polanco is going to be next year. And this is why I've said it in the past and I'll say it again. We have to treat Jorge Polanco like he doesn't exist. He cannot be counted on to be a substantial impact contributor to the Mets in 2027. I'm sorry. I know he's getting paid $20 million a year. I know he was brought in to be a middle of the lineup bat, but given the situation with the ankle and given the lack of production that we saw from him this year, David Stearns must go into this offseason considering that a black hole in the lineup and find a way to add to it because he didn't sound or provide any substance here that would make anyone feel confident about Jorge Polanco. And then finally, and this was Steve Gelb's, Andy Green makes it official and he will be starting on Monday. I'll get into more of the ramifications of that later, but David Stearns, guys, providing a lot of updates here. Let me know what y'all think about what he had to say about Lindor. I'm pretty happy about that. I never really thought there was a likely chance that Lindor wouldn't be the short stop next year, but it is nice to see Stearns confirm it. I still believe based on this, Carlos Beltran is the Mets next manager. And David Stearns was also asked about the possibility of working with a GM. And though that's not the quote right there, he essentially said, they're always going to be looking for ways to improve the front office and that they haven't ruled that out. I'm a big proponent of David Stearns having a GM under him. You need another voice in that room. I also wouldn't mind if that GM is Andy Green himself, has a background in player development, knows the team well. I've liked what he's done, but let me know what you guys think down in the comments below about these David Stearns updates as he strikes again, meeting the media. And as always guys, let's go Mets.