Mets' David Stearns Under Fire During Brewers Rise...

It's obvious now. David Stearns was a key decision maker in the Milwaukee Brewers organization as their GM through as recently as a few years ago. But since then, they have taken things to another level, winning the pennant and becoming more successful than they ever were under Stearns. So how much stock should the Mets fans give in David Stearns' prior accomplishments? And how does the Brewers' recent rise impact his outlook and legacy in Milwaukee and how he should be perceived by Mets fans who are looking for reasons to trust a guy who has whiffed on a lot of decisions he's made with the Mets thus far. We'll discuss all of that today on Mets Digest. I'm Josh Byrne. Guys, thank you so much for all your recent support and engagement. And Steve Cohen has plenty of support for David Stearns. We know that because he has publicly reaffirmed his commitment to the Mets current and now confirmed future President of Baseball Operations David Stearns was brought in by Steve Cohen on a five-year contract and the perception was that Steve Cohen was eyeing Stearns from afar for a while he had been very respecting of the job he had done in Milwaukee and there were reasons to come to that opinion and he had gotten his guy in Stearns but the success has not carried over in a linear trajectory since he became the key decision maker for the Mets. Now, congratulations to the Brewers because they have put Stearns' reputation further in focus. We already knew he was in focus because the Mets have gone back-to-back years without making the playoffs, but the Brewers have officially made the World Series. And look, I mean, at the end of the day, the Brewers were a team that got swept off the field last year. this year completely turned it around in the League Championship Series but like last year they were a first place team they won 103 games this year and when David Stearns came to the Mets there was so much talk of well he built a sustainable winning franchise there he did but now it's becoming a question of well was he really the secret sauce or was it Matt Arnold who has stayed with that organization as the key decision maker and that's that's a fair thing to ask because certainly the results have not carried over to the New York Mets and now the Brewers are doing ever better than they ever did with David Stearns at the helm. So let's take a deep look into the leadership timeline regarding David Stearns. He took over as Milwaukee's top baseball decision maker in 2015. Arnold took the lead after David Stearns left a few years ago and And then, of course, this season, Milwaukee reaches the World Series. Now, if you look at Matt Arnold's perspective, you can just feel it sitting here. It's real. That organization is in a celebratory state. But David Stearns absolutely helped build the core there, right? There are fingerprints all over the Milwaukee Brewers team. In fact, the New York Post reported this month a fact that is eye-opening. David Stearns helped acquire and develop 11 of the 26 players on Milwaukee's NLCS roster. That's almost half the team, and that is even more jarring when you realize that David Stearns has been three seasons removed from being with that organization, so he absolutely deserves a fair bit of credit. There's no doubt about that. He helped build the foundation for the Brewers World Series run, and if you look at the timeline of building said foundation, He took over baseball ops in 2015. He added the star power with the Christian Yelich trade. He signed Lorenzo Cain. Obviously, Yelich is not the player he used to be, not the type of difference maker in terms of this run that, you know, he was expected to be when he was brought over in 2018, but that was a long time ago. But at that time, those were big signings for that organization, and they worked. And he handed off the operation, again, a few years ago to Matt Arnold, who is already in the organization and has basically taken things to the next level. But again, the question goes back to, like, if the Brewers are taking things to this next level, then was it really a focal point of David Stearns running the show, or was it the alternative voices in the room? there's no doubt that the Brewers have maintained some sustained winning 103 wins this year the roster construction really strong over there in Milwaukee for sure they build a team that is capable of being frisky on the base paths not striking out a lot and developing really strong pitching it's it's a very impressive roster especially considering the much tighter payroll that they have. The Mets results, though, have not been nearly as good. You look at what the Brewers have done year in, year out. But if we're going to give Stearns credit for what he's done in Milwaukee, then Stearns deserves a lot of the blame for the Mets obviously finishing in last place and so it makes you wonder were the Mets sold a basically untruthful bag of goods a bag of goods that wasn't what it presented itself as being perhaps David Stearns wasn't the guy who was solely or largely responsible for the Brewers success perhaps he was a voice in the room an ancillary result and figure piece in building that roster but not the vocal point and perhaps Steve Cohen when he ultimately made the decision of bringing in David Stearns put too much stock and weighed too heavily David Stearns's involvement in building that team versus what the reality was in which Matt Arnold was the key figurehead and when the Brewers lost David Stearns they didn't lose the main voice in the room they lost a voice in the room and it definitely that argument deserves a lot of weight there's no doubt about it and Mets fans should not be weighing the stock of David Stearns based on the Brewers again he deserves credit for helping bring in some of those players no doubt but it's clear he wasn't the secret sauce and they've been critical of Stearns and they should be and David Stearns to his credit has at least openly admitted that he has heard the fan skepticism saying if I was sitting in the fan seat I would share that going on to say I don't believe they're a record on the field this year is indicative of some of the advances we've made in the organization this is the type of stuff I don't want because I understand what he is saying in terms of the minor league ascent especially when you look at the infield prospects but we're the New York Mets we have the highest payroll in the league. We have an owner that told us he'd be severely disappointed if they didn't win a World Series in his first three to five years, if not sooner. So don't tell me in year six, and I know that he wasn't around, David Stearns was for all his six years, but don't tell me in year six of David Stearns' ownership that after coming in last place, the on-field results, the last place results aren't indicative of the advancements they've made. Because Stearns has had so many opportunities to take this team to the next level, and he's failed to do so. He said there's no magic bullet. There's no one change that's immediately going to turn this around. A lot of fans think that there is one change, and it's getting rid of Stearns himself. We know that's not going to happen. And when you look at the New York Mets roster, there are absolutely some positives. There's some encouraging signs. We know about the young core. We know about Carson Benge. We know about A.J. Ewing. We know about Nolan McLean. We know about Christian Scott. We know about Jonah Tong. But what about the privilege and the superpower that David Stearns was gifted in Steve Cohen's money that he has not been able to work with at all? What about that? What about the reality that a lot of those young players outside of Carson Benge were not drafted by David Stearns? So when you look at the positives of this Mets team, when you look at that young core, it's not a product of David Stearns outside of Carson Benge, who was a first round pick that Stearns deserves credit for hitting on, but outside of that, more of the negatives of this team. The faulty free agent signings, Jorge Polanco, the faulty trades, Luis Robert trading for Freddy Peralta and the poor results. That's been the bigger fingerprint on this team than the encouraging results. The Mets need to build a winning identity. This is what Pat Murphy, manager of the Brewers, said upon beating the Dodgers. They got a bunch of Hall of Famers. We got a bunch of gamers. The Mets have a couple of Hall of Famers. Do they have a bunch of gamers? I believe they do in the young players, but David Stearns needs to be able to bring in that kind of culture that was developed between him and Matt Arnold to the Brewers. And the fact that he has struggled so mightily to do so makes me question whether he was the real catapult of launching that initiative and that culture in Milwaukee in the first place. And I guess the results will speak for themselves over the final years of David Stearns' five-year contract. But let me hear your verdict. How should Mets fans view Stearns after this Milwaukee run? Do you believe that A, A, we should have more trust in him because he did build almost half that team and his track record does matter. B, simply wait for the Mets results. Or C, respect the resume but demand proof because it is admittedly unclear to what extent David Stearns had a hand in building the World Series-bound Milwaukee Brewers of 2026. It's clear looking at the faults and errors in building the 2026 New York Mets that were amongst the most disappointing teams in franchise history. So let me know which prerogative you're taking and how you feel about the organization moving forward because this is a big offseason. And we're about to learn a lot more about David Stearns. Comment below, let me know. And as always, guys, let's go Mets.