Former NY Mets coach Eric Chavez unwittingly revealed David Stearns' biggest flaw

The worst kept secret since the sky being blue is how much Eric Chavez isn’t a fan of David Stearns. Since getting fired after the 2025 season, Chavez has gone rogue and been open about his dislike of the New York Mets President of Baseball Operations.

Exactly why is he so unhappy? After a tease a few days ago, he dropped episode number 10 of his EC3 Podcast where he got deeper into the weeds about what happened with the Mets.

A nearly 40-minute episode is a lot to listen through especially when you don’t know what you’re going to get. There are some specific tidbits. Juan Soto leaving the dugout to sit away from others got a lot of attention on social media. This wasn’t to lambast the star outfielder but rather Chavez pointed out how disconnected the leadership was. When he inquired, the response he got from Stearns was the young players had to learn they weren’t Juan Soto. This translated into how certain people have certain privileges.

Chavez pulled back the curtain on the Stearns-led Mets and let us all make up our own opinions while trying to lead us toward a “Stearns didn’t earn it and he cannot lead.” There is one better takeaway.

The biggest mistake here is probably David Stearns not getting to know Eric Chavez first

Disagreements on hitting philosophy, Chavez saying young players were being told they need to pull the ball in the air, was the heart of some of his opposing philosophies with Stearns. It doesn’t seem necessarily true. Bo Bichette has been in the blue practically every season of his career at pulling the ball in the air. This just seems to be one example of what rubbed Chavez the wrong way about Stearns.

Moreover, every complaint Chavez has about Stearns comes down to the communication aspect. Known as a poor communicator by anyone who has been honest about it, Chavez relayed how when he was fired over a phone call there was no “thank you for what you did” or human element to it. Stearns’ sometimes robotic approach to the game of baseball apparently isn’t exclusive to the sport. If he did in fact live in Oz, he’d be more Tinman than Scarecrow.

Chavez wasn’t wrong with many of his comments. It was all a matter of what you believe in. He thought hitters should approach the game one way. Stearns had another belief. Somewhere along the lines, the conversation was lost, if there ever was a conversation at all.

David Stearns never should have kept Eric Chavez if they weren't on the same page

Stearns’ biggest crime is not getting to know Chavez when he was first hired. Perhaps he wasn’t given the opportunity to pick his full coaching staff or invited Carlos Mendoza to help choose. The team was set up well to make a hitting coach change after the 2023 season. Jeremy Barnes somehow survived and Chavez went back to the gig after spending the 2023 season as Buck Showalter’s bench coach.

This appears to be a battle of “I know better than you” between a stereotypical jock from Los Angeles and a nerd from Manhattan.

Chavez was by far the most successful big leaguer among those on the Mets coaching staff under Stearns. He was an outlier amongst the guys who spent their careers bouncing between the majors and minors or never made it at all.

There was no silver bullet released by Chavez to discredit Stearns completely. What he did do is further confirm there’s a way Stearns wants the Mets and the players to perform. Baseball isn’t played “right” or “wrong” but given the results, the current way doesn’t feel right. Chavez needs to take some of the responsibility and not just the success.

When Soto, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso took home Silver Sluggers, Chavez commented “TAKE THAT IN” on Instagram. Three established stars winning a Silver Slugger under other hitting coaches is exactly the time to gloat.

Does the Chavez vs. Stearns feud have another chapter? Chavez has been the one coach willing to burn the bridge and probably eliminate himself from getting a major league job again. Over $84 million of career earnings suggests he had enough courage to never worry about retirement.

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