3 David Stearns decisions that should buy him another year with the NY Mets

David Stearns has received a lot of flak from New York Mets fans for his handling of the team’s roster since taking over as its president of baseball operations. This year, the outside noise has been especially loud as the Mets sit in last place in the NL East with a 34-46 record that is also a bottom-three mark in the National League.

Despite Stearns’ repeated mantra that of “run prevention” as a focus for the 2026 Mets, he failed to do enough work to address the starting rotation and team defense in the offseason. After letting all-time franchise home run slugger Pete Alonso walk in free agency, Stearns and his front office never signed a true first baseman to replace him. The Mets’ main financial investment in a starting pitcher in 2026 remains the three-year, $75 million deal Stearns gave to struggling left-hander Sean Manaea.

In addition, notable offseason acquisitions Luis Robert and Jorge Polanco have been plagued by injury. Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette (until recently) have been plagued by underperformance. Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, retained as young pieces within the Mets’ new core, have done little to inspire confidence in their performance thus far.

As the Mets sit in what SNY play-by-play man Gary Cohen called “the depths of despair” and color commentator Ron Darling called “rock bottom,” it’s tempting to lose all faith in Stearns. If these are the fruits of his labors of three seasons in New York, how bad could things get over the next three years?

Before sinking too deep into the depths of pessimism, it’s worth seeking reasons for optimism. Here are three moves that Stearns and his front office have made that are unquestionably good ones – three decisions that can spark some hope for the future of his regime.

Three good moves David Stearns has made as Mets POBO

1. Drafting Carson Benge

Baseball is one of the hardest sports to scout for. Unlike in other major professional sports where early-round draft picks are essentially guaranteed a roster spot as a rookie, there have been countless MLB first-rounders that never even make it to the majors.

Mets outfielder Carson Benge is not one of those failed first-rounder stories. The 23-year-old was the first pick Stearns made for the Mets in an MLB draft. Within a year and a half, Benge has emerged as an everyday starter and leadoff hitter for New York. Stearns’ pick is especially impressive given the Mets had to move back 10 spots in the draft when they didn’t win a lottery pick that year.

The rookie has already shown off his speed (11 stolen bases) that he pairs with good hitting (.255 average) and some power (nine home runs). Benge is also a plus defender in right field – costly sixth-inning error on Thursday night notwithstanding – with an excellent arm.

For as bad as the 2026 season has been, at least there’s been the fun of watching Benge grow into a valuable part of the Mets’ lineup as a rookie. Fans can thank Stearns for his player evaluation skills for that.

2. Signing Juan Soto

There’s not much to say here that Mets fans don’t already know. In a bidding-war-to-end-all-bidding-wars situation – against the Yankees, for Juan Soto – the Mets, long viewed as the “little brother” to the Evil Empire in New York, won.

Soto turned down a 16-year, $760 million offer from the Yankees to sign a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets. That’s the kind of thing that did not happen to the Mets for the first six decades of their existence. It’s the kind of thing that did not happen to the Yankees for their century-plus of existence. But Stearns – with an assist from owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets – helped make it happen.

In his first season with the Orange and Blue, Soto led the National League with a .396 on-base percentage. He led all of MLB with 127 walks. He set a new career high with 43 home runs. He stole 38 bases – also leading the National League. Soto was as-advertised – if not better – and finished third in NL MVP voting.

This year, Soto is easily the Mets’ best hitter. His 165 wRC+ ranks third in the majors and first in the National League. His .401 on-base percentage is seventh in the majors and fourth in the NL. His .570 slugging percentage is fifth in baseball and second in the NL. His .300 batting average is 10th in MLB. And the Mets will have him under contract until 2040.

3. Signing Clay Holmes… to be a starting pitcher

Before the 2025 season, Stearns and the Mets made an unorthodox decision: they signed Holmes, a former closer with the Yankees coming off of a down year, to be a starter. It has paid off.

In 2025, no Met pitcher made more starts than Holmes (31). No qualifying Met starter had a lower ERA (3.53) than he did, either. Holmes’ ERA was even a top-20 mark in MLB last year as he compiled a 12-8 record with 129 strikeouts across 165.2 innings.

Starting this season, Holmes appeared to be fully coming into his own as a starter. Through eight starts in 2026, he looked like the Mets’ ace with his 1.86 ERA and consistent ability to pitch into the sixth inning (and occasionally beyond). Unfortunately for both Holmes and the Mets, a freak injury – a broken leg suffered on a comebacker – in his ninth start took the right-hander out of the rotation and landed him on the IL.

Even despite so much missed time, Holmes’ start to 2026 was so strong he still ranks third on the team in fWAR (1.2) and second on the Mets in bWAR (1.9). It’s possible that the Mets wind up trading Holmes ahead of this year’s trade deadline, but he’ll unquestionably draw more value as a possible playoff-game starter rather than reliever. Regardless of what happens, it’s inarguable that Stearns’ decision to sign Holmes to start has aged well.

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