Steve Cohen's faith in David Stearns is not misplaced, despite NY Mets failures

Following the dismissal of manager Carlos Mendoza, one question has been on every New York Mets fan's mind recently: Will David Stearns be the next one out the door. The team entered July as the only NL East squad not over .500, instead sitting at 36-50 and far removed from the playoff picture.

Owner Steve Cohen finally addressed the calls for Stearns' job, telling the New York Post that he has no intention of firing the president of baseball operations prior to 2028 (when Stearns' original five-year contract with the franchise comes to an end). He admitted that changes "need to be made," though Cohen definitively said that won't involve replacing the front office chief.

From a technical standpoint, we've already discussed why it would be incredibly difficult for the Mets to move on from Stearns right now, even if they wanted to. The impending lockout brings an unstable and uncertain economic future, which matters quite a bit for a high-spending organization like Cohen's Mets.

Here's the thing, though: I don't believe Cohen actually wants to move on from Stearns. I think he's genuine in his desire to see the exec's contract through to the end.

Hard as that is to believe in the midst of such a disastrous season, there are reasons to buy into this fledgling partnership.

David Stearns brings one thing to Mets front office that can't easily be replaced

It can be difficult to remember now, but back in 2023, Stearns was the top available front office executive. The Mets' interest in partnering with him was far from a secret, as Cohen made repeated (and sometimes public) overtures to lure him back to New York.

Part of that interest stemmed from Stearns' track record; despite never having a payroll that ranked in the top half of the league while in Milwaukee, he guided a previously moribund franchise to two NL Central titles and four total playoff trips in a seven-year span. His excellent scouting and trade insticts also laid the foundation for the dominant team the Brewers have now.

Likewise, the Mets were dealing with years of instability within their front office. Brodie Van Wagenen eventually gave way to Jared Porter and Zack Scott, neither of whom need recounting here. Billy Eppler eventually took over as the full-time general manager, though his tenure featured a lot of big swings and misses.

At the very least, Stearns has helped provide continuity to the team's braintrust, which is a godsend given who and what preceded him. His reputation has taken a massive hit this year due to the collective sample of moves he made this past offseason -- a lot of which involved swapping out fan favorites for veterans who have yet to live up to the hype -- but it's not as though his track record, even with the Mets, is devoid of success stories.

Firing Stearns would mean introducing yet another executive into the fold, one who would have to spend the beginning of their tenure cleaning up their predecessor's mess. That's an unenviable position to be in, particularly if Cohen is feeling the pressure to keep up his win-now mandate around Juan Soto's prime.

With so much at stake prior to the lockout, maintaining the continuity with Stearns is probably the best path forward for this organization... even if it means the rest of his tenure is defined by watching him try to climb out of the hole he dug for the Mets.

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