NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 2 player types David Stearns is gung ho for, 1 he isn't

We’re still getting to know David Stearns. Year one with the New York Mets, he seemed to approach things from the exact situation that was created. He made small market types of moves with a big payroll.

Year two was different. Signing Juan Soto, re-signing Pete Alonso, and paying Sean Manaea a whole boatload of cash coming off of a career-year made it seem more like a Steve Cohen-led winter than one we’d expect out of Stearns.

This winter? We’re kind of in between again, maybe more than ever. Certain elements from Stearns’ Mets tenure have been confirmed with other moves suggesting a whole different kind of preference. This offseason has proved that, once again, there are two player types he values and one he isn’t so gung ho about.

David Stearns values a longman in the bullpen

The Mets-Milwaukee Brewers trade brought them more than an ace. Alongside Freddy Peralta, the Mets have added Tobias Myers who’ll be an incredibly useful player this year and at least next. Optional and capable of pitching in relief or as a starter, he’ll be the built-in solution in two major roles that Stearns has regularly tried to fill.

We saw the effectiveness with several Mets pitchers last year as multi-inning threats out of the bullpen. Max Kranick and Huascar Brazoban excelled early in the season. Myers should be used in a similar way, while also profiling as the first solution in case of an injury to another starter. In particular, Myers will be the first in line during the early part of the year to start games. By mid-year, Jonah Tong should hopefully be ready to start regularly in the majors, not only as a replacement but also as a mainstay every fifth day.

A conclusion we can draw from the team’s decision to tender Tylor Megill a contract is how much they appreciate his usefulness as a sixth-starter option. Despite being out for the full 2026 season, they’ll pay him $2.5 million to rehab and be available for next year in what could potentially be a longman/sixth-starter type of role.

Innings, by any means necessary, has been a preference for Stearns throughout his time with the Brewers and now the Mets. He has continually shown a preference to have a stockpile of players like this around, notably stashing Brandon Waddell and Justin Hagenman on the club last year and their continued presence with the Mets in 2026.