A NY Mets realization for all fans to permanently keep in mind about David Stearns

It seemed inevitable but didn’t become official until March 5 when it was announced that Jose Iglesias had a new deal and the paycheck wouldn’t be coming from Steve Cohen. Our beloved veteran infielder will join the San Diego Padres on a minor league deal with a big contract boost if he makes the roster. This puts an end to one of the most unexpectedly beloved New York Mets players of all-time.

There was, at a point, a way to bring back Iglesias while also moving forward with the plan the Mets do currently have on the infield. The Nick Madrigal signing seemed to suggest the team had moved on, although it was never fully confirmed. The ability to option him to the minor leagues meant Iglesias could conceivably make the team, pushing Madrigal into exclusively a depth role. His season-ending injury voids this.

Iglesias going to the Padres on a cheap minor league deal continues a theme of the last few weeks of the winter. They didn’t quickly pivot to Jose Quintana upon the Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea injury news. It’s a realization for the fans. David Stearns is going to do things his way.

David Stearns has a plan for the Mets and he doesn’t seem willing to budge

When it comes to Iglesias, it’s easy to defend the organization. The alternative is allowing Luisangel Acuna and Brett Baty to battle it out. It’s a fair competition to allow develop. Many of those same fans begging for a return of Iglesias have been hard on the franchise for how slowly they’ve called up their youth. Acuna or Baty getting an Opening Day roster spot gives them flexibility to demote someone and even give Ronny Mauricio his chance if he proves himself worthy.

Knowing exactly what Stearns desires would require some sort of mind-reading device or a machine that can shrink a human down to the size of a small brain-eating bug. Enter his ear canal, trot to his brain, and get an idea of what the President of Baseball Operations is really thinking. Hard to pinpoint at times, the one constant with him is an unwavering stance on certain roster qualities along with the money particular players are worth.

Stearns never balked in the Pete Alonso contract negotiations. Even if the $30 million Alonso will make this year is more than he believes the slugging first baseman is worth, the opt out along with being locked in for just one more season after this works to his favor. Iglesias was a much lighter scale than Alonso with the decision to move on from him likely more about having the ability to flip players back and forth from the minor leagues to the majors. It’s not something they have with any other projected bench piece for the coming year other than Acuna or Baty, the two likeliest candidates.

We might not always believe in everything Stearns does or agree with it. To his credit, he seems to fully trust himself.

Mets fans get their cake with an opportunity to see more of the youth this year. Unfortunately, we don’t get to eat it too with the loss of Iglesias whom we can only hope doesn’t punish us in a random NLCS versus San Diego later this year.