3 big NY Mets decisions David Stearns will have to make when the season ends

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David Stearns has no shoes to fill. He’s the first President of Baseball Operations in New York Mets history. It’s a position the club has tried to fill in the past, but were unable to find the right person for the job.

Stearns has been thought of as the perfect candidate for several years. Steve Cohen finally caught his white whale. This sea mammal will have some big decisions to make once the season ends.

1) Should the NY Mets keep Buck Showalter?

Maybe the most debatable decision of all is with the fate of manager Buck Showalter. The possibility of Showalter stepping down does exist and feels like the way this relationship with the Mets will probably end. He just hasn’t been as into this year’s team as he was in 2022. The changes above him add to the possibility of Showalter leaving on his own terms in a mutual agreement to turn the page.

If it’s a matter of Stearns choosing to keep Showalter or not, he’d probably go in a different direction. The same decision(s) would need to be made about the rest of the coaching staff. There are sure to be casualties along the way, but also some holdovers. Decimating the entire coaching staff and starting from scratch isn’t ideal for a team still hopeful to contend in the coming year. Thoughts of Stearns pulling Craig Counsell with him to New York from Milwaukee make the most sense because of their existing relationship. What about everyone else? Jeremy Hefner has survived multiple changes already. Has his time come to a close?

The problem with keeping Showalter is he’ll feel like a lame duck. Do him and yourself the courtesy of moving on if that’s the intention.

2) What’s the plan for Pete Alonso?

Keep him, right? We’d like to think Stearns would avoid riding into Flushing on a white horse with plans of trading Pete Alonso away. It wouldn’t be a good start to his tenure. Sure, he could win a deal involving the Polar Bear, but it would get a lot of fans angry first and as much as you never want to listen to the fans, we’re the ones who matter most.

It would be a surprise for Stearns to have nothing but intentions of trading Alonso unless he’s some sort of a double agent who has worked his entire career to screw over the Mets and he’ll end up sending their best power hitter ever to the Milwaukee Brewers. It’s the kind of twist you could only ever see in a Naked Gun movie.

Stearns is coming to the Mets with a clean slate. Fans are already on his side. He can ruin it quickly by making some questionable maneuvers, none more obvious than Alonso whose trade rumors from the summer gave us all a few gray hairs.

Trading Alonso away likely means more of a step backward for the Mets altogether in 2024. This team is missing a power hitter in its lineup, not swimming in them. It’s not nearly as urgent of a decision to make when compared to the coaching staff yet more significant. Coaches don’t swing hammers at the plate. Alonso does.

3) Is Jose Quintana a part of next year’s NY Mets rotation?

The Jose Quintana decision will be a big hint as to what direction the team goes. Trading him away subtracts one of only two veterans we can put any faith in for next year. Quintana was named as the most likely Mets player to get traded this offseason. It’s understandable. If the team really is going to shop everyone not tied down after 2024, selling him while he has some value could be a part of Stearns’ plan.

Quintana seems to have a fair market value for his contract based on how he has done this year and what he accomplished before joining the Mets. Replacing him would be a somewhat lateral move yet not the absolute worst thing. If Stearns doesn’t see them getting much from him in 2024, the Mets should try to capitalize on the asset.

Fixing the bullpen is an obvious task for Stearns to address. It’s the rotation, however, where they need to begin. Pitchers like Tylor Megill, David Peterson, and Jose Butto can fall in line to become possible relief options if the Mets are first able to add to the rotation. You can get lucky with a reliever. Rarely will you pull a starting pitcher off the scrap heap and they turn out to be R.A. Dickey or Rick Reed.

A fear with Quintana could be that he’s headed toward a Carlos Carrasco ending. Before 2022, Quintana was a struggling former top-of-the-rotation arm battling injuries and not playing all that well. The injury bug came back again this year. Selling him on a high and looking for an upgrade might not be the worst decision to make.

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