Grading every major Mets move on the road to the 2024 season

The New York Mets made a radical change in their approach this offseason. After being one of the most aggressive teams in the market the past two seasons, led by David Stearns, the team has preferred to take a break and invest in evaluating and enhancing internal talent.

Despite having struggled to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto this offseason as one of the most aggressive teams behind Japanese talent, the rest of the moves turned out to be complementary to the current roster. Observing each signing and acquisition, we graded every Mets move this offseason.

Steve Cohen finally got David Stearns

The tone of the offseason started high for the Mets organization when they achieved the signing of David Stearns as their new President of Baseball Operations for the team. Stearns, a Mets fan since childhood, had been on the radar of Steve Cohe and the organization for years.

Stearns as POBO is arguably the most important move in the Mets organization's recent past. The young baseball executive is not only highly valued in the industry but has been a successful baseball operations manager in his time with the Milwaukee Brewers.

For fans, it is possible to find no bright spots in having Stearns directing the team's baseball operations because this offseason has not been explosive like the previous ones, but his hiring is a resounding success. Organizations do not change overnight, and in the case of the Mets, this move is the best since Steve Cohen bought the team because it generates a positive moving forward vision for the rest of the league.

The identification and player development of the organizations' internal players, the development of the pitching lab, and the composition of a more financially sustainable roster for the future are the keys to Stearns' success that will quickly translate into positive change for the Mets. Cohen struck gold when he acquired Stearns, and we'll likely all be grateful to him after a couple of seasons.