STICKING AROUND

BY MIKE RIFKIN

On Wednesday prior to the Mets – Padres game, owner Steve Cohen met with the media. The big thing I took away was that Cohen is committed to David Stearns to continue his role as President of Baseball Ops. Cohen said “ I’m committed to David… we’re going to move forward. I thought we had a great trade deadline. David is smart. He knows what he is doing. He’s very adaptable. He learns from mistakes. That’s what I want in a leader.” 

This shouldn’t come as a shock to Met fans as Cohen said the same thing when he appeared on a podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman. But let’s be honest about Stearns’ time with the Mets : it has been a massive failure. You cannot even give Stearns credit for signing Juan Soto, that was the checkbook of Steve Cohen. Mostly every move Stearns made at the 2025 trade deadline failed and cost the Mets a playoff spot. But the thing that ticks Mets fans off the most is how Stearns handled some fan favorites last winter. 

I’m not going to go on a soapbox and talk about how the Mets should’ve re-signed Pete Alonso, that’s beating a dead horse. But there was no plan at first base, even if Jorge Polanco was healthy, we don’t know what kind of first baseman he’d be. Alonso might not be the best defender in the world, he posts every day and you know he’s hitting 30+ homers, and the best Mets first baseman this season has been Jared Young, think about that. 

Stearns is staying and Met fans have the right to hold reservations about that. Here’s the thing: the Mets have some of the foundation laid out. McLean, Scott, Benge, Ewing, Lindor and Soto are the current foundation, and yes there have to be decisions made on Luis Robert and Bo Bichette, but David Stearns has to be aggressive this winter, with the hopes of returning the Mets, who were two wins away from going to the World Series just two years ago back to relevancy.