If we had to pick just one thing that’s been the biggest issue for the Mets under the ownership of Steve Cohen, it’d be constructing their ideal front office. Former Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns is set to be a free agent this winter. It makes too much sense to bring the NYC native back home to be New York’s President of Baseball Operations, right?
It most certainly would. However, the Mets could have some competition for his services when Stearns becomes available.
In each of his first two offseasons as owner, Cohen tried to fill the top decision-making role for the Mets. But for two consecutive winters, New York struck out on their preferred choices. They settled for Billy Eppler in November of 2021, a move that’s had its good and bad moments. They didn’t re-open a new search for the position this past winter.
Regardless of how the Mets finish in 2023, they’ll have some important decisions to make ahead of 2024. Nabbing Stearns for the team’s perennially-open POBO position seems like a slam dunk. USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale recently mentioned that Stearns joining the Mets is the expected outcome. But could the Boston Red Sox bump their way into the conversation?
Here’s what the MLB insider had to say about the situation in his latest notebook:
The marriage between Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and GM Chaim Bloom appears to be on the rocks, several executives say. It’s difficult to imagine that both will be returning in their same roles in 2024.
Former Milwaukee Brewers GM David Stearns, who’s expected to join the New York Mets in a high-ranking position this winter, could have the Red Sox bidding for his services, too.
Boston pondering some potential changes wouldn’t be surprising. Bloom took over baseball operations following the 2019 season. The Red Sox reached the ALCS in 2021. However, they’ve finished in last place in each of the other two seasons. And, while they enter Tuesday’s game with a 38-35 record, they’re once again a last-place team in a highly-competitive American League East.
So, the Mets finally filling this open front-office position initially appeared to be a formality. But maybe that won’t be the case once Game 162 is in the books. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
