David Lennon: David Stearns' makeover of the Mets is a big swing and miss early on
New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns speaks to the media during the teams pre-opening day workout at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
So far, the one thing that stands out in David Stearns’ tenure as the Mets’ president of baseball operations is the one game.
In 2024, the Mets rallied from 11 games under .500 (24-35) on June 2 to finish with 89 wins and secure a wild-card spot by virtue of the tiebreaker edge over the Diamondbacks.
Last season, the Mets had baseball’s best record (45-24) on June 12 and then relentlessly spiraled to 83 wins, missing the postseason by losing the tiebreaker to the Reds.
Amazing how a single game can shape how an entire six-month, 162-game season is forever viewed. And if the Mets had managed to flip last year’s L to a W, say on that final Sunday afternoon in Miami, would Stearns’ winter process (and the 2026 roster) turned out much differently?
Short of another deep October run, probably not. Stearns’ first real chance to put his stamp on the Flushing franchise was delayed a season by the Mets’ historic dash to the NLCS in his rookie campaign, so last year’s collapse finally opened the door to a sweeping reconstruction.
To date, the results of that makeover have been gruesome to witness. Nearly every player has underperformed, aside from a few rotation pieces, and through Friday, the $370 million Mets, at 9-17, were an early favorite for the Worst Team Money Could Buy.
“That’s a frustrating stretch and we didn’t play well,” Stearns said before Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Rockies. “We’re also not going to wholesale change our evaluation of our team over a two-week stretch. This is a long season. Going through a 12-game losing streak is difficult. It’s not usual. There’s a reason it doesn’t happen very often. Even with that, I don’t think it should change the evaluation of the team, especially this early in the season.”
Juan Soto’s IL stint certainly was a contributing factor, as the Mets’ 12-game losing streak, their longest since 2002, was primarily due to a no-show offense looking powerless with its $765 slugger being on the shelf. That shouldn’t absolve them entirely, however.
The Mets had won four straight since Soto exited in the first inning of the April 3 game against the Giants at Oracle Park, displaying an effective mix of timely hitting, shrewd managerial decisions and sufficient bullpen performance. Then everything collapsed, and the Mets still find themselves sorting through the debris.
Much of the public scrutiny has fallen on Carlos Mendoza, and this past week wasn’t a good one for the manager. The decision to pitch to the Cubs’ clutch Nico Hoerner, who delivered the 10th-inning sacrifice fly that beat them last Sunday at Wrigley. Seeing Mark Vientos almost steamroll third-base coach Tim Leiper running through a stop sign. Having two pitchers -- Devin Williams and Huascar Brazoban -- walk to the mound simultaneously for the ninth (with the closer’s music playing) before Williams was forced to turn around when Brazoban crossed the foul line.
Stearns built this roster
These are not hallmarks of a focused baseball team intent on contending for the playoffs, or even making it back to a .500 record. But this is the roster that Stearns built, and many of his winter bets have put the Mets in a big hole by late April. Offensively, the Mets are spending $108 million this season on four new players -- Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco -- that have combined for a WAR below zero (minus-0.1). Just for perspective, there are 252 position players, by themselves, above zero at this point in the season.
This is no longer about comparing Stearns’ choices over the homegrown Mets he dismissed at last season’s end. With owner Steve Cohen finally giving Stearns carte blanche in Year Three, he had no appetite for the market price on Pete Alonso and wanted to get out of Brandon Nimmo’s contract, which is paying him $102.5 million through the 2030 season.
Those moves were made under the guise of defense, but at what cost? Jorge Polanco -- Alonso’s replacement -- has made two starts at first base, played just 14 of the first 26 games (he’s currently on the IL) and is dealing with an Achilles injury that threatens to hinder him all season (the first of his two-year, $40 million contract). Health was a major concern for Polanco coming in, as he had averaged only 100 games in the previous three seasons before pushing it to 138 last year on the eve of his free agency. Right now, he’s officially in limbo.
“I’d call it week-to-week at this point rather than day-to-day,” Stearns said of Polanco’s timeline. “My expectation would be next week we’ll be able to have a little more clarity, but that’s the best we know right now.”
New players not producing
Semien, the return on the Nimmo trade, was attractive for his Gold Glove defense, but has been a shadow of his former MVP-caliber self at the plate. His .602 OPS ranks 20th among qualified second basemen alone (Jeff McNeil’s .759 is ninth). As for Bo Bichette, who was pegged to take Alonso’s spot in the lineup, he finally had his breakout moment Thursday with the bases-clearing double that delivered a rousing 10-8 victory over the Twins. But among fellow third baseman -- his newly adopted position -- Bichette’s .581 OPS sits at 22nd and his 22.6% strikeout rate is the seventh highest (not great for someone subbing at the leadoff spot).
Bichette, at 28, should snap out of his early funk. While he has the security of a very lucrative three-year, $126 million contract, Bichette also has an opt-out after this season, which provides some extra motivation. As for Robert Jr., the Mets’ cautious handling of the oft-injured centerfielder has limited his impact and he’s cooled some, hitting .143 (5-for-35) over his past nine games. On the defensive front, Robert’s range has helped, but his arm has been a surprising liability, to the point where Mendoza mentioned that the coaching staff is working to fix those issues.
“Trying to get behind the ball better, use the lower half better,” Mendoza said. “Just the throwing mechanics in general, because we do know there’s more there.”
Mendoza’s got to hope that blanket statement applies to the rest of this roster, and definitely to his closer, as that three-year, $51 million contract for Williams has the potential to lead the list of Stearns’ sketchy winter decisions. Initially, signing Williams was an early hedge against Edwin Diaz going elsewhere, but think of how that gamble could have turned out.
If the Mets did fork over the $69 million tab for Diaz, they’d be missing him for three months and wind up closing with the struggling Williams, who has allowed eight runs over his last two innings (a stretch of four appearances). Fortunately for the Mets, Thursday’s screw-up that put Brazoban back on the mound for the ninth spotted Williams the first out, which allowed the closer to barely hold on for the W. Despite the fresh Queens start, this Williams recently has resembled the same one that bombed in the Bronx, yet Stearns ignored those warning signs in relying on his Milwaukee familiarity instead.
“From a results standpoint, there are some similarities,” Stearns said. “Tough for me to know exactly what the situation was with the Yankees last year, so it’s probably tough for me to compare, contrast and then know what he’s feeling here, what he’s going through here, what he’s trying to correct here mirrors or not the early stages in the Bronx.”
Overall, some of the Mets’ early problems have been out of Stearns’ control. The injury to Soto, then on the day of his return, the more serious calf strain suffered by Francisco Lindor, who is likely going to be lost for months. A year ago, when the Mets were in the midst of what became an irreversible slide, Stearns tried to correct course with a trade deadline haul that included the reliever trio of Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto along with outfielder Cedric Mullins.
The bullpen infusion was praised at the time, yet ultimately became more lighter fluid for the second-half BBQ of the Mets’ playoff hopes. Now Stearns finds himself again trying to remedy his roster’s flaws, many of his own making, as the Mets’ .395 winning percentage (47-72) since June 13 of last season is putting more than Mendoza’s job in jeopardy.
Cohen made it crystal clear in spring training that he was getting “more annoyed” with the Mets’ championship drought and that making the playoffs this year was mandatory. The owner didn’t spell out the consequences for failing to do so, but Cohen isn’t going anywhere, so consider everything else on the table.
The past two seasons have hinged on one game. Where the Mets are now, they’d sign on for that scenario again in a heartbeat. And if they don’t fight their way all the way back, the past winter’s upheaval will be tame by comparison.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
