Why Mets fans should trust David Stearns’ process

A lot of the departed Mets rank among the team's fan favorites, which makes the frustration from the group understandable. Even though the Mets could have opted to retain all of them with the power of Steve Cohen's checkbook, these decisions reflect a clear belief from Stearns that the team's core was not good enough as constructed to consistently contend.

Stearns built a consistent contender in Milwaukee that prioritized run prevention, which is an area all of the position players they moved on from did not excel at in their current roles. There are still needs for the Mets to address, including another arm for their rotation and a starting outfielder, but some predictive metrics are quite high on what the Mets have done so far.

According to FanGraphs' depth chart projections, the Mets as currently constructed have the sixth-best roster in baseball based on Wins Above Replacement. There are clear pitching deficiencies to address, but swapping out one-dimensional hitters for a more balanced group could pay dividends down the line.

David Stearns Deserves The Benefit Of The Doubt From Mets Fans

There is a lot of panic online among Mets fans about Stearns, who they feel is trying to run the Mets like the Milwaukee Brewers by nickel-and-diming his way through the offseason. While Stearns' pitching adds last season did not pan out for the most part, the Brewers' track record compared to the Mets' over the past seven years is far superior.

Using 2019 as the line of demarcation, which is when Alonso made his big league debut alongside McNeil, offers a stark comparison of how the two franchises have fared. The Mets made the postseason just twice, in 2022 and 2024, over that span with both entries coming via the Wild Card. The group won more than 90 games just once (in 2022, when they won 101 games) and won two postseason rounds, both of which came in 2024.

Milwaukee, on the other hand, made the postseason six times with four division titles and exceeded 90 wins on four occasions. The Brewers have one postseason round win, which came this season, but their ability to consistently contend on shoestring budgets is one of the more impressive feats in the game.

Stearns built the model that the Brewers are following, which will take time to implement in New York. The big difference is that Stearns has the ability to go add superstars if he wants, like the Mets did with Juan Soto last winter, giving a Brewers-style operation in Flushing a higher ceiling than what Milwaukee can typically aim for.

The Mets did not give Soto the largest contract in professional sports to fritter away years of his prime in a rebuild. There is clearly a plan in mind from Stearns to build the Mets into a winner, but it requires patience that fans aren't willing to offer right now.

If the calendar said March 5th instead of January 5th, fans would have every right to question what exactly Stearns' plan was since they would be in camp with significant holes on the roster. But the Mets still have ample time to sign a top starter like Framber Valdez or trade for one like Freddy Peralta, while Cody Bellinger and Kyle Tucker remain available in free agency to bolster the outfield.

The tenor of the Mets' offseason could change dramatically if Stearns is able to land a big target to address his roster, but he has added several quality baseball players to his roster already. Mets fans are trying to guess what the puzzle looks like without seeing the picture on the box, which is adding to their frustration, but Stearns has time to finish it with a satisfying answer if the fans are patient.

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