Steve Cohen really has no other place to turn other than David Stearns.
The Mets owner did not amass his riches by negotiating without leverage. But the implications of not landing Stearns to run baseball operations are such that Cohen probably not only has to give him a record contract for a baseball operation executive, but also has to put into writing clear powers, such as final call on a manager, among other items.
Why?
1. Cohen has been frustrated for three years by an inability to land a desirable president of baseball operations. Those he has been interested in were either under contract elsewhere, were afraid to work for Cohen based on an unflattering reputation of him as a boss in the financial world or both. One attractive candidate who he was not provided access for Cohen to even talk with was Stearns
Until now. Stearns is a free agent. Can Cohen allow him to get away?
2. Because if not Stearns, then who? Theo Epstein is the other logical free agent (it is hard to believe that even if Jeff Luhnow wanted to return to the majors, Cohen would go in that direction). And Epstein, according to executives, is focused on assembling a group to either buy a franchise or bid on an expansion team. So he is unavailable to Cohen.
3. Because it would continue to send a bad message about the desirability of working for the Mets if Stearns rejected them — considering Stearns is from the upper East Side, grew up a Mets fan and even briefly worked for the team after he graduated from Harvard.
Cohen has said he wants to be patient and hire the right person for this job — and he has been patient. But he also has been frustrated by MLB rules that preclude him from talking to someone under contract to see if he could convince that person to join his shop — as he can often do in the financial world. The barriers to Stearns have dropped, and the strong expectation is that Cohen will get his man, in part because Stearns will be pulled to come home, plus will be curious about applying his theories with a large payroll. And, in part, because Cohen recognizes the necessity of closing this deal.
Stearns is just 38 years old. He was the main architect of a Brewers team that made the playoffs for four years in a row, from 2018-21, after the organization that originated in 1969 had only previously made the playoffs four times. His fingerprints remain all over the current NL Central front-runners, even after he stepped down following last season from running the day-to-day baseball operations.
He took an advisory role that played more like Four Corners to delay until his contract expired and Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio could no longer forbid him from talking to other organizations (contractually he was allowed to begin discussions after the Aug. 1 trade deadline).
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Stearns has ties elsewhere, notably to Houston. Luhnow hired him to the Astros as their lone assistant GM, which ultimately launched him to the Brewers job. Stearns met his wife, Whitney, in Houston. Astros owner Jim Crane has said he wants to hire a president of baseball operations. In addition, a club such as the Red Sox could see Stearns as a unique front-office free agent and pursue him. Based on his credentials and reputation, Stearns will not lack suitors.
Still, Stearns’ strongest ties are to the Mets. His mother still lives in New York. And no owner needs Stearns like Cohen. Billy Eppler was a placeholder as Cohen has continued to be unable to find a desirable candidate above the general manager designation. The strong expectation is that if Stearns is hired, Eppler will retain his GM role. Manager Buck Showalter’s status would be viewed as more tenuous.
Executives who know Stearns say money will not be his driving motivation. He will need to have comfort with Cohen to accept a position. He has worked for a hard-charging, demanding owner from the hedge-fund world already, in Attanasio. So Cohen is going to have to paint a picture that Stearns believes in.
But money will, of course, also matter. Executive salaries are not made publicly available, but it is believed the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, makes north of $10 million annually. One executive theorized Stearns could be looking at a five-year, $75 million-ish pact that has an opt-out after two seasons, just in case the marriage is not what was sold to him. Multiple executives concurred that the financials will be significant, with a deal perhaps including not only a record guarantee, but also an ability to grow substantially based on farm system rank, playoff appearances and championships.
There are no spending caps or luxury tax for front-office pay — not that a tax has deterred Cohen to date when it comes to players. Considering how much Cohen needs Stearns, would he really let money stand in the way? This owner took on an extra $8 million-ish between Chris Flexen, Trevor Gott and luxury tax just to obtain Gott.
Cohen has made it clear he will base his ownership on building a sustainable winner that spends plenty, but is buoyed annually by a high-end minor league feeder system and an ability to find useful or better players on the margins.
In Stearns’ time with the Brewers, they have not drafted particularly well (Corbin Burnes is the main exception) nor garnered much internationally (though outfielder Jackson Chourio is currently ranked among the majors’ best prospects). Stearns made two brilliant trades, in particular, for Freddy Peralta and Christian Yelich, and his group was expert at piecing together value on the margins to help Milwaukee stay in contention annually despite a small market and restrained payrolls.
If Cohen believes Stearns — backed by a largesse that dwarfs the Brewers — can turn the Mets into a machine, then he will see him as worth near whatever the cost. The right hire, after all, can save payroll with annual injections of youthful talent and add to the coffers in playoff appearances while building the reputation of the organization as a good place to work.
There is not another executive currently available to Cohen who would project the best-case scenario, on and off the field, as would Stearns — a New Yorker and Mets fan like the owner himself. Can Cohen really let him slip away?
