Who is David Stearns? 3 things to know about Mets' new president of baseball operations
After a three-year search, the Mets have their first president of baseball operations in David Stearns.
According to multiple reports, Stearns has signed a five-year deal to lead the franchise's baseball decision-making team.
Since graduating from Harvard in 2008, Stearns has spent the last 15 seasons inside Major League Baseball. With New York roots and a strong track record, he was highly sought after by the Mets despite two pursuits being rejected by the Brewers.
Here are three things to know about the Mets' new president of baseball operations.
Biggest moves under Stearns
When Stearns was hired as Brewers general manager in 2015 at 30 years old, he became the youngest GM in baseball after spending three seasons with the Astros. He was promoted to president of baseball operations in 2019.
Stearns was instrumental in the Brewers' steady success, helping them to appear in the playoffs across four straight seasons between 2018 and 2021.
One of the major moves Stearns made in his first season was acquiring Christian Yelich in a trade with the Marlins in 2018. Yelich went on to win National League MVP. He posted two straight seasons with a plus-1.000 OPS and remains a key contributor for this season's first-place team.
A trade for starting pitcher Freddy Peralta in 2015 is paying dividends this season, while a 2021 trade to acquire Willy Adames netted one of the team's most productive offensive weapons.
One gaffe was last season's trade of Josh Hader to the Padres in exchange for Robert Gasser, Dinelson Lamet, Taylor Rogers and Esteury Ruiz.
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A link to the Mets
Stearns began diligently applying himself to try and land a job in baseball while attending Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School on the Upper West Side in Manhattan.
A New York native, Stearns grew up a Mets fan.
He landed his first baseball operations internships in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates during his first two summers at Harvard. After a summer in the Arizona Fall League, Stearns spent a summer in the Mets organization as an intern.
He knows the ins and outs of the league
In 2008, Stearns landed a spot in the Office of the Commissioner, where he would stay up until 2011.
During the talks over the new Collective Bargaining Agreement at the turn of the decade, Stearns was a member of the league's negotiating committee. In his role under then-commissioner Bud Selig, Stearns served as a manager of labor relations and assisted in the salary arbitration process and handled player contracts.
After nearly four seasons at the league office, Stearns landed his first front office gig as director of baseball operations for Cleveland in December 2011.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: David Stearns: Meet NY Mets president of baseball operations
