After taking a year off, former Milwaukee Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns is leaving his role as an advisor and taking this high-profile job.
On Tuesday, Stearns accepted a role with the New York Mets to be their president of baseball operations and signed a five-year contract with the team soon after.
A native New Yorker, Stearns grew up a Mets fan and worked in their baseball operations soon after graduating. Team owner Steve Cohen has been persistent in their pursuit of Stearns going back to Stearns running the Brewers front office. Soon after Stearns resigned, it was inevitable that he would wind up in New York. The team had been looking to fill that vacant president of baseball operations spot since Sandy Alderson stepped down as president of baseball operations last season.
The New York Mets got their guy on Tuesday because Stearns is an executive who can help turn a team around quickly. The Brewers had one losing season while Stearns served as GM and later president of baseball operations. His aggressiveness in acquiring talent at the trade deadline gave the Brewers a puncher’s chance against the other heavyweights in the National League. Stearns could also be overaggressive in making trades. Last season, David Stearns traded away star closer Josh Hader for Taylor Rogers, Dinelson Lamet, Robert Gasser, and Esteury Ruiz. At the time of the trade, Milwaukee sat in first place in the NL Central and finished the season seven games back of the St. Louis Cardinals, missing the postseason.
There was also some internal strife from some veteran players where guys felt like Stearns getting rid of clubhouse favorites affected team chemistry.
Stearns’ deals in Milwaukee could be considered a mixed bag, so let’s look at the deals that didn’t pan out.
Five worst trades of the David Stearns era
5- Khris Davis for Jacob Nottingham
After taking the job in 2015, David Stearns was retooling the roster. The decision to trade away Khris Davis, who hit 27 home runs in the previous season, did that. However, the Brewers did not get a good return on their investment as Jacob Nottingham struggled during his time in Milwaukee and spent most of his career in the minor leagues. He did have seven career home runs during his time in Milwaukee, but Stearns should have kept Davis for the 2016 season, as he went on to have 42 home runs and would have been a good player on a rebuilding team.
4- Eric Lauer and Luis Urias for Trent Grisham and Zach Davies
When this deal happened in 2019, it wasn’t overly surprising because despite Orlando Arcia being heralded as the shortstop of the future, Stearns wasn’t sold on him. Arcia could play defense at an elite level, but his hitting had never been developed. In this deal, Stearns was hoping he could get more production out of the shortstop position.
Urias showed signs he could be that guy, but he also had trouble staying on the field and ultimately was traded to the Boston Red Sox on August 1. Urias had missed most of the season with a hamstring injury and struggled in the lineup after his return.
In the trade for Lauer, Stearns was looking for an adequate fourth starter and relied on Lauer to be that guy. It hasn’t worked out that way, as Lauer hasn’t found his footing in the starting rotation and is currently pitching for the Brewers Triple-A affiliate.
This deal was a massive whiff on David Stearns’ part.
3- Tyler Webb for Garrett Cooper
Many people don’t remember this trade.
Stearns acquired left-handed pitcher Tyler Webb in exchange for Garrett Cooper. Webb had an unproductive career in Milwaukee, as he pitched two innings total before pitching in Triple-A for the rest of the season before being designated for assignment less than a year later.
After being traded to the Yankees, Cooper hit .326 with five doubles and six RBIs before being dealt again to the Miami Marlins in 2017. Cooper put up solid numbers for the Marlins and was named to the NL All-Star team in 2022 as an injury replacement to Bryce Harper after hitting .261, nine home runs, and 50 RBIs.
Before the trade to New York, Cooper was hitting .366, 17 home runs, and 82 RBIs in 75 games. This trade should be talked about more as being a lopsided one because David Stearns traded a productive right-handed bat in the minor leagues for a left-handed specialist.
Cooper could have been the team’s first baseman of the future. Instead, Stearns opted for more bullpen help, which cost them in the long term.
2- Jonathan Schoop for Jonathan Villar, Luis Ortiz, and Jean Carmona
Mjs Brewers Desisti 5689
In 2018, Stearns was trying to build an offense to contend for a World Series. The trades for Mike Moustakas and Schoop meant this offense was primed for a World Series.
Moustakas quickly made an impact for the Brewers, but Schoop couldn’t find his footing in Milwaukee. In 46 games, Schoop hit a paltry .202, seven home runs, 21 RBIs, and 25 hits. After spending most of his career in the American League with the Baltimore Orioles, Schoop struggled to adjust to National League pitching.
The one shining moment of Schoop’s career with the Brewers is the grand slam he hit off Madison Bumgarner.
He didn’t produce in Milwaukee and was relegated to the bench in the team’s postseason run.
1- Josh Hader for Taylor Rogers, Robert Gasser, Esteury Ruiz, and Dinelson Lamet
Mjs Counsell Stearns
David Stearns trading away Josh Hader was the worst trade in franchise history. The team was in the middle of a pennant race and decided to trade away their All-Star closer in the midst of that.
Understandably, Hader was going to become expensive. If Milwaukee kept Hader heading into next season, he would have been owed $16 million.
It is a mistake to give a closer a massive contract, but why not wait to see how the rest of the season unfolds? Why did Stearns choose to trade Hader at the deadline? That trade never made sense, and getting back Taylor Rogers and a couple of prospects did not signal that Milwaukee was in win-now mode.
Stearns underestimated the impact trading Hader had on the team, and it not only cost the team’s sixth consecutive playoff appearance, but the fanbase soured on David Stearns after the trade was made.
Stearns resigned from his position with the team after the season, and this trade will go down as one of the worst in franchise history because it cost them a chance to compete in the postseason.
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