Mets Will Model Franchise After West Coast Powerhouse
The New York Mets got their biggest win of the season when officially announced the hiring of executive David Stearns to become their next president of baseball operations.
It was something the Mets have been wanting to make happen for a while after they were denied permission to speak with him by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2021.
With Stearns officially at the helm, the franchise will begin to reshape how they want to run things from an organizational level.
Andy McCullough of The Athletic wrote back in April that New York is looking to model themselves after one of the powerhouses of MLB, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"When Cohen purchased the Mets in 2020, he set a pair of lofty goals. He hoped to win a World Series within five years. And he intended to refashion the Mets as the East Coast equivalent of the Dodgers, the industry’s exemplar in terms of dollars and development," McCullough noted.
After the hiring of Stearns, the process of reshaping themselves into becoming like the Dodgers begins now.
"But taking (Stearns) small-market creative sensibilities to work for the spendiest owner in the sport — well that sounds a lot like another step in the Dodgers blueprint, doesn’t it? They hired wunderkind Andrew Friedman from the Rays in 2014 and have made the playoffs every year since, including a World Series win in 2020," writes Levi Weaver of The Athletic.
It's certainly a lofty goal. Los Angeles has been a staple of excellence in the league while the Mets, well, they haven't been.
The 38-year-old executive will now be tasked with building a powerhouse of his own under massive expectations from an owner who wants to win a World Series by 2026.
Rebuilding in the NL East will be much more difficult than what Stearns accomplished with the Brewers considering the loaded rosters that division rivals Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have for years to come.
Regardless of if New York becomes the new Dodgers or not, one thing is for certain, this hire signals that the owner is serious about building for a successful future, something that hasn't happened with the Mets for a long time.
