Mets owner Cohen on dismissing Stearns: 'Not gonna do it' - ESPN

When the last-place New York Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza last week, a follow-up question inevitably surfaced: Would president of baseball operations David Stearns follow Mendoza out the door? The answer from Mets owner Steve Cohen is an emphatic no.

Cohen told the New York Post on Wednesday that he is not considering dismissing Stearns, who is in the third year of a five-year contract, despite a second straight disappointing season.

«We'll figure out what changes that need to be made,» Cohen said. «But the change that's not gonna be made is moving David out at this point. I'm just not gonna do it.»

Cohen bought the team in November 2020 and said not winning a World Series in three to five years would register as disappointing. He viewed Stearns, previously with the Milwaukee Brewers, as the person to transform the Mets into a consistent winner, akin to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and targeted him for years before hiring him at the end of the 2023 season.

In Stearns' first full season, the Mets unexpectedly reached the National League Championship Series in 2024, falling two games short of the World Series. Last year, however, they collapsed from having the best record in baseball in mid-June to out of the postseason in Juan Soto's first season after signing a 15-year, $765 million contract.

«Does he get any credit for '24?» Cohen said. «Does that not count? We almost made it to the World Series, and that was just two years ago. So, it's a mixed record, OK? I'm not going to say it's going great. But it's too early to really make evaluations, and I feel really strongly that if we're going to burn and churn, it's a terrible place to be. And every time you burn and churn, guess what? The next time, nobody wants to come.

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