Steve Cohen and David Stearns detail the executive’s journey to becoming the Mets’ president of baseball operations.

During his time with Milwaukee, Cohen praised Stearns’ vision and leadership.

As a native of Manhattan who grew up attending games at Shea Stadium, David Stearns and the Mets seem to have a long history together.

The Mets’ first president of baseball operations, Stearns, was formally introduced on Monday, reuniting the 38-year-old with his hometown team.

Owner of the team Steve Cohen spoke about the difficult process involved in hiring Stearns as he gave the introduction.

Everyone who worked for David, according to Cohen, “loved their jobs.”.
“He really had the ability to build a following wherever he went. People praised him for being intelligent, considerate, open to new ideas, and inclusive, which sort of matches my philosophy and how I prefer to run an organization, so it seemed like a pretty good fit.
“.

When Cohen finally acquired the Mets in November 2020, he quickly learned about Stearns, who had taken over as Milwaukee Brewers general manager in 2015 at the age of just 30.
The timing wasn’t quite right because Stearns was still bound to the Brewers by his contract.

Following the 2021 season, the Mets requested a meeting with Stearns; the Brewers turned them down. Stearns then formally resigned from his positions as general manager and president of baseball operations in October 2022 to work as an advisor in Milwaukee.

The Brewers finally gave Stearns permission to start speaking with other teams after the trade deadline in August 2023, and it was immediately obvious to Cohen during their mid-August meeting that Stearns would fit in well in Queens.

When Cohen first entered the baseball industry three years ago, “there were probably four or five executives of David’s ilk who people talked about,” he said.
“Of course, just because they have names doesn’t mean they’re available, so I was going to be patient, I was going to wait, and I made sure we hired the right person to be the president of baseball operations.
In order for things to line up and for people to be available, this was the chance, so everything sort of came together.
“.

When asked when Stearns thought moving to New York was a done deal, the investor responded that he had learned from his previous experience in deal-making that nothing is ever finalized until it is put in writing.

Stearns smiled and replied, “When I got off the phone with Steve after we agreed to a deal.
“I’ve been around this sport and working on deals long enough to know that until you have a deal, you don’t have a deal, and things can change.
So, I made an effort to maintain a sense of balance and avoid getting ahead of myself.

“The first time I truly thought, ‘Wow, this could be a fit and this could work,’ was when Steve and I first had the opportunity to meet in mid-August.
In other words, it really occupied my thoughts constantly after that.
“.

Over the past three years, Cohen and Stearns have experienced a bit of a whirlwind, but as they sat side by side at their news conference on Monday at Citi Field, it was obvious the two felt it was all worthwhile to have Stearns now in charge of all baseball operations.