David Stearns Takes Ownership of Mets’ Disappointing Season: “I’m Responsible for It”

On Monday, Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns faced the media in a wide-ranging press conference that spanned nearly every corner of the organization. His opening words set the tone: blunt, accountable, and unsparing.

“Tremendously disappointing season, not nearly good enough,” Stearns began. “I think we all know that. We came into this year with deservedly so very high expectations and we didn’t come close to meeting them. I’m the architect of the team. I’m responsible for it. I understand how frustrated our fan base is. I understand how frustrated everyone in this building is today. Everyone associated with the Mets. And we got to do better — and I’m committed to moving us forward and doing better.”

On What Went Wrong

Stearns was quick to pinpoint two recurring themes: defense and pitching depth.

“From a roster construction perspective on the run prevention side of the ball, we didn’t do a good enough job of fortifying our team when we had injuries mid-season,” he said. “Our defense wasn’t good enough and that certainly contributed to our pitching challenges.”

Offensively, Stearns noted, “We had a number of players who had really good years, but we failed to score the runs that we needed to score despite those really good years. And so you add all that up and you get to a team that underachieved greatly.”

Accountability and Reflection

Asked what he could have done differently, Stearns didn’t dodge.

“I either make or delegate every decision that’s made here. So you point to a decision that didn’t work out, and I’m responsible for it,” he said. “Clearly we had segments of our team that were not good enough and that’s on me.”

When pressed about the trade deadline, he admitted: “We don’t get redos in this business, but clearly the moves we made — or at least a subset of those moves — didn’t work and in certain cases made us worse and didn’t help us down the stretch.”

Still, he stood by the process, while conceding the outcome was unacceptable: “Every player we acquired was a true pro, worked their tails off and did everything in their power to help us. And in a couple cases it didn’t work. And frankly, that too is on me.”

Carlos Mendoza Will Return

One of the most immediate questions was about the manager. Stearns made it clear:

“Yeah, Carlos is coming back next year,” he said of Carlos Mendoza. “I believe Carlos has all the same traits and assets that I believed in when we hired him two years ago. We had a tough year this year, no question. We are all disappointed, we are all frustrated — Mendy as much or more than anyone else. But I still believe he’s a very good manager. I think he’s going to demonstrate that.”

Looking Ahead: Pitching, Defense, and Urgency

If there was one theme Stearns circled back to repeatedly, it was “run prevention.”

“That is where we fell short this year. It’s where we need to get better. I think we will,” he said. “That improvement can come both internally and externally. I very much believe in our player development apparatus. I believe we’re developing very good pitchers… but going into this offseason, I’m not going to take anything off the table.”

Pressed on whether he regretted not adding a starter at the deadline, Stearns admitted: “Holistically, as I look at our pitching staff, we needed to do more over the course of the season. That is very clear.”

He also acknowledged the organization must balance patience with action: “I think on a number of levels there are areas where I can be a little bit more proactive. Maybe we can get a little bit more aggressive. Urgency is the right word.”

On the Roster and Core Players

Asked if major changes were coming, Stearns left the door open:

“I think we’re going to have to be open-minded on our position player grouping so that we can improve our run prevention,” he said. “Does that mean there are robust changes? I don’t know. Does it mean people could be playing different positions? Maybe. Does it mean we ask people to play different roles? Maybe.”

Stearns defended the effort level in the clubhouse despite some brutal statistics. “It’s very difficult for me to explain how we were 0-70 trailing going into the ninth. That’s an inexplicable stat,” he said. “But my experience in the clubhouse was we had guys who cared about each other, who cared about winning, who worked hard.”

I asked about the role of fan sentiment, reminding Stearns that last year in spring training Steve Cohen said ticket sales lag performance, and that after the team’s tremendous performance sales went up. With Stearns having acknowledged the fan base’s frustration in his opening, I pressed: “How much will that be a factor in two potential free agents being fan favorites in Pete and Edwin — to maybe overlook budgetary constraints but to reassure the fan base that you guys are still on the same page?”

Stearns responded: “Whenever we’re talking about the departing free agents or players who were with us who are then free agents, it’s always the holistic package of what that player brings to an organization. It’s what he means to the team on the field, what that player means to the community, what that player means to the fan base. That is always part of the decision-making process and I imagine it will be again this offseason.”

I followed up on defense, noting that the Mets essentially have three players who profile at third base: Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos. “Vientos and Baty have shown they can handle the bat,” I said, “and then you can even throw in Luisangel Acuña in that mix. How difficult was it trying to get them in, but you like the versatility? How much will that factor into looking at the roster construction next season?”

Stearns replied: “I think positional versatility is always helpful. Clearly Baty’s ability to move over to second base proved to be enormously beneficial both for him and us at various points of this year. To his credit he worked really hard and made himself a very viable defender at two positions on the dirt. I think each one of those guys you mentioned have slightly different defensive profiles and so how they fit into a potential roster probably differs a little bit for each of them.”

Other topics included Clay Holmes’ transition to starting, which Stearns called “a very successful year,” crediting him for battling through fatigue and finishing strong. Asked if positional versatility might have caused some defensive lapses, he admitted that in “certain cases we asked players to do things where they were a little unfamiliar,” though he still sees versatility as an organizational strength. He also pointed to fatigue as a factor in David Peterson’s uneven second half, while Sean Manaea, he said, “just never got the ramp to the season.”

On Pete Alonso’s free agency, Stearns wouldn’t speculate, though he acknowledged last year’s talks provide some history as the process begins again.

On Key Players

Francisco Alvarez: “He’ll need surgery to repair his ligament. He’s going to have that in the coming days.”

Kodai Senga: “Kodai’s had two very inconsistent, challenging years in a row. We know it’s in there… but can we put him in ink as making 30 starts next year? That would be foolish.”

Pete Alonso: “Pete is a great Met. He had a fantastic year. I’d love to have Pete back, and we’ll see where the offseason goes.”

Edwin Díaz: “Rather than speculating on what Edwin might do [with his opt-out], I think we’ll let him make that decision and then I can comment.”

From the Owner

Earlier in the day, Steve Cohen addressed fans directly on social media:

Mets fans everywhere. I owe you an apology. You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn’t do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn’t perform up to your and my expectations. We are all feeling raw emotions today. I know how much time and effort you have put into this team. The result was unacceptable. Your emotions tell me how much you care and continues to motivate the organization to do better. Thank you to the best fans in sports.

Final Word

As the press conference wound down, Stearns summed up the overarching challenge:

“I take ownership over this roster. I’ve been here now for two years — that’s plenty of time to shape a roster. Our run prevention this year was not good enough. That is both pitching and defense. They go hand-in-hand, and we need to improve them both.”

For Mets fans, it was equal parts contrition and conviction. Stearns didn’t sugarcoat the failure of 2025. But his repeated refrain — “that’s on me” — may at least signal a front office ready to confront the mistakes head-on as it heads into another pivotal offseason.

Here is the full press conference: