Stearns: No Mulligans, No Excuses — And Plenty of Work Ahead for the Mets
There are end-of-season press conferences, and then there are end-of-September press conferences for a team that was supposed to be playing in October.
David Stearns knows the difference.
And he wasn't interested in pretending otherwise.
“Anytime we're having an end of season press conference at the end of September, it's not where you want to be,” Stearns said as he opened his postseason autopsy of a Mets season that began with enormous expectations and ended with the organization already turning its attention toward how to make sure it never happens again.
“We got off to a very tough start this year,” Stearns acknowledged. “We let [it] steamroll on us, went too long, and by the time we got it turned around, I do think we got it turned around, we just didn't have enough runway left in the season.”
That may have been the most important theme of the entire afternoon.
Stearns wasn't trying to sell the idea that the Mets simply got unlucky. He wasn't blaming one bad inning, one injury or one unfortunate bounce. And he certainly wasn't trying to put lipstick on a season that spent too much of its first half looking like a runaway shopping cart with nobody holding the handle.
“We're certainly not going to hide from that,” he said.
But Stearns also wasn't willing to throw the entire season into the garbage can.
Because while the standings told one story, the second half told another.
“I think that can be true,” Stearns said of the disappointment. “What can also be true is over the second half of the season, over the last few months of the season, we saw some really encouraging signs.”
And there were enough of those signs for Stearns to believe the Mets have something to build on.
He pointed specifically to what happened when Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Bo Bichette were healthy and in the lineup together.
“We saw what the potential of our position player grouping looks like when we have a healthy Lindor and Soto and Bichette all in the lineup together at the same time producing,” he said. “We saw what sort of run production we can create with that.”
Then there was the pitching.
Stearns pointed to a young pitching staff that began to emerge, including four young starters pitching at a high level in September, with three doing it over an extended period.
That is the part of the Mets' future that Stearns clearly believes can become something more than a September mirage.
“I think it's real,” he said when asked whether the young players who emerged during the second half could actually form the foundation of the next Mets team.
And Stearns had an interesting reason for believing it.
These weren't kids suddenly performing because nobody cared anymore.
Many of them had actually been thrown into the fire while the season was going sideways.
“A lot of them, in my opinion, were doing it frankly under sort of extreme pressurized situation the first half of the year when things were spinning sideways on us a little bit and they were still showing up to the park every single day and performing,” Stearns said.
That matters.
Of course, Stearns isn't ready to hand out commemorative plaques just yet.
“It doesn't mean all of them are going to take the next step next year,” he cautioned. “It doesn't mean there aren't going to be bumps in the road.”
Translation: September was encouraging. It was not a guarantee.
If there was one area where Stearns was particularly candid, it was roster construction.
He acknowledged that some of the decisions made before the season created what he called “almost an uncapped downside scenario.”
There was too much change. There wasn't enough flexibility. And when players underperformed and injuries arrived, the Mets didn't have enough maneuverability to fix the problem quickly.
“We had certain elements of our roster that didn't have enough flexibility so that when we had underperformance, it made it very difficult for us to make in-season on-the-fly adjustments,” Stearns said.
That combination — change, lack of flexibility, injuries and poor performance — created the perfect storm.
“We weren't able, both from a roster construction perspective and from an internal cohesion and continuity perspective, to get ourselves out of it the way we should have or could have,” he said.
That's a pretty strong admission from the man responsible for constructing the roster.
And when asked whether he feels pressure to make the playoffs next season to keep his job, Stearns didn't exactly reach for the emergency parachute.
“I'm always under pressure,” he said. “My job is to put a winning team on here on the field every single year.”
That, he said, hasn't changed since the day he arrived.
Eventually, the Pete Alonso question was going to arrive.
It did.
And Stearns gave essentially the same answer he has given throughout the year, only this time with the benefit — or perhaps the inconvenience — of an entire season of hindsight.
“Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently with Pete Alonso?”
Stearns' response was blunt.
“The truth is in this job, I don't get mulligans.”
But he also made sure the record reflected something else.
“I also recognize Pete had a tremendous year.”
And that creates an interesting offseason problem.
Stearns believes the Mets didn't get enough production from first base over the entire season, regardless of who was standing there.
“The totality of our production at first base wasn't good enough,” he said.
So now it becomes Stearns' responsibility to fix it.
No mulligans.
No rewriting history.
Just another offseason assignment.
Stearns isn't closing the door on internal solutions at first base, but he isn't closing the door on external help either.
Jared Young earned praise for what he did when given consistent playing time.
“He responded and performed,” Stearns said.
Then there was Brett Baty, who may have spent the final month of the season making the Mets wonder what took him so long.
“What we saw from Brett , particularly over the last four to six weeks, was one of the better offensive players in all of baseball,” Stearns said.
That is a pretty big compliment.
But naturally, Stearns immediately applied the brakes.
“We need to see that more consistently and Brett knows that.”
That word — consistently — came up repeatedly throughout Stearns' press conference.
The Mets have seen flashes. What they need now is sustained production.
Even Stearns admitted that he doesn't know whether Baty's late-season surge is different from last year's late-season surge.
“The truth is we won't know.”
He did, however, see something different in Baty's mindset.
“I think where he is from a mindset perspective, his level of belief in himself and how he works through an at-bat is different right now.”
But again, no guarantees.
“Until you see it for an extended period, very difficult for me to sit here right now and have complete certainty on that.”
In other words, the Mets aren't ordering the Brett Baty Hall of Fame plaque just yet.
If there was one area where Stearns sounded particularly determined, it was the starting rotation.
“Yes, I do think it is necessary for us to add to our starting rotation,” he said.
But adding a starter doesn't necessarily mean writing a giant check and putting a photograph on the wall.
Stearns talked about multiple avenues for improving the rotation.
“Everyone would love to add to the top of your rotation,” he said. “Any team would love to do that.”
But the long-term goal is bigger.
“What we need to do is develop pitchers at the top of our rotation,” Stearns said. “And I think we are proving we can do that and we'll continue to do that.”
The Mets also need depth.
They need options.
And, perhaps most importantly, they need flexibility.
Stearns wants enough pitching in the organization that the Mets aren't forced into emergency solutions when the inevitable baseball injury avalanche arrives.
As for exactly who will be in the rotation?
Stearns isn't ready to start printing the Opening Day lineup card.
Asked about the number of starters the Mets might add, he pointed out that a team needs “10 to 12 to get through a season.”
And when asked who besides Nolan McLean might have a rotation spot secured, he basically put the answer in the offseason shredder.
“I'm not going to make a guess as to who's going to be in our starting rotation come April.”
Kodai Senga is another fascinating piece.
Stearns said the Mets know where Senga wants to pitch.
“We know where Kodai's passion is,” he said.
But passion doesn't determine roster construction.
“We also understand that we need a level of production in whatever role he's going to be in to contribute to a winning team.”
So Senga's role will be determined in spring training.
Perhaps the most revealing portion of the press conference had nothing to do with a specific player.
It had to do with playing baseball in New York.
Stearns now believes there are players who simply don't handle it well.
“I think the answer is yes,” he said when asked whether certain players struggle playing in New York.
“This is a unique place to play, and it's different here.”
Stearns has experienced it from both sides — as a fan and as an executive.
“When you win here, it is the greatest thing in the world,” he said. “There is nothing like coming to this ballpark in a playoff atmosphere and experiencing that.”
But the other side of the coin is equally extreme.
“It's equally extreme when things aren't going well.”
And Stearns says the organization has learned that players have to be able to embrace that intensity.
“It is a level of intensity that is so much greater than other markets that it forces the best out of everyone,” he said.
The trick is identifying the players who will actually lean into it.
And Stearns admitted that isn't easy.
“We can and do do a ton of due diligence, try to understand who these players are, but I think we've certainly learned there's an adjustment period.”
That may become one of the more important lessons the Mets carry into this offseason.
Talent matters.
Production matters.
Health matters.
But apparently, the Mets have learned that the ability to survive a Tuesday night in Flushing when Twitter has decided everyone should be fired matters, too.
Stearns also praised interim manager Andy Green for helping turn the clubhouse around.
The Mets' second-half clubhouse became, in Stearns' words, “the closest group of players we've had here since the end of '24.”
He described it as “organic and fun for all of us to be around.”
Green will now be involved in determining the future coaching staff, with Stearns saying the two will have conversations and reach decisions over the following week or so.
Stearns also gave Green credit for creating an environment that allowed the players to connect.
“The manager is always an integral part of that,” Stearns said. “Andy did a really nice job creating an environment that facilitated that level of connection.”
But Stearns didn't give Green all the credit.
The players deserve some, too.
And that's important because the Mets don't want that chemistry to disappear the moment everyone packs a suitcase.
“We all go our separate ways now,” Stearns said. “The players go their separate ways.”
He wants them to maintain those connections over the winter.
One of the biggest front-office developments is Derek Falvey joining the organization.
And Stearns isn't exactly hiding his excitement.
“Derek, in my estimation, is one of the better executives in our sport,” he said.
Falvey brings experience across virtually every aspect of baseball operations, including running the business side in Minnesota.
Stearns called him “a great thought partner” who can provide “different life experiences and different perspectives.”
Translation: The Mets have added another baseball brain to the room.
And Stearns clearly believes the more good baseball minds around the table, the better.
Stearns was asked to evaluate his own free-agent performance over his three years with the Mets.
His answer was refreshingly direct.
“We've had some that have worked out well, and clearly we've missed, and I've missed.”
And then came the line that probably belongs on a large whiteboard somewhere inside Citi Field:
“If we look at the last off-season, we missed too much.”
Stearns doesn't believe the Mets' future is about buying an entirely new team every winter.
“Really tough to build your team through free agency,” he said.
“Our goal is not to build the team through free agency.”
Instead, the goal is to establish “a consistent pipeline of young talent that can consistently restock a team.”
But that doesn't mean the Mets are going shopping with the credit card locked in a drawer.
Stearns said the Mets have ownership support for “selective, very aggressive pursuits.”
And when the right opportunity presents itself, the Mets intend to take advantage.
Asked specifically whether the Mets plan to be aggressive at the top of the starting-pitching market, Stearns gave the most Stearns answer possible.
“Given that I think that's directed at one specific player, I'm going to pass on that.”
Thanks for nothing, David.
But thanks for the entertainment.
The bullpen, meanwhile, may not require a complete demolition.
Devin Williams is expected to be a major part of the back end after returning from injury and appearing in September.
“He's now going to have a completely normal off-season,” Stearns said. “He's healthy. He feels great.”
And the Mets saw enough from some younger relievers to believe there are pieces worth developing.
Stearns specifically mentioned Nate Lavender, Nunez and Duarte.
Then came the intriguing comment about Yan.
“We saw flashes from Yan that make you believe there's a level in there that he could be one of the better left-handed relievers in baseball.”
Of course, there's that word again.
Consistency.
“We need to see consistency.”
Apparently, the Mets' unofficial offseason slogan should be printed on every clubhouse door:
SHOW IT AGAIN.
One of the benefits of becoming a seller at the trade deadline is that you get to turn players who aren't helping you in the majors right now into players who might help you later.
Stearns knows that's not where the Mets wanted to be.
“Being a seller at the deadline is not someplace you want to be,” he said.
But if you're going to do it, you better get something for it.
“I think we were able to do that this year.”
Stearns believes the Mets added a diverse group of young players at all levels of the organization, with several potentially capable of contributing as soon as next season.
That could become extremely important as the Mets try to build the kind of depth that prevents one bad stretch from becoming a season-long emergency.
The Mets also aren't simply shrugging off their injury problems.
Stearns said the organization is reevaluating its offseason programming, spring training procedures and the way players returning from injury are ramped up.
“You reevaluate how you do spring training for players who are coming off of injury,” he said. “You reevaluate how you ramp them back up, maybe the speed at which we ramp them back up.”
And changes are coming.
“I imagine there will be some changes in how we do some of that.”
That's not a small admission.
When two historically durable players lose significant time, Stearns said, the organization has to examine what it can do differently.
The goal isn't to eliminate injuries — because baseball has apparently decided that would be too much to ask — but to put players in the best possible position to withstand the demands of a 162-game season.
Maybe the biggest takeaway from Stearns' press conference is that the Mets don't view the second half as either a complete success or an irrelevant consolation prize.
Both things can be true.
The season was a disappointment.
The second half was encouraging.
The roster had flaws.
The organization has young talent.
The Mets need more starting pitching.
They also believe they are developing starting pitching.
Free agency hasn't been perfect.
The Mets will still be aggressive when the right opportunity presents itself.
The clubhouse fell apart early.
Then, under Andy Green, it came together.
And the Mets now believe the challenge is to take that second-half foundation and make it the starting point rather than the consolation prize.
Stearns summed up the reality better than anybody.
“The disappointment of our season is very true and real, and I feel that. We as an organization feel that.”
So does the fan base.
But then came the other half of the message.
“There is also the real foundation here for the level of success and competitiveness that we expect to have, and that is also real.”
And that is where the Mets' offseason begins.
Not with excuses.
Not with mulligans.
Not with a guarantee.
With a whole lot of work.
And, judging from Stearns' press conference, a pretty long shopping list.
Here is the complete press conference :
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