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Tag: David Stearns

  • Winter Meetings primer: Mets could be big spenders with Japanese superstars on the market

    Winter Meetings primer: Mets could be big spenders with Japanese superstars on the market

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    The Mets have spent the last few weeks paving the road for a busy offseason. Finally, things are about to speed up.

    The Winter Meetings begin Sunday in Nashville, with all of baseball set to descend on the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The palatial complex will be the home base for thousands of baseball personnel from Sunday through Wednesday, and it will be a grand stage for the Shohei Ohtani show.

    Baseball’s unicorn is a free agent and it’s the hottest topic in the game. The Mets may end up in the mix for the two-way superstar, but the club has other needs they will look to fill as well.

    Here’s a look at what to expect from the Mets this week.

    THE DECISION 2.0

    Ohtani’s decision is the most important storyline of the offseason and for good reason: He’s the biggest domino that has to fall before some of the other free agents come off the board.

    This whole thing is somewhat mysterious. No one knows if he’ll be the same pitcher in 2025. We also don’t know what the market for him will look like given all the uncertainty.

    But that could change next week in Nashville. Ohtani might not like being the center of attention but greats like him command the spotlight whether or not they welcome it. What better time to decide than the Winter Meetings? Even if the former Los Angeles Angel doesn’t sign next week, we’ll still come away from the week with a better idea of his market.

    ESPN’s Jeff Passan said the Mets initially pursued Ohtani, but have since turned their attention elsewhere. Things could change, but for now, it looks as though Ohtani won’t be taking his talents to Queens.

    ARMS RACE

    This starts with Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. We already know the Mets are heavily pursuing the 25-year-old and have been since the Orix Buffaloes posted him a few weeks ago.

    The club views Yamamoto as a long-term rotation fixture. In 2024 and 2025, they could put him behind another Japanese right-hander, Kodai Senga. By 2026, he could be headlining a rotation that consists of mostly homegrown talent in pitchers like Mike Vasil, Blade Tidwell and Christian Scott.

    But the Mets need much more than just Yamamoto if they want to be able to compete for a playoff spot next season. Plus, they’ll have competition for his services, competing with the Yankees for the first time in years for a high-profile free agent, and the first time in the Steve Cohen era. So while Yamamoto is the big name to watch, we’ll find out what else the Mets are looking for in terms of starting pitching help.

    If all goes well, the Mets could leave Nashville with a couple of new starting pitchers and some bullpen help.

    BIG SPENDERS

    The Mets spent what they thought was needed to win a pennant last season. The 2023 season turned out to be a very costly one for more than one reason. David Stearns has been vague about how much the club intends to spend this winter, but with the goal of sustainability in mind, they know they’re going to have to spend in free agency again.

    The Mets have already waded into free agency with one-year contracts going to infielder Joey Wendle and right-handed starter Luis Severino. That could be the tip of the iceberg. The industry is anticipating another expensive winter. The spending will eventually taper off when things stabilize, but that time hasn’t come yet.

    “When you have the bigger jet and you say you’re going slower, you’re still going faster,” super agent Scott Boras said at the general manager meetings last month in Arizona. “But what I would say about that is that I think their idea and their vision is long-term. I think they see advantages in this market and next year’s market. They have a lot of work to do. They inherited a team that had very limited minor league depth, therefore they’ll have to do some very unique things with free agency to ramp up and particularly be competitive in the National League East.”

    ALONSO UPDATE

    Speaking of Boras, he’ll give his usual address during the Winter Meetings. He’s probably spent the last month workshopping lines.

    In Scottsdale last month, he talked about his new client, “Polar Bear” Pete Alonso not being in “contract hibernation.” There has been no word of any talks about a contract extension since then. Boras will have more pithy lines about the Mets homegrown star first baseman, who will be a free agent after the 2024 season, but he doesn’t usually show his hand, meaning any updates will likely be minimal. But if nothing else, it will be humorous.

    LINEUP UPGRADES

    The Mets are in the market for a left fielder and they’ll need to find a DH upgrade as well.

    Currently, there are four outfielders on the 40-man roster and one of those — Alex Ramirez — is not yet ready for big-league action. DJ Stewart will return as the fourth outfielder but left field is currently unmanned and the Mets don’t know what they can get from Starling Marte in right next season.

    Tommy Pham was an effective solution in the outfield and at DH last season, so the Mets may look to acquire a player in that mold again.

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    Abbey Mastracco

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  • Mets bullpen upgrades David Stearns should consider

    Mets bullpen upgrades David Stearns should consider

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    When it comes to the bullpen, the Mets have to shift their priorities next season.

    Last year, the club made a flurry of waiver wire moves and some minor trades in November and December to stockpile a group of pitchers that could be sent up and down between Queens and Syracuse. Former general manager Billy Eppler wanted “optionable” arms in order to keep them fresh.

    On paper, it sounded like it could work. They intended to keep rolling with a young reliever on a hot streak and switch him out for another when he goes cold. But it proved to be a flawed system.

    Few could have foreseen the starting rotation falling apart the way it did, but it became apparent early on that the bullpen was going to have to pick up a lot of slack for the starters. Starters routinely failed to go seven innings and the Mets relied heavily on their veteran trio of left-hander Brooks Raley and right-handers David Robertson and Adam Ottavino.

    Maybe it would have been different if closer Edwin Diaz had been around, but the Mets still didn’t have the middle relief to get to Diaz on most nights. Those “optionable” arms didn’t really get hot and in the case of guys like Jeff Brigham, the team hesitated to even utilize those options.

    As it stands now, the Mets have a group of mostly fringe relievers on the 40-man roster in addition to Diaz and Raley. The club chose to tender a contract to right-hander Drew Smith even after a tough year. Smith might have more value in the middle innings than the late ones, which is fine considering the Mets need to add some depth to that area.

    It’s going to take a lot of work to overhaul the bullpen, but here are some things the Mets could do.

    FIND A LONG MAN

    Trevor Williams proved to be more important than the Mets realized last year. The right-hander made nine starts for the Mets in 2022 and regularly pitched multiple innings out of the bullpen. The Mets tried to use Stephen Nogosek and then Tommy Hunter in long-relief roles last year, but they mostly had to mop up and they were both cut by July. The Mets never found that versatile long reliever who could start games, finish them and pitch several innings in between.

    However, they already have two candidates for this role internally in left-hander Joey Lucchesi and right-hander Jose Butto. Lucchesi is comfortable working multiple innings in relief and has expressed a desire to take on the role should the Mets need him to. Butto has been primarily a starter but he’s pitched in relief at various levels, including at the major league level.

    The Mets could go out and look for someone to play this role in free agency or through a trade, but it’s worth giving one of these two a look.

    BRING IN A SETUP MAN

    Ottavino declined his player option to become a free agent, but that doesn’t mean the door is closed on a return to Queens.

    The Mets should prioritize pitchers with high-leverage experience, especially if they plan to use Raley how they did last year. This is where they can use free agency. They probably won’t try to add a marquee stopper like Josh Hader, but they could add guys like Ottavino, Matt Moore or Will Smith, who seems to be a good luck charm having been a part of the last three World Series-winning teams.

    The Mets could and should add more than one pitcher of this caliber. Smith is hopeful that he can play a bigger role next season, and eventually homegrown right-hander Grant Hartwig might as well, but right now, they’re still unproven.

    ADD DEPTH IN THE MIDDLE

    This is where David Stearns and his group can make their mark. Stearns is great at finding depth pieces on waivers, through trades or through international signings. The Mets have already made some transactions when it comes to middle relief and they figure to be a lot more aggressive over the next month in this area. They claimed Penn Murfee off waivers and lost him. They signed Cole Sulser to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.

    Currently, the Mets have Smith, Hartwig and right-handers Phil Bickford, Sean Reid-Foley and Reed Garrett. Reid-Foley has some promise but at this point, we know what Bickford and Garrett are, and they’re also out of options. The Mets might have to get creative here, but there is certainly room for creativity.

    ADD ANOTHER LEFT-HANDED OPTION

    The three-batter minimum has eliminated the need for a true situational left-hander, but with teams in the NL East fielding some powerful left-handed hitters like Bryce Harper and Matt Olson, Raley was often called on to face them in key innings.

    Raley is valuable because he can pitch in the seventh or the ninth. But if the Mets are going to use Raley to set up some, they might need another left-hander to handle left-handed power threats in the middle innings. Homegrown lefty Josh Walker could audition for this role if the Mets don’t bring in someone else this winter.

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    Abbey Mastracco

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  • Mets arbitration candidates: Predicting who is safe, who is on the bubble and who is out

    Mets arbitration candidates: Predicting who is safe, who is on the bubble and who is out

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    The Mets roster, as it was constructed last season, lacked impactful depth. Billy Eppler constructed a roster that had elite talent at the top but not much in the middle.

    The drop-off from the stars to the role players and back-end options was steep. President of baseball operations David Stearns has a solid track record of finding quality depth pieces. He touched on it during his introductory press conference and credited his staff for helping him find and identify those depth players.

    There are several players under team control due for raises in arbitration this winter but it’s unlikely the Mets will tender contracts to all of them. Here’s a look at the arbitration-eligible players on the 40-man roster and our best guesses as to whether or not the Mets opt to keep them.

    Safe: 1B Pete Alonso, DH Daniel Vogelbach, RHP Drew Smith, LHP Joey Lucchesi, LHP David Peterson

    Stearns said he expects Pete Alonso will be the Mets’ Opening Day first baseman. Alonso, who has one more year of team control before becoming a free agent, recently switched agents and retained Scott Boras, who typically likes to take clients to free agency. He may end up right back with the team that drafted him and developed him after testing the free agent waters, but he continues to emphasize how much he loves New York and playing for the Mets, so negotiations could open up again.

    Daniel Vogelbach should be on the bubble. He didn’t produce when the Mets needed him to this year, despite Eppler’s insistence that he would. Maybe without Eppler, Vogelbach’s chances of returning might not be as high, but thanks to MLB Trade Rumors we have an idea of what he might make next year: $2.6 million, which is pretty cheap. The 30-year-old has familiarity with Stearns having played in Milwaukee, and he’s extremely well-liked in the clubhouse.

    In the end, Vogelbach managed to finish the season with a 104 OPS+, so between the cost-effective salary and his on-base skills, the Mets could be tempted to keep him around a little longer. However, this doesn’t mean he will be the primary DH next year.

    Left-handers David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi have value as depth options and will likely be around $2 million each. The Mets could use them as back-end starters or put them in the bullpen. The team churned through some long-relief options early in the season and none of them stuck. Peterson and Lucchesi could be options for that role.

    Drew Smith struggled this year with his breaking stuff, but the right-handed reliever still has minor-league options.

    On the bubble: RHP Trevor Gott, RHP Jeff Brigham, RHP John Curtiss, RHP Sam Coonrod, RHP Elieser Hernandez, OF DJ Stewart, INF Luis Guillorme, OF Tim Locastro

    Trevor Gott was good for the Mets at times, but also very bad at others. They paid a high price for him, sending left-hander Zack Muckenhirn to Seattle in exchange for the right-handed reliever and taking on the salary of right-hander Chris Flexen. Stearns acquired Gott once in Milwaukee, so he may be inclined to keep him around and use him in lower-leverage situations.

    Without Edwin Diaz last season, the Mets needed some of their “optionable” arms to step up. Jeff Brigham didn’t, even when the Mets continued to use him in important spots. Eventually, the club was forced to use that minor league option, demoting him to Triple-A when the situation became untenable and his nearly 20% home run rate caught up to him.

    Brigham is 31, so it’s not like he’s an emerging prospect who needs more development. The same can be said for John Curtiss (30) and Sam Coonrod (31), who both struggled with injuries this season. Both are out of minor league options, while Brigham has one left. Curtiss was already non-tendered by Stearns once, with the Brewers opting not to retain him while he rehabbed from his second Tommy John surgery in 2022.

    Luis Guillorme had his worst offensive season and was demoted to Triple-A. He also missed time with a calf injury. However, the 28-year-old is a homegrown defensive whiz who can play every infield position.

    The Mets have to figure out if DJ Stewart’s August performance was an aberration or whether it’s sustainable. He hit .303 with eight home runs and 16 RBI in August before getting injured and cooling off in September. He also didn’t hit left-handed pitching well, with an OPS of .595 in 49 plate appearances. Stewart, who will be 30 next month, could be useful as a bench option.

    Tim Locastro is an intriguing option with his speed, but the Mets weren’t able to utilize it with the outfielder spending most of the season on the injured list. The team will have to decide if the base-stealing is necessary or whether that roster spot can be utilized in another way.

    Non-tender: INF Danny Mendick, OF Rafael Ortega, C Michael Perez, OF Tim Locastro, RHP Elieser Hernandez 

    Danny Mendick can play a lot of positions, but he didn’t hit for the Mets in his first season after ACL surgery. Rafael Ortega had a few big hits, but not enough. Michael Perez is out of options and the Mets still have Tomas Nido in the organization, plus catchers Kevin Parada and Hayden Senger coming through the system.

    Elieser Hernandez couldn’t stay healthy and he’s also out of minor league options.

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    Abbey Mastracco

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  • Ronny Mauricio gets 1st big league HR in Mets’ victory over Diamondbacks

    Ronny Mauricio gets 1st big league HR in Mets’ victory over Diamondbacks

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    The David Stearns era is off to a strong start for the Mets.

    Hours after the Daily News confirmed the team is hiring Stearns as its president of baseball operations, the Mets delivered a well-rounded 7-4 win Tuesday night against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field.

    Ronny Mauricio, the 22-year-old sensation who debuted with the Mets this month, slugged the first home run of his career — a tie-breaking, two-run blast in the fourth inning that put the Mets up for good.

    The Mets also got a big swing Tuesday from star slugger Pete Alonso, who crushed a two-run shot in the fifth inning for his 44th homer of the year.

    Alonso’s future with the Mets is among the biggest decisions facing Stearns, a touted ex-Brewers executive who took Milwaukee to the playoffs four times during his tenures as general manager and president.

    The 28-year-old Alonso is set to become a free agent after the 2024 season and has been the subject of trade rumors after the retooling Mets (66-78) moved veterans including Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer midseason. Alonso is the only Met ever with multiple 40-homer seasons — he has three — and one of four players in team history with a trio of 100-RBI campaigns.

    The 38-year-old Stearns, a New York City native who grew up cheering for the Mets, has served in an advisory role for Milwaukee since stepping down as Brewers president last year. He’s long been linked to the Mets, whose owner, Steve Cohen, has been open about his desire to add a president of baseball ops atop a front office that employs Billy Eppler as general manager.

    Mauricio has been a hit machine since his Sept. 1 call-up, batting .306 with at least one base knock in eight of his 10on games. The past two nights, he’s emerged as a run-producer, too. Tuesday marked Maurcio’s second straight game with two RBI after the infielder only drove in one run across his first eight MLB contests.

    His 440-foot home run against Arizona’s Ryne Nelson came in support of Mets starter Jose Butto, who struck out seven over five innings and only surrendered one run. Butto, 25, picked up the first win of his career in what was his seventh MLB game.

    Brandon Nimmo also had a big game for the Mets, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple, while rookie Francisco Alvarez hit his 23rd home run of the season.

    The Mets lost Monday’s opener in their four-game series against the Diamondbacks (76-70), who are clinging to the third and final NL Wild Card spot. Joey Lucchesi (2-0, 3.54 ERA) is scheduled to pitch Wednesday for the Mets against Arizona’s Zac Gallen (15-7, 3.31 ERA), the NL’s All-Star Game starter and a frontrunner for the league’s Cy Young Award.

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    Peter Sblendorio

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  • Looking Back At The Best Moves Of David Stearns’ Milwaukee Brewers Career

    Looking Back At The Best Moves Of David Stearns’ Milwaukee Brewers Career

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    As David Stearns slides into an advisory role after serving seven seasons as the Milwaukee Brewers’ general manager and, later, president of baseball operations, here’s a look back at the best trades, signings and roster moves of Stearns’ Milwaukee tenure.

    Dec. 9, 2015: Acquired RHP Freddy Peralta from Mariners

    Stearns had been on the job just a few months when he sent veteran first baseman Adam Lind to the Mariners for three prospects including a 19-year-old right-hander whose only professional experience to that point consisted of 13 appearances in the Dominican Summer League and 23 over two seasons in Rookie Ball.

    Three years later, though, Peralta had skyrocketed his way up the Brewers’ prospect rankings and when a last-minute need arose for a starter, Peralta got the call and made history by striking out 13 batters in his big-league debut on Mother’s Day at Coors Field.

    He went on to play a big role down the stretch as the Brewers surged into the playoffs and worked three scoreless innings during his lone playoff appearance that season.

    Peralta went through the usual growing pains of a young pitcher after that but has established himself as a cornerstone of Milwaukee’s rotation and one of the best young arms in the National League.

    Dec. 10, 2015: Acquired C Manny Pina from Detroit

    Pina came to Milwaukee as the player to be named later in a deal a month earlier that sent veteran closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Tigers.

    Pina had spent 11 seasons in the minors, batting .256, and had only five big-league appearances at the time but earned a call-up late in 2016 when Jonathan Lucroy was traded and made his first Opening Day roster the next spring.

    He’d be with Milwaukee for the next five seasons, putting up decent numbers but was highly-regarded for his work with Brewers’ pitchers and a major part of the team’s clubhouse chemistry.

    Dec. 6, 2016: Acquired 3B Travis Shaw from Boston

    Shaw had batted .251 with 29 homers and 107 RBIs through two seasons with the Red Sox when Milwaukee sent closer Tyler Thornburg to Boston for him and three minor league prospects after Stearns’ first full season on the job.

    The move paid immediate dividends as Shaw batted .273 with 31 home runs and an .862 OPS in his first season in Milwaukee while Thornburg sat out the entire season due to injury.

    Dec. 21, 2017: Signed RHP Jhoulys Chacin

    After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2017, fans were hoping that Stearns would make a big splash during the offseason and try to land an ace starter to get Milwaukee over the hump.

    Chacin hardly fit the bill but his two-year, $15.5 million contract turned out to be a stroke of genius after the veteran right-hander went 15-8 with a 3.50 ERA while leading all of baseball with 35 starts including 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the Brewers’ 3-1 victory over the Cubs in the Game 163 tiebreaker to crown the NL Central champion.

    Jan. 25, 2018: Acquired OF Christian Yelich from Miami

    There were some who thought Stearns was crazy to deal four minor leaguers — including top prospect Lewis Branson — to Miami for Yelich but there were few naysayers to be found after Yelich put together a historic second half to lead Milwaukee to within a game of the World Series and become the first Brewers player since Ryan Braun in 2011 to be named the NL’s Most Valuable Player.

    Yelich almost won the award again in 2019 but his season was cut short by a fractured kneecap. He hasn’t come close tp putting up similar numbers but his trade to Milwaukee still ranks as one of Stearns’ best moves ever.

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    Andrew Wagner, Contributor

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