Mets Hand Over Reigns to Highly-Coveted Exec, Billy Eppler Moves Down Totem Poll

They got their man.

The New York Mets are hiring executive David Stearns to be their next president of baseball operations, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

As Passan reported, Stearns will take over in his new role after the conclusion of the regular season. He will also receive a five-year contract.

With the arrival of Stearns in Queens, the 38-year-old will be the main decision maker in the baseball department while general manager Billy Eppler will work beneath him.

Eppler, who was hired as GM in November 2021, has been the Mets' main decision maker in the baseball operations department for the past two seasons.

Mets owner Steve Cohen has essentially been after Stearns since the fall of 2021 for the president of baseball operations role. He was denied permission to interview him for the role on several occasions until last month.

With this being the final year on Stearns' deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, he was allowed to talk to teams following the August 1 trade deadline. It was reported that talks began with the Mets shortly thereafter and got "down the road."

Stearns is a New York native and interned for the Mets back in 2008.

Stearns was named general manager of the Brewers in 2015 at the age of 30 and served as their president of baseball operations from 2019-2022. He stepped back in an advisory role this past season, which was the final year on his deal with Milwaukee.

Under Stearns, the Brewers made the postseason in four straight seasons from 2018-2021. They missed the playoffs by one game in 2022 and are leading the NL Central in 2023.

Beyond Cohen, Stearns will now be the head honcho making decisions for the Mets. He knows how to build a winning team with a small payroll, but now has Cohen's money to give him more flexibility when putting together a roster. There's a new sheriff in town and the Mets finally got their man. And Cohen got his president of baseball operations after years of whiffing.