David Stearns Faces Heat as Mets’ High-Stakes Offseason Gambles Fail to Deliver

The New York Mets made big moves this past winter. However, those moves have failed badly. The team’s highly anticipated 2026 season has turned into a disaster. The Mets currently sit in last place in the NL East with a terrible 32-40 record. This awful start goes completely against what owner Steve Cohen wants. Before the year began, Cohen warned that he was losing patience. He stated clearly that the minimum requirement was making the playoffs.

“Listen, we haven’t won,” Cohen said earlier this year. “And I really want to win. Each year that goes by, I get more annoyed. Table stakes is making the playoffs — you’ve got to make the playoffs. I missed the playoffs last year. Missing two years in a row, that’s not good.”

Instead of playing like a team looking to make the postseason, the Mets are 14.5 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves. This massive failure puts incredible pressure on David Stearns as the team’s president of baseball operations.

“Stearns came into this year under more pressure than anyone, following last season’s collapse, and a lot of the team’s offseason moves haven’t panned out.” Buster Olney wrote in his ESPN piece. 

The Mets were on a roll in the first half of 2025 with a 55-42 record. After the All-Star break, they won only 28 games and finished 83-79, missing the playoffs. They entered this year with a lot of changes. They let Pete Alonso leave via free agency and traded off key players like Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil.

To replace them, the Mets also brought in Freddy Peralta, Luis Robert Jr., and Marcus Semien via trades. The blockbuster signings included the likes of Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco. Fans hoped these new stars would carry the team to a World Series. Instead, the new players have disappointed.

The truth is, the team couldn’t fill the gaps left by Alonso and Diaz, and injuries haven’t helped. Robert Jr. is suffering from a lumbar spine disc herniation and will not return before the All-Star break. Polanco has been out with Achilles bursitis since mid-April. 

Bichette (.662 OPS) and Semien (.621 OPS) have struggled badly in most of the early season. Peralta was supposed to be a frontline arm. But Olney noted that he has pitched closer to a No. 3 starter. 

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Lately, the Mets have shown some progress, but they still have a below .500 win percentage. 

“If Mets owner Steve Cohen greenlights midseason trades, Stearns will have to land building blocks for next year and beyond,” Olney added. “There’s a lot of work to be done. Peralta could be Stearns’s biggest trade chip.”

Peralta is in his final year, earning $8 million for 2026. With a 3.90 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 83 innings, he can be an easy buy for rival teams. 

AJ Minter, on the other hand, exercised his player option for 2026 and is earning $11 million this season. He returned to the mound from a torn left lat muscle after more than a year. And Minter has recorded a 0.00 ERA over 7.1 innings in 8 games. His World Series experience can prove him valuable for interested teams. 

However, the recent performances might push Stearns toward a standing pat. 

The Mets finally showing signs of life after a difficult start

The Mets were 10-21 in April and were going through a 12-game losing streak. Thanks to Juan Soto’s return from injury and youngsters like Carson Benge’s production, the team is in much better shape. Even players like Christian Scott and Nolan McLean have offered a significant boost to the team. 

They have won three of their last 5 series. But the Mets are in dire need of consistent wins. Just after beating the Braves 8-1, they suffered brutally against the Reds in a 12-0 defeat. 

That’s why manager Carlos Mendoza sent a wake-up call, saying, “For us to turn this thing around, we have to start winning series consistently.”

The team showed what they are capable of. And they have talented individuals to take them to an even better shape. Hence, the huge pressure on David Stearns. If he sells off players like Peralta and Minter, it means the Mets are giving up on the playoffs entirely. A sell-off would show that Cohen’s massive spending has failed again. It would force the team to start another long rebuild.

That’s why the next few weeks are most important, both for the team and Stearns. 

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