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New York Mets owner Steve Cohen could be looking for a new president of baseball operations soon. David Stearns is currently in the role for the club and has been in place since the fall of 2023. Cohen, however, was interested in bringing the highly rated exec to Queen even before that. It was previously reported that the Milwaukee Brewers rejected New York’s advances on Stearns while he was working with the team.

Nevertheless, Cohen was finally able to bring in Stearns after the exec’s contract in Milwaukee ended. Although he was hand-picked by the Mets owner, the exec’s time with his boyhood team has been stressful. After making the 2024 NLCS, New York has regressed in a big way under Stearns. The Mets embarrassingly collapsed a year ago and currently have the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Because of the team’s ongoing failures, both Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza have been on the hot seat. The Athletic’s Tim Britton recently claimed that Stearns likely has more job security than Mendoza because of the duo’s contracts. Stearns is currently signed through 2028, while Mendoza is in the final year of his deal. Despite this, Cohen may have to make a tough decision on Stearns sooner than expected.

According to SNY’s Chelsea Janes, Stearns is likely to be let go if the Mets once again miss the playoffs in 2026. As Janes points out, Cohen is relatively patient regarding the situation. After all, he kept both Stearns and Mendoza in place after last year’s debacle. However, the team’s owner did previously admit that he was “annoyed” with New York’s lack of playoff success. He cannot be patient forever.

Several David Stearns Trades with New York Mets Have Flopped

GettyThe Mets and David Stearns gave Bo Bichette a massive contract with opt-out clauses.

Not only have the New York Mets struggled over the last calendar year, but several major moves by Stearns have not aged well. In the first significant trade of the winter, the Mets swapped Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. The veteran second baseman has struggled at the plate for New York. Nimmo, on the other hand, would be leading the 2026 Mets in hits (41) and among the top three in OPS and slugging.

Stearns also opted to trade away the versatile Jeff McNeil. At the moment, McNeil’s WAR of 0.6 with the Athletics is currently level with that of Juan Soto. No other Mets hitter has a higher figure in the current campaign. The blockbuster deal to acquire starting pitcher Freddy Peralta could backfire as well. The ace has performed fairly well in New York, but could ultimately leave in free agency this coming winter.

New York has 10th-Best N.L. Playoff Odds

Ultimately, this New York Mets roster is Stearns’ team. According to Fangraphs, the Queens club currently has a 23% chance of making the upcoming playoffs. Nine other National League teams have better odds to qualify for the postseason. At the moment, the website is projecting the Mets to eventually win just 80 games. If so, it would likely not be enough to save Stearns’ job.

The exec could very well point to how banged up his team has been in 2026. This is certainly a void case. After all, several key Mets hitters, including Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr., are all currently injured. New York needs to get healthy and produce at the plate quickly if they want to save their season.