In his first public comments since Carlos Mendoza's firing, Steve Cohen said David Stearns will “live out” his five-year contract. Michael Reaves / Getty ImagesJuly 1, 2026 11:20 am EDT Updated David Stearns is here for the long haul.That was the message from New York Mets owner Steve Cohen during his appearance on the New York Post’s podcast, “The Show.” Cohen said Stearns, the club’s president of baseball operations, will “live out” his five-year contract that runs through the 2028 season.The podcast appearance marked Cohen’s first public comments since the Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza last Friday. New York is 36-50 this season and in last place in the National League East, a year after falling flat in the second half and missing the playoffs with a loss on the last day of the regular season. Cohen had said before the season that making the postseason was the baseline expectation for 2026.
Much of the blame for the woeful first half of this season is on Stearns, whose offseason moves have almost all backfired.He traded Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien. The second baseman has not been able to reverse a downward trend in his mid-30s. He allowed Pete Alonso to leave in free agency, replacing him with Jorge Polanco. While Alonso has once again played every game for his new team, the Baltimore Orioles, Polanco has played 14 games this season because of heel issues. Luis Robert Jr., acquired to be the everyday center fielder, has also been out since late April with a back injury. Bo Bichette, signed to a three-year deal with multiple opt-outs to play a new position at third, has done well defensively but hasn’t fully recovered from a poor offensive start.The Mets' troubles don't solely belong to former manager Carlos MendozaHowever, before Stearns’ hiring in late 2023, the Mets had run through an almost unfathomable carousel of lead baseball executives, with many believing Cohen was biding his time to hire Stearns away from the Milwaukee Brewers. Since buying the club after the 2020 season, Cohen has hired four people to run baseball operations; the previous three were fired after tenures of six weeks, six months and two years, none of them for baseball reasons.The Mets are 208-202 under Stearns, having advanced to the NLCS in his first season in 2024.
