Stearns has done such an incredible job constructing this team’s lineup. The above image shows the Mets’ top batters this season, with the guys Stearns acquired highlighted. Yes, I know obviously that Stearns didn’t “acquire” Vientos per se, but, he was the first Mets’ exec with the courage to actually give him a chance to start every game at third base, which finally gave Vientos the chance to show he is an all star caliber player. So, I consider Vientos part of this group of guys for the purpose of this analysis.
Combined bWAR of Stearns’ batters: 9.0
Mets batters’ team total bWAR: 18.4
So, in just nine months, Stearns has already made a huge impact on the Mets’ record. But for Stearns, this team would not be 58-51 right now. He is, and will be, the best hire SAC ever made. LFGM
15 comments
It’s unfair to include Vientos when he was only really given an opportunity when Baty fell off of a cliff. If anything, Vientos should be held as an indictment on Stearns. Vientos clearly had the potential and the bat but he probably should’ve been given an opportunity from day one while JDM ramped up.
Torrens and Iglesias have been phenomenal but they still have small sample sizes.
He gets credit for JDM, who has been a pretty good hitter and is hitting in line with his career numbers. Bader has upped his game a bit and has been better than projected (though I thought he would up his game when he got here)
Taylor is still a below average hitter but is also hitting in line with his career numbers. He’s a bit streaky and a lot of his numbers are inflated by insane games but he’s been good defensively and on the base paths.
So the manager of the year competition is over though right?
The Prince That Was Promised
Saying Stearns was the only one to have the courage to give Vientos the role isn’t really accurate.
Stearns gave the keys to Baty. Vientos just stole it and claimed it as his. Stearns didn’t even believe in Vientos enough to DH. He signed J.D Martinez.
Regardless, yeah, our signings have really stepped up. We’ve gotten some good hits on our waivers/minor league deals (Torrens,Iglesias) which is what you secretly bank on.
Yeah I have to agree with Mr. Vogelbach Pics, Stearns doesn’t deserve much credit for Vientos. He did pretty much everything he could to block him from playing. Clearly overlooked him. Chavez even said in an interview with the Post that he was impressed how well Vientos handled it because he’s seen that kind of stuff break players before. I really, really hope we do not see more of that kind of nonsense next year if any new young guys need a look. And I was really happy when he signed Iglesias, but I have no idea how Wendle and Short got OD over him. Might have a better W-L record if Vientos and Iglesias are on the OD roster. I know somebody is going to shriek at me for saying that about Vientos, but you’re not going to change my mind.
Bruh ok but we almost just missed out on mark vientos cus they refused to give him a real shot in favor of Brett Baty. Crazy scary
You may have a decent argument but you lose all credibility by highlighting Vientos here.
Equally impressive to me: his ability to cut bait on players and pivot when it isn’t working
Vientos – no credit. Gave baty 3b over him for 2 months when he had never shown he could hit and then didn’t hit for a month after he came back from injury. Signed JDM to replace MV at dh. JDM signing is fine in a vacuum but he has not been better than MV with the bat. Then, the worst, when JDM wasn’t ready, he still demoted MV and rostered djs and Zach short instead.
Iglesias – 25% credit. Brought him in yes but chose wendle and short over him from ST and took forever to bring him up when McNeil was struggling.
JDM – 75% credit. JDM has been fine but he’s 8th in NL in wRC+ and, like I said, was meant to upgrade MV, and hasn’t. But eventually got it right with MV at 3rd and JDM at dh.
The rest are all full credit and good moves, but not really impact/long term players. Torrens is a solid backup. Taylor is a fine 4/5th ofer (projects to less than 2 fwar over 600 pa). Bader is a solid starting cfer though and def could do worse in FA.
And it’s only year one. Imagine what he’s going to do with more payroll flexibility in the offseason.
I mean not vientos tho…
Including Vientos pretty much discredits your whole point
100%. Great post. Put simply- are there a bunch of guys on this roster that Stearns had a hand in putting them there that you’re happy are on this team? Yes. Do they make us a better team? Yes. Guys like Torrens and Iggy “small samples” or not – have they helped us win ballgames. Resounding YES. Did stearns biting the bullet replacing /releasing guys that may not have been as good as he initially thought help this roster. YES. It’s pretty clear- as a whole- stearns has done a fairly good job in his first year- regardless of how some will nitpick. And this post shows that. Great post OP!
Hey fellow Mets fans:
This is a good time as any to let you know how much I enjoy reading your posts since June. There is no better Mets forum than this one.
WILLIS
Something that was very clearly not working during the Eppler admin was decision-making based on available information. We hired out a much larger, more interesting analytics staff but obviously our use of those resources was still poor.
Stearns seems be much better at converting internal information bases into useful transactions. Obviously there has been some clear luck with how he’s played the odds, but at least everything we’ve done so far appears to have a plan behind it, as well as an exit strategy (see all the DFAs with much better replacements).