The New York Mets do not intend to fill their vacant general manager position this winter, president of baseball operations David Stearns divulged on Tuesday. Stearns told reporters the Mets have "enough going on" as part of his press availability during the annual general manager meetings.
Here's a look at Stearns' comments on the matter, as presented by SNY:
David Stearns and the Mets do not plan on filling the GM position this offseason pic.twitter.com/pXzU0FFQY3
— SNY (@SNYtv) November 7, 2023
Stearns, formerly the architect of the Milwaukee Brewers, was hired by the Mets after the regular season. The Mets have since fired field manager Buck Showalter; hired his replacement in former New York Yankees coach Carlos Mendoza; and, unexpectedly, had incumbent general manager Billy Eppler resign after Major League Baseball started an investigation into his use of so-called "phantom" trips to the injured list during the 2023 season. (Stearns confirmed that Eppler assistant Carlos Beltran will remain in the organization under his watch.)
Stearns noted that the current Mets front office is learning how to work together -- a process that he said requires a good deal of time. Additionally, Stearns is making changes to the team's front office personnel -- particularly within the scouting department, according to what multiple league sources have told CBS Sports over the past several days.
Indeed, the Mets made one notable addition to their front office on Tuesday, hiring another longtime Brewers executive in Eduardo Brizuela. It's not yet clear what Brizuela's role will be, though MLB Network's Jon Morosi described it as a "high-level" position within the front-office structure -- just not, clearly, the general manager role.
The Mets are coming off a disappointing 75-87 season that saw them fall well short of preseason expectations. The Mets even became sellers at the deadline, trading away veteran aces Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander to the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros respectively.
