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NEW YORK — In more than a decade in front offices across Major League Baseball, David Stearns' teams have not been immune from the annual skid.
The Mets' recent rut, which has featured nine losses in 10 games entering Tuesday night, is magnified under the weight of the team's lofty expectations and their sterling start to the campaign that saw them as many as 21 games over .500.
"I think I've been through some semblance of these two weeks in every year of my career with every team, including a lot that were really good teams," Stearns said. "You go through this enough, it's not fun to go through, no one in there is having a good time these last two weeks, you wear this, but you also have the perspective and the history to understand that most teams, even really talented teams, have rough stretches over the course of the year.
"It's our job to keep moving forward and get out of the stretch as productively as we can."
The Mets front office, led by David Stearns, has a five-week runway to determine how they can best improve this season's unit and provide some additional fuel to their World Series aspirations.
They made a major move over the weekend, demoting Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse. Now, leadership will have the next few weeks to assess the performances of Mark Vientos and the bottom of the lineup, including Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and the pitching staff.
In the midst of their worst stretch in the 2025 season, here is what Stearns had to say about the state of the Mets:
In his age-21 season in 2023, Alvarez showcased his potential, blasting 25 home runs and driving in 63 runs, but he has been unable to match that production so far in these last two seasons.
That step back offensively, paired with some defensive regression, ended up spelling Alvarez's demotion to Triple-A Syracuse last weekend.
"I think getting him a little bit of a chance to reset, to work on both sides of the game, and we do think there are performance improvements that are needed on both sides of the game," Stearns said. "Giving him an opportunity to do that in a less pressurized environment where he's not doing it front 45,000 people every night against really good pitching, catching pitchers with really good stuff, we thought this was the right time to do that, both for him and for the team as a whole."
Stearns prefaced that decision by saying that Alvarez remains a really talented player with room for development. The goal in Triple A is for Alvarez to showcase a return to the form that he has once showed in the major leagues.
This season, Alvarez is slashing .236/.319/.333 with three home runs, 11 RBI and 10 runs in 35 games, while in the bottom 8 percent of the league in framing and 35 percent in blocks above average.
With injuries to Mark Vientos, Jose Siri and Jesse Winker, the Mets are asking a lot out of their youth, particularly Ronny Mauricio in the infield.
There has been some regression for Vientos, who has a .678 OPS in 53 games, one season after poking 27 home runs, supplying 71 RBI and a .838 OPS. Baty has shown flashes but entered Tuesday slashing .216/.366/.404 with eight home runs, 24 RBI and 49 strikeouts in 57 games.
"I think if we look around baseball, that jump from Triple A to the big leagues for position players, is one that often takes some significant time," Stearns said, "and often players even who have success, maybe for those first 200, 300, 400 plate appearances, then have an adjustment period the second go around or the third go around,"
Here's what fans should know: 'Extreme heat' for Mets vs Braves games at Citi Field
Mauricio, who missed all of 2024 recovering from a torn ACL, ended up fast-tracked to the major leagues where he's batting .180 with 18 strikeouts in 16 games entering Tuesday. Stearns said Mauricio brings some exciting attributes with his hard-hit and defensive versatility but needs some more development.
Stearns does not expect Carlos Mendoza to lock in one starting third baseman once Vientos returns.
"I think performance dictates that, and I think that's one of the things that Mendy has done so well and continues to do so well is we're not afraid of competition and guys who step up play," Stearns said. "And so what I expect will happen is that someone is going to step up, and that player is going to play more often than not."
When Stearns was asked if he believes that this recent stretch has exposed any areas that need to be addressed over the next few weeks, he did not pinpoint one particular area that has stood out.
"I still think we have a really good team," Stearns said. "I think we're certainly much better than we've played over the last 10 days, 12 days, but anytime you go through a stretch, it forces you to evaluate the team, take it in as information, add that to what we already know and help us plot forward."
There appears to be some time before the trade deadline landscape takes form among the buyers and sellers. As for what has plagued the Mets in their recent downturn in performance, Stearns believes it is a collection of areas within the game.
"We've had our starters go shorter and at times less effectively than we had seen for long stretches of this year," Stearns said. "Segments of our offense and lineup aren't producing at a rate that we had previously and also that we think we should be producing at. In a couple instances when we've had close games or leads in the second half of games, we haven't been able to hold them."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: David Stearns addresses NY Mets recent losing streak
Continue reading...
The Mets' recent rut, which has featured nine losses in 10 games entering Tuesday night, is magnified under the weight of the team's lofty expectations and their sterling start to the campaign that saw them as many as 21 games over .500.
"I think I've been through some semblance of these two weeks in every year of my career with every team, including a lot that were really good teams," Stearns said. "You go through this enough, it's not fun to go through, no one in there is having a good time these last two weeks, you wear this, but you also have the perspective and the history to understand that most teams, even really talented teams, have rough stretches over the course of the year.
"It's our job to keep moving forward and get out of the stretch as productively as we can."
The Mets front office, led by David Stearns, has a five-week runway to determine how they can best improve this season's unit and provide some additional fuel to their World Series aspirations.
They made a major move over the weekend, demoting Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse. Now, leadership will have the next few weeks to assess the performances of Mark Vientos and the bottom of the lineup, including Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and the pitching staff.
In the midst of their worst stretch in the 2025 season, here is what Stearns had to say about the state of the Mets:
What's behind Francisco Alvarez's demotion?
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In his age-21 season in 2023, Alvarez showcased his potential, blasting 25 home runs and driving in 63 runs, but he has been unable to match that production so far in these last two seasons.
That step back offensively, paired with some defensive regression, ended up spelling Alvarez's demotion to Triple-A Syracuse last weekend.
"I think getting him a little bit of a chance to reset, to work on both sides of the game, and we do think there are performance improvements that are needed on both sides of the game," Stearns said. "Giving him an opportunity to do that in a less pressurized environment where he's not doing it front 45,000 people every night against really good pitching, catching pitchers with really good stuff, we thought this was the right time to do that, both for him and for the team as a whole."
Stearns prefaced that decision by saying that Alvarez remains a really talented player with room for development. The goal in Triple A is for Alvarez to showcase a return to the form that he has once showed in the major leagues.
This season, Alvarez is slashing .236/.319/.333 with three home runs, 11 RBI and 10 runs in 35 games, while in the bottom 8 percent of the league in framing and 35 percent in blocks above average.
What does David Stearns think of offense, other youth?
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With injuries to Mark Vientos, Jose Siri and Jesse Winker, the Mets are asking a lot out of their youth, particularly Ronny Mauricio in the infield.
There has been some regression for Vientos, who has a .678 OPS in 53 games, one season after poking 27 home runs, supplying 71 RBI and a .838 OPS. Baty has shown flashes but entered Tuesday slashing .216/.366/.404 with eight home runs, 24 RBI and 49 strikeouts in 57 games.
"I think if we look around baseball, that jump from Triple A to the big leagues for position players, is one that often takes some significant time," Stearns said, "and often players even who have success, maybe for those first 200, 300, 400 plate appearances, then have an adjustment period the second go around or the third go around,"
Here's what fans should know: 'Extreme heat' for Mets vs Braves games at Citi Field
Mauricio, who missed all of 2024 recovering from a torn ACL, ended up fast-tracked to the major leagues where he's batting .180 with 18 strikeouts in 16 games entering Tuesday. Stearns said Mauricio brings some exciting attributes with his hard-hit and defensive versatility but needs some more development.
Stearns does not expect Carlos Mendoza to lock in one starting third baseman once Vientos returns.
"I think performance dictates that, and I think that's one of the things that Mendy has done so well and continues to do so well is we're not afraid of competition and guys who step up play," Stearns said. "And so what I expect will happen is that someone is going to step up, and that player is going to play more often than not."
A pivotal time to evaluate for David Stearns
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When Stearns was asked if he believes that this recent stretch has exposed any areas that need to be addressed over the next few weeks, he did not pinpoint one particular area that has stood out.
"I still think we have a really good team," Stearns said. "I think we're certainly much better than we've played over the last 10 days, 12 days, but anytime you go through a stretch, it forces you to evaluate the team, take it in as information, add that to what we already know and help us plot forward."
There appears to be some time before the trade deadline landscape takes form among the buyers and sellers. As for what has plagued the Mets in their recent downturn in performance, Stearns believes it is a collection of areas within the game.
"We've had our starters go shorter and at times less effectively than we had seen for long stretches of this year," Stearns said. "Segments of our offense and lineup aren't producing at a rate that we had previously and also that we think we should be producing at. In a couple instances when we've had close games or leads in the second half of games, we haven't been able to hold them."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: David Stearns addresses NY Mets recent losing streak
Continue reading...
