Steve Cohen 'Committed' to Mets President David Stearns, 'He Learns From Mistakes'

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen threw his support behind president of baseball operations David Stearns despite the team falling well short of expectations in 2026.

"I thought we had a great trade deadline," Cohen told reporters Wednesday, adding that he's "committed" to Stearns. "David is smart. He knows what he's doing. He's very adaptable. He learns from mistakes. That's what I want in a leader."

Sometimes, a good process can yield bad results, and a team playing poorly may not be a reflection of management.

In the case of Stearns, however, he deserves his share of blame for the Mets' 57-70 record and last-place standing in the National League East. He made a lot of changes to the roster for one offseason, and almost every one of his notable additions has underwhelmed.

"We might have taken too much risk as far as when you think about all the changes that were made," Cohen said . "Whenever there are significant changes, sometimes it takes a while to integrate. Those are the things I'm looking at. It's an example of where we can be better."

It doesn't help that the Milwaukee Brewers, Stearns' old team, have continued to thrive after he stepped back from an everyday role in 2022 and left altogether following the 2023 season.

The Brewers have won three straight NL Central titles and advanced to the NLCS last year. While Stearns contributed to the structure that made the franchise competitive for nearly a decade, he clearly wasn't the only person responsible for that happening.

Combine that with the mess in Queens and Stearns' reputation is undoubtedly suffering.

The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza in June, giving him just two-and-a-half seasons in the role. Cohen doesn't sound willing to wipe the slate totally clean by reshuffling the front office as well.

Stearns will have the opportunity to get New York back on the right course. Whether he can execute a quick turnaround is another question.