The Mets and owner Steve Cohen have not been quiet about their desire to bring in a president of baseball operations to bolster the front office, with the top candidate being Brewers advisor David Stearns.
According to a recent report by Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Mets and Stearns are "down the road" in discussions of teaming up after this season, when Stearns' contract is up, but Stearns has also spoken with other teams, including the Astros, who he used to work for as an assistant GM for four years until 2015.
As Stearns and Rosenthal noted, the Brewers can no longer block other teams from talking to Stearns, so those discussions have begun, with the Mets being seen as a front runner because of Cohen's motivation and checkbook, and Stearns being a New York native. But his wife is from Houston, so the Astros could make a push as well.
The Mets recently cleared out the front office with multiple firings, perhaps clearing the way for Stearns to bring in his own staff alongside GM Billy Eppler.
