Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns spoke with reporters from the GM Meetings in San Antonio, Texas on Wednesday and said the following:
He was in Japan in September to scout RHP Roki Sasaki
He’s impressed with the pitching coming over from Japan, and expects to continue to be involved with the Japanese player market when necessary
On balancing the benefit of one large free agent contract versus spending the same money on multiple players, it’s dependent on the club’s competitive cycle, the off-season calendar with respect to the available player pool
They remain interested in retaining Pete Alonso, but would not comment on the state of the club’s negotiation with Scott Boras
He thinks players/free agents should want to hear from a club’s owner and what the commitment is to win
Being able to be in the highest tier of free agency is a tremendous opportunity with the Mets
Acquiring multiple starting pitchers remains a high priority for the club
He thinks having a lot of turnover is healthy for an organization - it allows them to address their deficiencies quickly with shorter term commitments on the roster
“We don’t have absolutes…we have to react to the market, we have to react to the needs of our team,” he said.
He doesn’t know yet if teams and free agents will wait for Juan Soto to sign first
Regarding outfielders, they’d be interested in finding a player who can play centerfield, although they have confidence in Tyrone Taylor in that position
Jeff McNeil’s flexibility allows them to construct the roster in any number of ways
It seems like a pretty sober, intelligent way to go about it. Especially the part about how a lot of turnover is healthy for an organisation
Thanks for the succinct summary. Much appreciated.