David Stearns Address Media After Selling at 2026 Deadline

The clock struck midnight on Monday. Or in a literal sense, 6 P.M. eastern time.

The tradeline came and went, and the Mets made a flurry of moves. The Mets ended up moving Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes, Tyrone Taylor, Luke Weaver, Huascar Brazoban, A.J. Minter, and Brooks Raley, adding numerous prospects to bolster one of the weaker farms in the sport.

It wasn’t the expectation of 2026. Far from it. So once it was over, David Stearns met with the media to discuss the deadline and overall thoughts on a lost season.

“Clearly this is not where we wanted to be at this point of the season,” Stearns stated in his opening remarks.

“Not what our players want at this point of the season, but really, everyone who we traded gave a tremendous amount to this organization and competed like crazy. Collectively, we haven’t had the results that we wanted but it wasn’t for lack of want or desire, or effort on our players’ parts, and they all leave this place given everything they had.”

“Our goal is to move the organization forward in the best way possible, to ensure that we have a far better season and each season beyond.”

Effort and compete were two motifs Stearns opened the presser with, and would be themes he’d stick to throughout the 22-minute scrum. Still, the Mets entered the off day with a 47-66 record, sit in last in the National League East, and became one of the few true sellers during the 2026 deadline.

With the dust settled from the day and Stearns’ remarks, the questions were opened up to the media. First with Steve Gelbs, who asked a simple question to being: “What did the organization accomplish by the end of the day?”

“First and foremost, we added a tremendous amount of talent all throughout our system,” Stearns answered. “Different shapes and sizes, different positional groupings, arms and bats, really good defenders. So overall, we believe that we’ve added to our system. We added players that will help us in New York and overall strengthen the quality of our farm system.”

By the end of the day, the Mets acquired a top-100 prospect in Jefferson Rojas, and some intriguing pieces like Sammy Stafura and Émilien Pitre. It wasn’t the haul most expected, but Rojas will begin his Mets’ tenure as the top prospect in the system, and Stafura and Pitre were developing into quick risers in their past organizations before the trades.

Stearns would speak on Rojas and Stafura when asked about their profiles by Mike Puma.

“Really exciting, well-rounded player,” Stearns said of Rojas. “Has experience at all three positions on the dirt, has the ability to play all three, well-rounded offensive profile. Young for his level. Has done exactly what you’d want to see a player do who was a very thorough amateur on the international market and has performed and progressed throughout his development. All our reports are that he’s a very hard worker and he’s going to fit into our organization. ”

“The first thing that jumps off the page with you with Stafura is the defense. He’s got tremendous defensive ability, he’s a really good baserunner, he can impact the game in a variety of different ways, and clearly has power as well. When you begin to talk about a power-hitting infielder who can play shortstop at a high level, that’s a player with a pretty high ceiling.

Pitre would also be brought up later in the zoom call. Tim Britton asked about the former Ray prospect acquired in the Peralta, asking Stearns about his thoughts on the pool of players received in the Peralta deal, including Aidan Smith and Gary Gill Hill.

“I think when you start with Pietre and just the elite contact, very good discipline, combined with good defense, that there’s a really, really good set of ingredients. To start with, with Aidan Smith, a tooled-up outfielder who hasn’t quite put everything together in pro ball, but we think has a really high ceiling, we should be able to get there. And with Hill, a strike thrower who has progressed as you’d hope through the system, an upper-level arm that we think does have a chance to compete for our team in 2027.”

Stearns was also asked about Stafura by Tim Britton and myself. First Britton asked about Stafura’s recent changes at the plate and whether or not Stearns believed if they would stick.

“I think that the ability and the ingredients to hit for some power have been there previously. We’ve seen some bat speed upticks and exit velocity upsticks that have allowed him to get there. I think he’s hit something like 14 homers in the last month. I wouldn’t expect that to continue, but this is a player who does have real power, who can hit the ball out of the ballpark. And as I said, when you have that combination, whether it’s double power or homer power, plus someone who can play a high level at shortstop, those aren’t easy players to find.”

My follow-up was about Weaver’s market. Many expected the Mets to get a more substantial haul for one of the best relievers on the trade market, but the Mets wound up with the Pirates’ No. 9 prospect and had to absorb $8 million of his remaining contract. Was his market robust? And did the Mets eat money on the contract to receive a better player?

“Not gonna get into the specifics of everything that was on the table, what I would say is that we had a robust market for Luke and a number of our players. We’re really excited about bringing Sammy Stafura into the organization, and we think he’s a really good young player that we’re excited to develop. And Steve has continued to demonstrate that he’s willing to support our baseball initiatives, and he certainly did that today.

While the prospects seem exciting, the Mets were not supposed to be in this position. Again, the expectation this season was to compete for the NL pennant. Gelbs touched on this subject when asking Stearns about the decision to sell off pieces like Weaver and Brazoban despite them being under team control in 2027.

“Really tough decisions there,” Stearns replied. “Not straightforward. Had A lot of internal discussion and debate. Ultimately, the returns that we were able to get made sense, were in the best interest of the organization, recognizing at this time of year you are able to get really good talent back for relief pitching. We understand we’re going to have to go out and acquire relief pitching in the offseason in different ways to get our bullpen to where we expect to be in 2027. We’re also excited about the members of our pen moving forward and who are going to be able to contribute at the major league level.”

Will Sammon also touched on the Mets competing in 2027. Teams like the Blue Jays sold off pieces while trading away top prospects to acquire controllable players for the future, something the Mets decided against. Sammon asked Stearns if that option was on the table and why he didn’t take that route.

“We absolutely did. We explored a number of those types of players, and couldn’t line up on acquisition costs.”

One player that the Mets did decide to keep was Luis Robert Jr. The former White Sox was brought in before the season started, and even stated he preferred to stay within the organization. Anthony DiComo asked Stearns why he decided to keep the outfielder.

“I think with Luis the possibility of what he can do for us in the second half, we understand that there is a club option, and the excitement of still having him here for next two months of the season.”

Robert Jr. could help the Mets win in 2027, and could certainly bring more fans to the seats if plays to his potential in the second half. But in order for him to be a contributor to next season’s team, first the Mets would have to pick up his $20 million club option.

It was clear that Stearns’ intentions were to strengthen one of the weaker farm systems in the league, while holding on to players that could help the club win for the foreseeable future. When asked about 2027 and competing, Stearns gave an insight into why he believed his trade deadline positioned the Mets forward.

“It allows us to strengthen the overall level of talent in our organization, and whether that’s these players directly impact our major league team in the future, which I think many of them will, or also have players that allow you to go out and acquire other players who impact your major league team. The players that we’ve acquired, the prospects we’ve acquired in totality, gives us a chance to go do that.

Laura Albanese touched on this topic as well. She asked Stearns if he was trading for players that fit specific roles, or just the best players available.

“Our approach was what’s the best talent,” Stearns stated. “It’s so difficult to know exactly what roles you’re going to need at the major league level at any given point in time, and our approach was ‘what is the best talent and what are the players who are going to be the best major league players.'”

DiComo also asked Stearns about his philosophy and the prospects traded for impacting the club’s future.

“I think we’re more focused on trying to get the best players back we possibly can. I do think some of the players we got can and will help us in 2027. We saw this year in someone like A.J. Ewing once you get to the upper levels, it can move pretty quickly for certain guys. It might not be the norm, but it can happen for certain guys, and it wouldn’t shock me if it happens with some of the guys we acquired.”

Overall, the Mets had a modest deadline for the pieces they moved. They acquired a top-100 prospect and prospects that Stearns himself said could contribute to winning baseball in 2027. Only time will tell if they develop into major league contributors.

But what is known is that a season that was filled with hope, and belief of a championship fell flat on it’s face. Mostly due to injury, and some due to underperformance.

Peralta was a factor in the Mets lost season before being moved to Tampa. Before the trade, it was rumored that Peralta felt the weight of being an ace in New York, and Stearns was asked about this.

“I think I’d let Freddy speak to that. What I know about Freddy is that he gave everything he had. I certainly know he expected to perform better here he wished he performed better here. But he gave everything he had, he worked incredibly hard, and certainly I’ll be rooting for him going forward.”