David Stearns is stepping down as the Brewers’ president of baseball operations but will remain with the club in an advisory capacity, the team announced (Twitter link via Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). General manager Matt Arnold will now oversee the baseball operations department.
It’s a surprise shakeup atop the Brewers’ baseball operations department, as Stearns has built a reputation as one of the most widely respected baseball execs in the game since taking over the reins in Milwaukee. He’d been under contract through the 2023 season.
“This is not an easy decision for me and is something I have been wrestling with for a long time,” Stearns said in a prepared statement. “[Owner] Mark Attanasio and I have had an open dialogue and we both knew this day could eventually come. It has been a priority for both of us that any transition would take place while the organization is in a healthy position with solid leadership and a talented roster going forward. That is certainly the case today.”
“I’m very grateful to Mark and all of our staff for their support and efforts throughout my tenure with the Brewers,” Stearns continued. Matt [Arnold] and I both arrived in 2015 and he is more than ready for this next opportunity. I am committed to serving as a resource to Matt as he sees fit as the organization moves through this transition.”
Of course, the announcement will prompt immediate speculation about whether Stearns might ultimately be headed elsewhere. The team noted that he’ll serve ownership and the baseball ops department as an advisor, and Stearns himself suggests within those comments that he’ll remain with the organization for the time being to help guide Arnold and others through the transition. Nevertheless, his departure from such a prominent role could pave the way for his eventual departure altogether.
For instance, the Mets have pursued Stearns, a New York native, for their vacant president of baseball operations post in each of the past two offseasons but have been denied permission to interview him. Mets owner Steve Cohen eventually landed on Billy Eppler to lead his baseball operations staff, but Eppler was given the “general manager” title, leaving the door open for a president to be appointed atop the hierarchy.
That said, Stearns could well be of appeal to a broad number of teams seeking a veteran baseball operations leader over the course of the next year. The Harvard grad has been running baseball operations for the Brewers since 2015 and, prior to that, was an assistant GM in Houston, a director of baseball operations in Cleveland (a role he shared with current Twins president of baseball ops Derek Falvey).
More to come.
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