The Milwaukee Brewers announced a major shakeup in the team’s leadership Thursday morning.
President of baseball operations David Stearns, who since he was hired as general manager in 2015 has overseen the most successful run in franchise history, is stepping down from his role.
Matt Arnold, who has served as the senior vice president of general manager of the Brewers since 2020, will move into the lead role of overseeing baseball operations.
The Brewers qualified for the postseason four times under Stearns and over the last six years have the third-most wins (481) in the National League.
“I know this decision, my decision to step down, comes somewhat as a surprise and provokes some questions,” Stearns said. “This has not been an easy decision for me. This is something I’ve been wrestling with for some time. (Brewers principal owner) Mark Attanasio and I have had an open dialogue really for years about what I’m seeking for my career Where I am personally and what all of that means for the organization.
“I think we both knew that at some point this day could come and we wanted to make sure that when it did, the organization was properly positioned with very strong leadership going forward.”
Stearns will remain with the organization in an advisory role to ownership and baseball operations. A native of New York, Stearns’ name has long been brought up in rumors regarding the president of baseball operations job with the Mets but he has always declined any comment on that speculation.
Stearns’ contract is set to expire following the 2023 season.
He was responsible for the trade that brought Christian Yelich to the Brewers on the same day in 2018 that the team also signed Lorenzo Cain to a franchise-record five-year deal. Both moves sparked the Brewers to the division title that season as Yelich was named MVP and Cain finished seventh in the award’s voting.
Stearns also made trades for key current Brewers including Freddy Peralta, Luis Urias, Eric Lauer, Rowdy Tellez and Hunter Renfroe during his tenure as general manager and president of baseball operations. On the other hand, it was Stearns’ move to trade away Josh Hader at the trade deadline in August that was not well-received within the clubhouse.
Arnold has been Stearns’ right-hand man since joining the Brewers in 2015 as assistant general manager. He was promoted to his position as general manager in November 2020.
This article originally appeared on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: David Stearns steps down as Brewers president of baseball operations