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David Stearns

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David Stearns
Milwaukee Brewers
President of Baseball Operations
Born: (1985-02-18) February 18, 1985 (age 39)
Manhattan, New York

David Stearns (born February 18, 1985) is an American baseball executive who serves as the president of baseball operations for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Stearns previously served as the assistant general manager of MLB's Houston Astros, worked for the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, the Arizona Fall League, and in the baseball operations departments for the Cleveland Indians and New York Mets.

Early career

Stearns graduated from Harvard University with a degree in political science[1] in 2007. While he attended Harvard, he was a sports writer for The Harvard Crimson[2] and interned with the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB).[3]

After graduating from Harvard, Stearns worked for the baseball operations departments for the New York Mets and the Arizona Fall League.[4] He joined the MLB Central Office in 2008, where he worked on the negotiating team for MLB's collective bargaining agreement.[3][5] He spent his last 13 months in the central office as manager of labor relations, where he aided teams going through the process of salary arbitration. In December 2011, the Cleveland Indians hired Stearns and Derek Falvey as their co-directors of baseball operations, with Stearns focusing on player contracts, data analysis, and strategy, and Falvey working on player acquisitions.[6] In November 2012, the Houston Astros, who had lost over 100 games in both of the past two seasons, hired Stearns as assistant general manager, second only to Jeff Luhnow, the general manager.[4] While many organizations have multiple assistant general managers, the Astros employed only Stearns in the role.[7]

When talking about August 2015, Luhnow said of his staff: “There’s several people in our organization that have GM potential, and David’s one of them."[8] At that time, the Milwaukee Brewers began searching for a new general manager, prioritizing youth and experience with data analytics, which the Astros used in their rebuild.[8]

Milwaukee Brewers

On September 21, 2015, the Milwaukee Brewers named Stearns their next general manager, succeeding Doug Melvin, who they announced would remain with the team in an advisory role.[9] At thirty years of age, he became the youngest general manager in MLB, and is one year younger than the Brewers' Ryan Braun.[10][a] At his introductory press conference, Stearns endorsed Craig Counsell as the Brewers' manager.[11]

Stearns fired five of the Brewers' seven coaches,[12] and began to restructure the front office by reassigning Gord Ash, the assistant general manager, and Reid Nichols, the farm director within the organization,[13] and hiring Matt Arnold from the Tampa Bay Rays as assistant general manager.[14] During his first offseason as general manager, Stearns replaced half of the members of the Brewers' 40-man roster.[15] His first transactions included trading Jonathan Lucroy and acquiring Travis Shaw, Eric Thames, and Anthony Swarzak.[16]

In 2018, Stearns signed free agents Lorenzo Cain and Jhoulys Chacin, and executed the trade for Christian Yelich, who won the National League MVP in his first season as a Brewer. The Brewers were in second place in the NL Central by the MLB trade deadline, and he orchestrated moves to acquire Mike Moustakas, Curtis Granderson, Gio Gonzalez, and Jonathan Schoop. These trades bolstered the roster and put the Brewers in a position to make the playoffs. They won the division after defeating the Chicago Cubs in the 2018 National League Central tie-breaker game and beat the Colorado Rockies in the 2018 National League Division Series in three games. However, they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 National League Championship Series in seven games. Yelich was named 2018 NL MVP after the season. Stearns finished second in the MLB Executive of the Year voting, but was the highest voted NL executive.[citation needed]

In January 2019, the Brewers signed Stearns to a contract extension and promoted him to president of baseball operations and general manager.[17] After the 2020 season, the Brewers promoted Matt Arnold to general manager, with Stearns remaining president of baseball operations.[18]

Personal life

Stearns was born and raised in Manhattan. He is married to Whitney Ann Lee.[19]

Notes

  1. ^ Though Stearns is the youngest active general manager, Theo Epstein and Jon Daniels both became general managers at the age of 28.[10]

References

  1. ^ Lennon, David (June 1, 2013). "Baseball's new executives are Ivy Leaguers". Newsday. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  2. ^ https://www.thecrimson.com/writer/256236/David_H._Stearns/
  3. ^ a b Coppinger, Catherine E. (May 23, 2012). "Harvard Grad Thrives in Front-Office Role". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "New assistant GM brings impressive pedigree to job". Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  5. ^ "Milwaukee Brewers hire David Stearns for GM". Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  6. ^ "Derek Falvey and David Stearns hired as director of baseball operations for the Indians". Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  7. ^ Drellich, Evan (September 20, 2015). "Astros assistant GM David Stearns headed to Brewers". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Drellich, Evan (August 25, 2015). "David Stearns' stock grows with Astros success". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  9. ^ McCalvy, Adam (September 21, 2015). "Brewers pick Astros' Stearns to be GM". Major League Baseball.
  10. ^ a b Crasnick, Jerry (September 21, 2015). "Brewers make Astros' David Stearns, 30, MLB's youngest current GM". ESPN. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  11. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (September 21, 2015). "Brewers introduce David Stearns as new GM". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  12. ^ "Brewers GM Stearns retains two coaches, lets go of remaining five". Fox Sports. Associated Press. October 5, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  13. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (October 13, 2015). "Reid Nichols let go, Gord Ash removed from role as Brewers restructure". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  14. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (October 14, 2015). "Brewers name Tampa Bay's Matt Arnold as assistant GM". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  15. ^ Haudricourt, Tom (February 18, 2016). "Plenty of new faces as Brewers open spring training after active winter". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  16. ^ https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-gm-david-stearns-proving-shrewd/c-245657756
  17. ^ https://fox6now.com/2019/01/23/brewers-announce-promotions-extensions-for-stearns-schlesinger/
  18. ^ https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2020/11/19/brewers-promote-assistant-general-manager-matt-arnold-gm/3778109001/
  19. ^ "Milwaukee Brewers tab Astros assistant David Stearns general manager". FOX6Now.com. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
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