David Stearns’ surprise decision to step down as the Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations and into an advisory role on Thursday led to immediate speculation that the Mets would seek to interview him.
Owner Steve Cohen then stated definitively that he will not do so any time soon.
"Billy [Eppler] is in charge," Cohen told SNY. "We're focused on other things right now."
Mets people have long insisted that the link between Cohen and Stearns has been overstated for the past year. At some point down the line, Cohen will probably seek to meet with Stearns to see if there is a fit. But that won’t happen now.
Cohen is happy with Billy Eppler’s first year in charge of baseball operations, and enjoys working with him on a personal level. He is seeking a new team president, but not -- at this time, anyway -- a new president of baseball operations. That will likely change one day, when the president could be Eppler or someone else.
For what it’s worth, agents have also been talking about what a relief it is, after last fall’s organizational instability, to deal with Eppler as head of Mets baseball ops.
"Billy is a good guy, a good GM, and they’ve really cleaned it up there," one prominent agent said earlier this week.
In a news conference in Milwaukee, Stearns didn't seem ready to move anyway.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said. "I'm going to be here in Milwaukee."
Well, for the next year anyway, until his contract expires.