David Stearns is in no hurry to add a general manager to the Mets' organizational hierarchy.
The position remained vacant after Billy Eppler left last offseason after an MLB investigation determined he violated rules regarding the use of injured reserve.
Stearns, the team's president of baseball operations, said Wednesday he was “not keen” on hiring a general manager.
“I think we have a good group here and I'm happy with the front office's performance overall,” Stearns said. “I think we have a great leadership team.”
During the season, it was announced that Assistant General Manager Ian Levine and Director of Major League Operations Elizabeth Benn would be leaving the team.
Stearns' senior aides include special assistant Eduardo Brizuela, senior vice president of baseball operations Jonathan Strangio and assistant general manager Ben Zausmer.
“If someone is available, I think it would be really hard to pass up.” [for GM] Then we would definitely consider it,” Stearns said. “But I think we've got a pretty good group together, so we're not going to enjoy going through a huge search process here.”
Ronnie Mauricio could be used at multiple positions next season, but Stearns won't start thinking about where Mauricio would be best suited until the infielder resumes baseball activities.
Mauricio underwent surgery last winter to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, followed by additional surgery to remove scar tissue from his knee.
“We're going through almost a year now without any baseball activities, and that's our goal as an organization,” Stearns said. “I think we're making progress. It's certainly been a lot slower than we anticipated, but we need to get him back on the field and doing some baseball activities before we can start thinking about what the placement is going to be.” There is.”
Stearns supported the team's coaching staff, but declined to say he would keep it in place next season.
Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes are holdovers from the previous system.
“At the end of each season, we have a little bit of an evaluation period as an organization,” Stearns said. “We're experiencing it now, so we're not at a stage where we can make definitive statements yet. I can say that I'm generally satisfied with the performance of the major league staff, and I think we have a lot of good coaches. I think so.”
