David Stearns, the Brewers’ president of baseball operations, announced his resignation on Thursday, claiming he simply wants a vacation and has no plans to work for another team.
Stearns will continue to work with the Brewers as an advisor to owner Mark Attanasio. Matt Arnold, the Brewers’ senior vice president and general manager since 2020, will take over as president of baseball operations.
Stearns stated in a news conference that he is looking forward to having some time that he hasn’t had in a long time. I’m excited to take a deep breath. He is looking forward to spending time with his family as well as with his pals. And he’s excited to pursue some other hobbies. He, too, is not going anywhere. He will be present in Milwaukee.
The Brewers’ finest run of continuous success occurred during Stearns’ leadership. He joined the team as general manager in October 2015 and was promoted to president of baseball operations before the 2019 season.
The team’s franchise-record streak of four consecutive postseason berths came to an end this season when they finished 86-76, one game behind the World Series-bound Philadelphia Phillies for the National League’s last wild-card slot.
Milwaukee’s ability to win on a continuous basis as a cost-cutting team made Stearns a desirable prospect for other companies. Stearns, a native New Yorker, has long been rumored as a possible Mets front-office hire.
The Milwaukee Brewers have won 481 games in the last six seasons, trailing just the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves among National League teams. He oversaw the 2018 deal with the Miami Marlins that brought Christian Yelich to Milwaukee and helped elevate the Brewers to contender status.
Yelich was named the National League MVP in 2018, after the Brewers advanced to the NL Championship Series before falling one game short of their first World Series berth since 1982. The next season, Yelich finished second in the MVP voting.
