When David Stearns took over as the Mets’ new president of baseball operations at the end of this season, it quickly became clear who one of his top candidates would be to replace Buck Showalter as his club’s new manager.
Due to their close ties, Milwaukee Brewers skipper Craig Counsell was linked to New York throughout the search, which is exactly why it came as a surprise to many including Stearns when he landed in Chicago on a historic deal.
“I didn’t see that coming,” Stearns told reporters Tuesday at the GM Meetings. “Craig can play things really close to the vest, and in this case, clearly he kept things very close to the vest because none of us had any idea of where this was headed.”
Counsell interviewed twice with New York, before ultimately deciding as the week went along that he wanted to join Chicago for the next five years, which is when Stearns says the Mets pivoted their search.
“We were running a robust process throughout, so we were having conversations with many candidates. As last week went along and it became clear that Craig was thinking elsewhere, that formed our process and how we moved moving forward,” Stearns said.
New York, of course, went on to reach an agreement with then-Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza, who was also seen as a very strong candidate throughout the interview process.
Though things didn’t quite work out between Stearns and Counsell this time around, the 38-year-old says he holds no ill will against the skipper whom he worked with for the past nine seasons in Milwaukee.
“I love Craig, we’re very good friends and we’re going to be close for a long time,” Stearns said. “Throughout this process what I’ve told Craig is that he needs to make the best choice for himself and his family for what really gets him going.
“Ultimately he’s a really smart guy, he factored in all the information and he made the right decision for himself.”