How to Become a General Manager

EPISODE 203: The guy behind the biggest deal in sports history.

The person I’ve tricked into visiting our studio today, as pitchers and catchers report for spring training, has — by any measure — a dream job.

At age 39, David Stearns is the president of baseball operations for the New York Mets: the historically despondent team he grew up obsessing over. Which has now become one of the most fascinating teams in all of sports.

In December, Stearns stole Juan Soto away from the Yankees — my childhood team — by signing the star outfielder to the biggest contract in the history of sports: a 15-year deal worth $765 million.

And not long before that, in the fall, you may have even spotted Stearns on television lurking around the edges of his champagne-soaked clubhouse, overseeing the Mets’ cinematic run to the National League Championship Series.

But I first encountered David H. Stearns more than 20 years ago, back when we were freshmen just learning to write about sports for our college newspaper. And while he’s now the subject of intense press coverage, himself, I consider at least one hard-hitting column he wrote a key piece of Crimson lore, to this day.

What I had never done until today, however, was find out how, exactly, Dave went from power-washing bathrooms to working for the richest owner in baseball; what it’s like to finally make Yankee fans jealous; if he still listens to sports radio; and whether he even knows who Grimace is.

YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:

Calmly,

Pablo