The Milwaukee Brewers have found their new General Manager in 30-year old David Stearns. Stearns’ quick rise to power is a bit surprising, but one look at his résumé, and it it’s easy to see what the Brewers’ – mainly owner Mark Attanasio – saw in Stearns. The move replaces former GM Doug Melvin (who stepped down on August 11th after 13 seasons with Milwaukee).
Melvin still has an advisory role with the Brewers, so given that Milwaukee still has the experienced Melvin on their payroll, taking in a young GM is a risk worth taking. The former GM will still have a voice, and can offer some advice while Stearns learns on the job. Having Melvin available like that may prove invaluable for Stearns.
The new GM, however, is hardly made from the same baseball cloth as the old. In fact, the Brewers’ hiring symbolizes the continuing shift in baseball towards the analytical, and away from hiring the “baseball lifer”-types.
While not the youngest GM to ever be hired (Theo Epstein and Jon Daniels, respectively, were both 28 when they were given GM duties by the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers), Stearns will be given the task of running a team that has several players on the roster that are older than he is, which certainly offers an interesting dynamic.
Per Stearns’ Wikipedia profile, he graduated from Harvard in 2007 with a political science degree, but has worked within the baseball world since before graduating. While a student, Stearns interned with the Pittsburgh Pirates, then worked for the New York Mets after graduating. He then held a couple positions within the league offices, where he worked on the league’s collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its players, and as an arbitrator, dealing with teams and players who went through salary arbitration during the off-season. In 2011, he became the Cleveland Indians’ Director of Baseball Operations, a titled he held until November 2012, when he was hired by the Houston Astros as Assistant General Manager. It seems only logical that becoming General Manger was his next career step sooner or later. By taking over in Milwaukee, that step towards running an MLB organization came sooner.
Upon Doug Melvin’s resignation, Attanasio made no secret that he wanted to join the ranks of MLB teams with GMs who came from outside baseball, and bring an analytical background (something Doug Melvin did not), rather than baseball experience. Although it’s hard to argue that Stearns doesn’t have much baseball experience, given how much he’s worked and accomplished in baseball in such a short time.
With Stearns now on board, Milwaukee now has one of the youngest management groups in all of baseball. Owner Attanasio is 57, manager Craig Counsell is 45, and as mentioned, Stearns is just 30. Of course, with any new GM comes the chance the new voice wants a new manager, so Counsell’s job could potentially be a casualty of the Stearns hire, but at his introductory press conference, Stearns voiced confidence in Counsell’s ability as manager, and strongly suggested Counsell will stay on as manager, albeit not guaranteeing it outright.
Those who follow the Brewers know that Mark Attanasio isn’t all that media friendly. He’s not necessarily media unfriendly, but given he does most of his business in New York City and Los Angeles (he doesn’t even maintain an office in Milwaukee), his appearances as Brewers’ owner can seem few and far between. His actions, however, speak volumes about the direction he wants to take his franchise. When he bought the team during the winter of 2005, the Brewers’ minor league system was flush with talent and on the cusp of making a couple postseason runs. In order to secure those postseason appearances, the team drained their farm system to acquire the likes of CC Sabathia, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and others. Now that Milwaukee bottomed out this season under Melvin, it’s evident that Attanasio envisions a youth movement for his team, both on the field and in management.
In trading for Sabathia, Greinke, Marcum, and others the Brewers depleted minor league system ranked near the bottom (or very bottom, depending on whom you ask) in all of MLB. In trading away Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra, along with a few consecutive solid efforts in the draft, and some pleasant surprises as far as player development, the Brewers may enter next season pushing towards the top-10 in talent below the major league level, so the influx of youth in all levels will be (or should be) a welcome change for Brewer fans, and the new GM signifies change for the Milwaukee Brewers as much, or more, than any other move they have made. It may take a few seasons for Milwaukee to reach the playoffs again (especially given how competitive the rest of the NL Central has become), but the Brewers’ mission statement now has some much-needed clarity.
