How do you think David Stearns' day is going?

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'm sure he's happy for Arnold and the rest of the front office, but damn, this has to sting at least a little bit.

[cragi]

2 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I'm sure he's happy for Arnold and the rest of the front office, but damn, this has to sting at least a little bit.

I doubt it. Unlike managers, GMs are measured by what they've left behind more than what they directly accomplished. So this is still his legacy accumulating value.

[tmwiese55]

Yea my guess is he's happy and proud.   While also have a little regret of leaving, like anyone would

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, cragi said:

I doubt it. Unlike managers, GMs are measured by what they've left behind more than what they directly accomplished. So this is still his legacy accumulating value.

Oh sure, he built a lot of what the Brewers are succeeding with right now, but leaving to go to the Mets - who sucked HARD this season - has to be frustrating.

[RobDeer 45]

How do we think Greg Counsell feels?

[Trail]

On 10/16/2026 at 10:42 AM, RobDeer 45 said:

How do we think Greg Counsell feels?

:)  :)  :)  :)  

But I'm not bitter (besides, we traded up...)  

[Trail]

For Stearns, he went home, to a club with more resources and you can't really blame him.  No hard feelings and I hope things turn around for him over there.  Good guy, it seemed.  That other guy.....um....well....  

[TURBO]

On 10/16/2026 at 10:42 AM, RobDeer 45 said:

How do we think Greg Counsell feels?

 

[TURBO]

Meh, who cares?

He left, we are better than ever, and playing in the World Series!

[MrTPlush]

David Stearns should be getting a World Series ring if we win two more games. Which if you are wondering, has happened before, Cubs did it.

Just as big apart of this team as Arnold.

[dlk9s]

 

[Austin Tatious]

As far as I’m concerned, Stearns set up the Brewers winning formula and convinced Mark how to run it. You saw a sea change and the whole infrastructure of the operation improved.  I was worried we would bleed front office talent in the aftermath and I credit Mark for keeping all the others Matt, Tod Johnson, Murph, Chris Hook et al. 

As for Stearns, after installing our program we frankly may be better off without him.  His strength is what he’s already done.  It’s not with what we need now.  

[TURBO]

Stearns wanted the bright lights of the big city.  He got them, and all the crap that comes with them.

Thanks to him for getting us started, but he's the enemy now, and chose to leave.  I hope he regrets his decision to leave until he retires.  To be honest, his decsion to leave is probably what put us over the top, as I do not believe he would have done the job Arnold has done.

I hold him in no better regard than Greg Counsell at this point...

[bm1090]

Stearns went home. Counsell left home for a rival.

I regard them very differently 

[SF70]

Stearns was the right man for the job at the time. It was his vision, with help from his first hire and right-hand man Matt Arnold that created the infrastructure we have today.

He convinced Attanasio to invest the $ into the infrastructure rebuilding and we have him to thank for that. Matt Arnold is more a scout and judge of talent than Stearns and has taken this organization to the next level. 

[liveforoctober]

Yeah Stearns and Counsell are in different stratospheres when it comes to how and why they left and the intention behind it. I would welcome Stearns back for the potential parade if he wanted to come. I would tell Counsell the wrong date and location if he asked.

[long ball]

So I don’t have a lot of angst over Stearns anymore. Initially I felt scorned, but I’ve gotten over it. 
 

funnily enough, outside of building the infrastructure of this organization, one of his final moves as PoBO may be one of the biggest reasons we end up winning the World Series. I’ll explain. 
 

in 2022 the brewers extended Ashby. Sure the plan was probably that he’d be an anchor in our rotation for the life of the deal, much like Freddy Peralta was. 
 

Some injuries and control issues derailed that, but he’s basically been a relief ace/fireman since he returned from injury in 2024. Not all that dissimilar of a relief role that Hader was being used in prior to his losing arbitration case which was followed by the “Hader rules”. 
 

however, since Ashby is already on a multi year guaranteed deal, he doesn’t need to impress an arbiter with his saves totals or games started. We’ve therefore been able to deploy Ashby in any situation necessary and this post season he may very well end up being the most important pitcher for a World Series winner.  

[OldSchoolSnapper]

14 hours ago, TURBO said:

Stearns wanted the bright lights of the big city.  He got them, and all the crap that comes with them.

Thanks to him for getting us started, but he's the enemy now, and chose to leave.  I hope he regrets his decision to leave until he retires.  To be honest, his decsion to leave is probably what put us over the top, as I do not believe he would have done the job Arnold has done.

I hold him in no better regard than Greg Counsell at this point...

He went to go run the team he was probably dreaming to play for when he was 10...not the same thing as Counsell at all.

If he were Counsell he'd leave the Mets the season after getting them back into the playoffs for more money from the Yankees and pretend he was doing it to "help all other GMs."

[Brock Beauchamp]

16 hours ago, dlk9s said:

 

To be clear, I don't begrudge Stearns for going to his hometown team at all. I only hold *some* contempt for Counsell.

In Stearns' case, this thread is more about the horrendous season the Mets just had, and the increasing Brewers' success. It has to be a slightly bitter pill.

[TURBO]

I don't feel the same feelings for Stearns that I feel for Counsell, I just no longer care that he is gone.  I can see how some of you took my post, but I didn't mean it the way most of you took it.

Both made a choice, and for different reasons.  Counsell got what he deserved, and to me, I enjoy what has transpired.  Imagine if he never wins the division during the course of his bloated contract?  That would be awesome! 

Stearns, I simply do not care.  I don't care if he succeeds, and I don't care if he has success.  He's just a part of our history now.

 

[Jopal78]

55 minutes ago, TURBO said:

I don't feel the same feelings for Stearns that I feel for Counsell, I just no longer care that he is gone.  I can see how some of you took my post, but I didn't mean it the way most of you took it.

Both made a choice, and for different reasons.  Counsell got what he deserved, and to me, I enjoy what has transpired.  Imagine if he never wins the division during the course of his bloated contract?  That would be awesome! 

Stearns, I simply do not care.  I don't care if he succeeds, and I don't care if he has success.  He's just a part of our history now.

 

Stearns almost assuredly has zero regret leaving the Brewers to go to the Mets. He planned his exit from Milwaukee years in advance. In fact, Stern resigning as president of baseball operations with one year left on his contract was actually doing the Brewers a favor instead of leaving them in the lurch. 

Counsell clearly wanted the money more than anything else and most likely has zero regrets leaving the Brewers either. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I feel much the same about Stearns. I don't care, but I have no ill feelings. 

I actually do think Counsell has feelings about it, but I'm not sure regret is the right word. $40 million can justify a lot in your head. I think Counsell is going to have feelings about how he is remembered by the city. I just don't think you can possibly shake all of that from your being, growing up 10 minutes away, having a parent work for the team, caring enough that you want to end your career playing for that team, then managing them nearly to the pinnacle of the game. When he retires and is well adjusted to his life of luxury and no pressure, I think he's going to have to have some feelings about what he did to his family's name in the minds of Brewers fans. I just don't think it's humanly possible not to experience some of that.

You'll never get me to believe that Counsell's dream wasn't winning the Brewers a World Series. To leave for their rival, then potentially watch them do it without you while you become the #1 enemy of most of the fans...there is no way that doesn't sting, no matter what bad acting he's doing for the media.

[Thurston Fluff]

18 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

David Stearns should be getting a World Series ring if we win two more games. Which if you are wondering, has happened before, Cubs did it.

Just as big apart of this team as Arnold.

He deserves some credit but he didn't come into an empty cupboard situation like Doug Melvin did. Melvin was a competent GM who brought the Brewers back to respectability. He never finished the job but he left the team with enough major league talent to restock the farm. A farm that wasn't exactly barren anyway. 

I think Mark A. deserves credit for sticking with Melvin and learning the ropes. It gave him time to understand the situation and learn what he needed to do for this team to succeed. Melvin, having successfully built two horrible franchises to respectability (even if he did fail to win it all with either) was a good person to help with that. The transition was easier for Stearns because he didn't have to tear it all down to the studs and start completely over. Plus he had an owner who took the time to learn from someone who understood how to build a decent team. All he had to do was implement his system into an already functional organization.

[MrTPlush]

7 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

He deserves some credit but he didn't come into an empty cupboard situation like Doug Melvin did. Melvin was a competent GM who brought the Brewers back to respectability. He never finished the job but he left the team with enough major league talent to restock the farm. A farm that wasn't exactly barren anyway. 

I think Mark A. deserves credit for sticking with Melvin and learning the ropes. It gave him time to understand the situation and learn what he needed to do for this team to succeed. Melvin, having successfully built two horrible franchises to respectability (even if he did fail to win it all with either) was a good person to help with that. The transition was easier for Stearns because he didn't have to tear it all down to the studs and start completely over. Plus he had an owner who took the time to learn from someone who understood how to build a decent team. All he had to do was implement his system into an already functional organization.

I don’t disagree, actually, back in the 2018 days I mentioned a lot how much of a great situation Melvin left Stearns to succeed. We were lucky Melvin was looking to retire and didn’t have the typical GM ego to go all-in while walking out the door.

Still, Stearns had to build the foundation for what we have now, which is far off what we did prior. Arnold though? Yah, he was absolutely given a goldmine of a situation. All he had to do was not screw it up and tweak some things. Props to Arnold though, none of this was assured either without good moves.

[MrTPlush]

55 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I feel much the same about Stearns. I don't care, but I have no ill feelings. 

I actually do think Counsell has feelings about it, but I'm not sure regret is the right word. $40 million can justify a lot in your head. I think Counsell is going to have feelings about how he is remembered by the city. I just don't think you can possibly shake all of that from your being, growing up 10 minutes away, having a parent work for the team, caring enough that you want to end your career playing for that team, then managing them nearly to the pinnacle of the game. When he retires and is well adjusted to his life of luxury and no pressure, I think he's going to have to have some feelings about what he did to his family's name in the minds of Brewers fans. I just don't think it's humanly possible not to experience some of that.

You'll never get me to believe that Counsell's dream wasn't winning the Brewers a World Series. To leave for their rival, then potentially watch them do it without you while you become the #1 enemy of most of the fans...there is no way that doesn't sting, no matter what bad acting he's doing for the media.

It’s gotta be a lonely feeling watching this all from afar. Wouldn’t be shocked if he is on a Cancun vacation to avoid it. 
 

Not sure what he envisioned as worst case when leaving, but I’m guessing the strong hatred from the fan base, being owned by the Brewers, and a potential Brewers World Series championship in a matter of a few years was not it.

Maybe Brewers should send him a pity ring if they win it all. The top opens to show his NL Division titles with the Cubs and a TV/Couch to honor his 2026 contributions.