8 people the Chicago White Sox should consider for GM if they fire Rick Hahn
By Todd Welter
Beat out the New York Mets for David Stearns.
Stearns built the Milwaukee Brewers into a title contender despite being the smallest market club in baseball. He was hired in 2015 when he was 30.
Stearns shrewdly acquired Christian Yelich before the 2018 season and he went on to have an MVP season.
The team got to the NLCS that year despite not having an ace starting pitcher. Also, they were a few innings away from going to the World Series.
Corbin Burnes won an NL Cy Young while Stearns was in charge. The Crew made the playoffs from 2018-2021.
Stearns stepped down before this season with one year remaining on his deal. He is serving out that year in an advisory role. Once he is free, Stearns is rumored to be on New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s short list of candidates to run the team. It is believed Stearns is the only man on the list.
Reinsdorf was not a fan of Cohen joining the league’s ownership fraternity since Cohen is willing to spend money. Swooping in and hiring Stearns right out from under the Mets would be a big win for Reinsdorf.
Also, Stearns could bring manager Craig Counsell with him. Counsell’s contract is set to expire after the season, and it is unclear if he will stay with Milwaukee.
It would be a major coup if Jerry could get Stearns and Counsell. It would mean giving both a lot of money and Stearns a lot of power. Those are two things Reinsdorf is not inclined to do.
Tap this other Milwaukee Brewers front office person.
If Jerry wants to go with someone from the Brewers executive suite, there might be a cheaper option.
Tod Johnson is the Brewers’ amateur scouting director. He has had a great run of drafts.
The Brewers have five players in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 and three of them were drafted by Johnson.
Milwaukee is relying on rookies Sal Frelick, Joey Wiemer, and Brice Turang to help win the NL Central. These are all players Johnson drafted.
The Crew has done a great job of staying competitive by drafting players up the middle. Catcher, pitcher, second base, shortstop, and centerfield provide a better chance of getting big-league contributions because of the positional versatility. They do a great job of using the trade market to bolster their talent.
For example, Milwaukee was able to flip one prospect as part of a three-team trade to get William Contreras.
The Brewers have also done a good job of acquiring veteran talent and then later flipping them for prospects.
Johnson is part of a front office that has to be successful on shoestring budgets. Those are the budgets Jerry likes.