Stearns likely to be pursued in offseason

PHILADELPHIA — They say where there’s smoke, there’s fire and there appears to be some smoke signals coming from Citi Field.

The Mets appear poised to pursue Milwaukee Brewers advisor David Stearns to fill the vacant president of baseball operations role after his contract is up at the end of the season. At this point, it’s probably the worst-kept secret in baseball. It’s been widely reported that the former architect of the Brewers will be headed back home to New York to lead the baseball operations efforts of his childhood team. Industry sources have told the Daily News they believe it will happen.

The 38-year-old Stearns has long been coveted by the Mets and owner Steve Cohen. A Manhattan native with family in the area, Stearns previously worked for the Mets after graduating from Harvard. Cohen has pursued him in the past, but Brewers owner Mark Attanasio has denied the Mets permission to talk to his former head of baseball operations. Like many owners of small market clubs, Attanasio is sensitive to big market teams poaching talent.

But Stearns stepped down from his role as the club’s president of baseball operations last fall. He moved into an advisory role to fulfill the final year of his fiveyear contract. He’ll be a free agent this fall. The Mets could make him the highest-paid executive in baseball, with speculation that Cohen will offer him a salary higher than that of Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball ops, Andrew Friedman. With bonuses, Friedman’s fiveyear, $35 million contract pays him over $7 million per year.

This wouldn’t necessarily change the Mets’ front office structure. General manager Billy Eppler is believed to be friendly with Stearns and has great respect for members of the Milwaukee front office, many of which were hired by Stearns. Rather, it would give the Mets more front-office leadership from someone who is said to be a very process-oriented and data-driven executive. One source praised Stearns’ organizational management abilities.

The Mets are attempting to build a new culture. The team is currently in the third year of Cohen’s ownership and boasts the largest payroll in the league, but is largely underperforming.

Mets headed to London:

The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies will play a two-game series in London next season as MLB takes another rivalry abroad. League commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the June 8-9 games at London Stadium on Friday, ahead of this weekend’s series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs.

“We think our game is at its best when we have traditional rivals playing and we want to show the fans here in London the very best form of baseball,” Manfred said.

The first MLB series in the British capital — and in Europe — featured the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in 2019.

“We want to show our best when we come someplace special like London. We do regard London to be special — of strategic importance to us,” Manfred said.