Hour 1: Dan Rourke

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This is The Michael Kay Show Podcast.

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Listen live weekdays at 1 on the ESPN New York app and your smart speaker.

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Yeah, that's right.

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**Jake Asman** (0:45)
Jake Asbit. In for Michael till 3 o'clock. Hope everyone's having a great Tuesday. Thanks for spending part of your day with us. It's Tuesday, July 21st, 2026 We got you till 3, as I just said, and we got plenty to discuss following last night's outcome in the Yankees and the Pirates and the Mets and the Brewers. And what's funny about the Mets losing last night is that it's not because Jacob Masurowski just dominated them. He's coming back from an injury scare, so his innings are limited. He didn't even pitch deep into the game and it didn't matter. And I don't know how Steve Cohen could watch the end of this year and be 100% on board with just bringing back David Sterns. I'm not saying one baseball game in July when the Mets season has been far over should influence that decision. But when you watched the game last night and you see Peralta, who was the ace of the Brewers, the big move the Mets needed to make to improve their pitching staff, get absolutely bombed by the team that traded them away. And the Brewers now, with the Dodgers losing last night, actually now have the best record in baseball. You look at how good they've been in the three years since David Stearns left them to where the Mets have gotten worse, the more involved David Stearns has been making his own moves. I don't know how Steve Kuhn could just say without any hesitation, David Stearns is finishing out his contract, he's our guy, and you're going to let him make some pretty notable decisions here, major decisions perhaps, come trade deadline, which is under two weeks from where we are now on the calendar, August 3rd, 6 p.m., Deadline Day.
Again, it's one game and the Mets season has been over for a while, we know that, but I think the broader discussion from that game last night is, what does the Brewers' continued success say about David Stearns? Stearns leaves Milwaukee three seasons ago, yet the Brewers continue to operate like one of the best teams in baseball. They have the best record in the major leagues. You know where their payroll ranks? 20th.
Their scouting is better than the Mets, their player development is better than the Mets, their pitching infrastructure and organizational philosophy is better than the Mets. Now, Stearns gets, I guess, some credit for this, because he was there as they were building this stuff, but how could you watch all the moves David Stearns made, watch Milwaukee continue to have all the success, and be like, yep, that's the guy we definitely need to keep as our top baseball executive. Let him oversee the trade deadline, let him try and revamp the team going in the 2027, assuming we have baseball. I quite frankly don't know how you could just do that without any hesitation if you're Steve Cohen. Well, Jake, you can't fire another GM, who's going to want the job? Anyone could do a better job than what we have seen David Stearns do to this point. That can't be the reason you don't make a change. Well, who's going to want the job? That can't be the reason.
You move on if you have lost faith in the guy, you have faith in the guy, that's one thing, but I can't sit here and understand how Steve Cohen, as smart as he apparently is, would have faith in David Stearns based on what? Because he could understand data and give you a bunch of analytic terms that justify these moves that have all failed, with the exception of just a few. What's the argument for keeping David Stearns other than, well, we don't want to have another search for a GM? That's lazy, is it not? Again, the Brewers are 63 and 37 They have the best record in the Major Leagues.
Their 63 wins are the most through 100 games in franchise history. Their payroll is $133 million, 20th in the league, as you heard me say just before. And then you look at the Mets and how dysfunctional they are. The questions you have top to bottom about how the team has been put together, what's the argument for keeping David Stearns other than, well, I don't really feel like doing another search.