MILWAUKEE (AP) — David Stearns is stepping down as the Milwaukee Brewers’ president of baseball operations but will remain with the organization in an advisory role to owner Mark Attanasio, the team announced Thursday.
Matt Arnold, who has been the Brewers’ senior vice president and general manager since 2020, will take over the lead role in overseeing baseball operations.
Stearns had led the Brewers’ baseball operations during arguably the franchise’s greatest run of sustained success. He joined the Brewers in October 2015 as general manager and was named president of baseball operations before the 2019 season.
“This is not an easy decision for me and is something I have been wrestling with for a long time,” Stearns said in a statement. “Mark Attanasio and I have had an open dialogue and we both knew this day could eventually come. It has been a priority for both of us that any transition would take place while the organization is in a healthy position with solid leadership and a talented roster going forward. That is certainly the case today.”
A news conference is scheduled for later Thursday morning.
The Brewers’ franchise-record string of four straight playoff appearances ended this season when they went 86-76 and finished a game behind the World Series-bound Philadelphia Phillies for the NL’s final wild-card berth.
Stearns orchestrated the 2018 acquisition of Christian Yelich that helped turn the Brewers into legitimate contenders. Yelich won the MVP in 2018, when the Brewers reached the NL Championship Series and fell a game short from their first World Series appearance since 1982. Yelich finished second in the MVP balloting the following season.
This season, Stearns encountered strong criticism over sending four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline. The Brewers owned a three-game NL Central lead at the time of the trade but faded out of the playoff picture after Hader’s departure. The Padres reached the NLCS.
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