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PLATINUM · September 26, 2026
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HENRI IV · September 26, 2026

Mets Hire Derek Falvey as Senior Adviser, Adding Twins' Former POBO to Stearns' Front Office

The move reunites Falvey with Stearns from their Cleveland days and signals Cohen's willingness to stack analytical depth.

The New York Mets hired Derek Falvey as senior adviser to president of baseball operations David Stearns, bringing aboard the executive who ran the Minnesota Twins' front office from 2016 through 2023. Falvey reports directly to Stearns and will work across scouting, analytics, and player development—the same infrastructure domains he oversaw in Minneapolis for eight seasons.

Falvey and Stearns worked together in Cleveland's front office from 2006 to 2015, when both were ascending lieutenants under Chris Antonetti. Stearns left to run Milwaukee's baseball operations in late 2015; Falvey followed four months later to Minnesota. The hire marks owner Steve Cohen's third significant front office addition since Stearns arrived in October 2023, following assistant GM Ryan Halloran and director of pitching development Jeremy Hefner. Cohen's front office now carries four executives with president or GM experience on their résumés.

The Twins went 624-648 under Falvey's tenure, reaching the playoffs four times but winning zero postseason series. Minnesota developed Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, and Jose Miranda during that span, but the organization's player development record remains mixed—Lewis has played 159 career games through age 25 due to recurring knee injuries, and the Twins ranked 23rd in WAR produced by homegrown position players from 2020 through 2024. Falvey's Minnesota teams did, however, lead MLB in stolen base success rate from 2022 through 2024 at 81.3%, a data point the Mets' new baserunning coordinator will likely reference.

The role creates redundancy by design. Stearns already employs assistant GMs Halloran, Marc Tramuta, and Jake Eisenberg, plus senior vice president of baseball operations Ian Levin. Falvey's title—senior adviser, not assistant GM—suggests project-based assignments rather than day-to-day operations. He will not attend MLB owners' meetings or represent the Mets in trade calls. The structure mirrors how the Dodgers deployed Josh Byrnes from 2015 to 2021, when he held the same title under Andrew Friedman and spent most of his time on international scouting infrastructure and medical staff optimization.

Falvey brings specific institutional knowledge the Mets need. He built Minnesota's $22 million player development complex in Fort Myers, which opened in 2018 and includes biomechanics labs the Mets' current Port St. Lucie facility lacks. He also oversaw the Twins' shift to Edgertronic high-speed cameras for pitcher development in 2019, two years before most clubs adopted the technology. The Mets ranked 19th in pitcher development WAR from 2020 through 2024, and Stearns has made rebuilding that pipeline his stated priority since taking the job.

The hire also gives Stearns a peer-level sounding board who has navigated owner impatience. Twins owner Jim Pohlad spent $173 million on Carlos Correa, Joey Gallo, and Christian Vázquez in the 2022-23 offseason, only to fire Falvey nine months later when the team missed the playoffs. Falvey now advises an owner who spent $765 million on Juan Soto and has told confidants he expects a World Series by 2027. The advisory role carries no performance pressure and allows Falvey to rebuild his reputation without the public accountability of a GM seat.

Stearns' willingness to hire a former peer signals comfort rather than insecurity. Falvey was a candidate for the Mets' POBO role in 2023 before Cohen hired Stearns. The two executives have stayed in regular contact, and Falvey attended Stearns' son's birthday party in Scottsdale last March, according to a person who was there. The Mets' front office now includes three executives—Stearns, Falvey, and Levin—who all worked in Cleveland's analytics department before 2010, when the Indians were building the infrastructure other teams later copied.

Watch for Falvey's fingerprints on the Mets' 2025 international spending plan, due in mid-March. Minnesota led MLB in international prospect signings from Latin America during his tenure, converting $41 million in bonus pool money into 12 players who became top-100 prospects. The Mets have the league's third-largest international budget this cycle at $6.2 million and need to replace the pipeline depth they traded for Francisco Lindor and Kodai Senga. Falvey will also likely consult on the Mets' next minor league pitching coordinator hire, expected before spring training opens February 12.

The advisory role is a one-year contract with a team option for 2026. If the Mets win, Falvey rehabilitates his GM candidacy for the next cycle. If they collapse, he exits quietly and keeps his Zoom background blur on.

The takeaway
Stearns adds Twins' ex-POBO Falvey as senior adviser, stacking front office depth and gaining a Fort Myers development playbook Cohen's Port St. Lucie complex needs.
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