Brewers GM thinks he ‘ruined’ David Stearns’ anniversary dinner with blockbuster Mets trade

Hopefully David Stearns and his wife had an early anniversary dinner Wednesday night.

Brewers president Matt Arnold claimed the two pals completed their blockbuster Freddy Peralta trade on the day of the Mets’ president of baseball operations’ wedding anniversary to his wife, Whitney Ann Lee.

“He knows the players well. He and I have worked very well together for many years. Obviously care about him a lot,” Arnold said, according to the Journal Sentinel. “(Wednesday)’s his anniversary and I was at his wedding. We go back a long way. I think I might have ruined his anniversary dinner. He’s a dear friend and hopefully these are the types of trades that work out for both sides.”

David Stearns and his wife, Whitney Ann Lee. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The life of a baseball partner can be difficult due to the long hours and the never-ending season and offseason, with holidays, anniversaries and birthdays sometimes coming second.

Stearns and Lee married in 2017, when he was the Brewers’ general manager, and they have at least one child together, daughter Nora, born in 2018.

We assume that Arnold and Stearns had made plenty of progress before finally pushing this trade past the finish line Wednesday night.

The Mets needed a frontline pitcher and acquired Peralta, who posted a career-best 2.70 ERA spanning 33 starts last year.

Peralta has one year left on his contract, and the Mets capitalized on Milwaukee’s small-market operation that largely prevents them from signing star players to nine-figure contract extensions.

That’s not to say Peralta came cheap.

Brewers general manager Matt Arnold. AP

The Mets parted ways with MLB.com’s No. 30 prospect in infielder Jett Williams and starter Brandon Sproat, whom Baseball America ranked No. 81.

Milwaukee also sent swingman Tobias Meyers to the Mets.

“The reality is we have one year left with Freddy Peralta. He’s a free agent at the end of the season. That’s always going to be a challenge for us,” Arnold said. “We’ve had to make these tough decisions. To add two players that we like and have them as a part of this group this season and well beyond that is something that we felt is very good for the Milwaukee Brewers.”

For the Mets, this move likely puts a bow on their offseason after a January flurry including Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr. and now Peralta.

“Acquiring Freddy adds another established starter to help lead our rotation,” Stearns said in a statement. “Throughout the off season, we sought to complement our rotation with another front-end pitcher, and we’re thrilled we are able to bring Freddy to the Mets.”