Steve Cohen hired David Stearns for the big picture. The Mets owner has not disguised his ambitions: He wants to be the Dodgers East.

That mainly means that the club will have a feeder system that annually provides both depth and stars for the roster and always has the prospect collateral to make a trade while at the same time having the financial resources to chase difference-makers.

Cohen, obviously, has the money part down. What has been lacking is a fertile farm. Cohen has conceded it takes years — very plural — to build such a system, even as he has tried to speed it up by using his financial might. He willingly provides every modern bell and whistle and essentially has bought prospects in the trades of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

He also hired Stearns to oversee a behemoth. But Stearns’ history in Milwaukee does not suggest he oversaw a teeming farm system.

Before we get to the downside, let’s deal with the potential upside. Again, these matters take years to get right and deliver lots of impact. And Stearns, even when he stepped down running day-to-day operations after the 2022 season, left the Brewers with perhaps the top prospect in the game in outfielder Jackson Chourio, who was signed out of Venezuela in January 2021.

Stearns took over running the Brewers’ baseball operations in September 2015. Because international players out of Latin America are usually signed so young, it takes awhile to assess how any organization has done. The Brewers believe that since 2017 their international operation began to purr better with not just Chourio coming, but reliever Abner Uribe emerging in the majors this year plus catcher Jefferson Quero and outfielders Luis Lara and Yophrey Rodriguez percolating in the minors.

There is another group of players who that rose to the majors in 2023 who the Brewers believe strongly will be part of their positional core moving forward with Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell (who had a cup of coffee in 2022), Brice Turang and Joey Wiemer — plus third baseman Tyler Black might emerge as early as 2024.

But it is difficult to see a great haul if you are just looking at what the Brewers had in the majors in 2023.

I do a project every year in which I put every player back with the organization that signed him to his first pro contract. It gives me an idea which teams do well and poorly — and in what areas. I have decided this space is a good one to showcase some of the work, thus my plan is to do a countdown from No. 30 to No. 1 of the organizations that have done the best. This will essentially be “Roster stuff maybe only I think about” during this offseason.

Now, the way I am doing that is to form 26-man rosters for each organization consisting of its originally signed players. There is no perfect way to determine the best. Because would you rather have produced five great prospects, but be unable to form a roster, or be able to fill every positional slot, but lack difference-making assets? Still, I thought this would be both fun and revealing in showing which teams do the best and worst in finding talent in all areas. 

There are complications here, such as what do you do when forming the Mets roster and considering Jacob deGrom made just six starts. I had that issue with the Brewers, for example, with Drew Rasmussen, who made just eight starts for the Rays before needing surgery and missing the rest of the season. Let’s just say we will offer our best efforts. We will try to replicate a major league roster with 13 pitchers and 13 position players and attempt to make sure every club has a backup catcher and middle infielder, etc. — basically what an actual roster would look like.

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And for 30th worst, you certainly could have picked the A’s or the Nationals or a few other clubs. But I went with the Brewers because — among other reasons — you couldn’t make a team. 

Remember that the players listed here might have played elsewhere in 2023, but they were originally Brewers. And from that group, David Fry was the only original Brewer who played in 2023 at catcher — and he started just eight games behind the plate. Fry and Weston Wilson combined for eight innings at third base. The starting rotation could not be completed even if you included Rasmussen with Corbin Burnes, Reese Olson (18 starts) and Brandon Woodruff (11 starts and likely to miss all of next season after needing shoulder surgery). The only other starts from original Brewers were openers — three by Miguel Diaz and two each by Jose Cuas and Brent Suter.

The Brewers had 35 original signs in the majors this year. Only the A’s (28) and the Nationals (32) had fewer. They were tied with Oakland for the second-fewest international signs at four (Baltimore had two). Of those, shortstop Orlando Arcia was by far the best, but Uribe represents the only one who came from the period from 2016-2022 during which Stearns was in charge. Again, Chourio and Quero can change that perception as early as next season.

Among the drafted Brewers who played in 2023 and predate Stearns’ time in charge are Michael Brantley, Mitch Haniger, Garrett Cooper, Trent Grisham, Suter and Woodruff.

The best selection of Stearns’ reign came in his first draft when Burnes was taken in the fourth round. But in the first round, Milwaukee took outfielder Corey Ray with the fifth pick. Among others, Wisconsin schoolboy Gavin Lux was available in that first round. The following year, the Brewers took second baseman Keston Hiura with the ninth overall pick in what was an uninspiring first round of talent, and Hiura’s bat never allowed his subpar glove to become acceptable in the majors. 

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Now, to the credit of the Stearns administration, he generally was expert in trading and roster building, and that forged a steady winner. Since taking Hiura, the best pick the Brewers have had is 15th overall. There is still a lot of hope for some of the first-round picks who followed Hiura, such as Turang, Mitchell and Wiemers.

But it remains tougher to compete when, for example, your division rivals are outdoing you in amateur talent accumulation. 

Some examples: The Brewers had just five of their original signs accumulate 300-plus plate appearances this season. The Cardinals had 17 and the Cubs had 16. Arcia and Garrett Cooper tied for the original-Brewer high in homers this year at 17. The Cubs had nine original signs reach 20 or more.

The Brewers had just three original signs make 10 or more starts — only the A’s (one) had fewer. The Cardinals had 10 and the Reds had seven. 

That the Brewers persistently thrived in the NL Central reflects well on Stearns’ roster-building skills and in maximizing what the organization had internally. It also reflects well on potentially soon-to-be free-agent manager Craig Counsell.

But to date the organization just has not produced major league results at a high level.

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This is our best attempt at a Brewers originals team:

Catcher: Fry
First base: Cooper
Second base: Turang
Shortstop: Arcia
Third base: Wilson
Left field: Grisham
Center field: Wiemer
Right field: Frelick
DH: Brantley

Bench (without a backup catcher): Haniger, Mitchell, David Hamilton and Tyrone Taylor

The rotation would have Cuas as an opener, plus Burnes, Olson, Rasmussen and Woodruff (the last two finished the season hurt).

Devin Williams would close, and the rest of the bullpen would be Suter, Uribe, Lucas Erceg, Jorge Lopez, Nick Ramirez, Peter Strzelecki and Caleb Thielbar.

Let’s take this in a bit of a different direction this week. What I have been wondering for some reason is who has a better shot to ultimately be voted into the Hall of Fame: Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani?

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Now, maybe both will make it or neither will, or only one will.

I am just asking: If you had to gamble on one or the other right now, which way would you go?

At this point, neither has played the requisite 10 seasons to be eligible. Both have been AL Rookie of the Year. Both have won an MVP and finished second once, though Ohtani is likely to win again when voting is revealed next month.

Ohtani is the most unique player in major league history for his ability to hit and pitch at the level he has — he finished fourth for the AL Cy Young last season. Judge, who also has a fourth-place MVP finish, has the American League home run record with 62.

Ohtani never has appeared in the postseason. Judge has, but hasn’t thrived (.211 average, 33.3 percent strikeout rate) despite 13 homers in 44 games.

Ohtani, who underwent his second Tommy John surgery, will not pitch next year (at least). And questions will persist about how long he can continue to do both. Ohtani is mainly a closed book about, well, everything. But players who have played with him believe that legacy — trying to be the greatest player ever — drives his single-mindedness about the game. Thus, those players believe he will attempt to pitch and hit simultaneously for as long as possible.

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I wonder if that legacy quest also influences his choice in free agency. Does he, for example, continue to favor comfort and a place that lets him do pretty much what he wants and therefore stays with the Angels? Does he feel that playing for a consistent contender matters most for legacy, and puts, say, the Dodgers to the front of the list? Does he avoid a home park difficult for lefty power hitters, such as San Francisco’s Oracle Park, though, of course, Barry Bonds did play his home games there for a good deal of his career?

Judge is locked in with the Yankees, having signed a nine-year, $360 million contract last offseason.

Judge is two years and two months older than Ohtani, and winning another MVP and/or getting to 500 homers (he has 257) would pave a clearer path to Cooperstown. But if Ohtani is unique due to his pitching/hitting accomplishments, Judge is a rarity due to his 6-foot-7, 280-pound size. There are just not a lot of comparables to get a feel for how he may age (Judge will be in his age-32 season next year).

His potential for injury moving forward feels even greater than Ohtani’s. Ohtani may not be able to pitch at some point, but perhaps he could then move to a position in the field rather than just DH.

Part of this maybe is who has a better shot at 500 homers: Judge at those 257 or the younger Ohtani at 171?

Both are special. Both might ultimately reach Cooperstown. But if you had to pick one or the other for the best chance, who would it be?  

Corbin Burnes from the Brewers to the Dodgers for Michael Busch and Emmet Sheehan

I detailed last week why I thought Woodruff’s shoulder injury, which could keep him out all of next season, could further motivate the Brewers to trade Burnes before he begins his walk year in 2024. The short version: It will be much harder to contend without Woodruff. The Brewers had a nasty arbitration last year with Burnes, but even if the sides had experienced nothing but kumbaya, Milwaukee historically is not the type of organization that would make the long-term outlay necessary to retain Burnes. And Milwaukee is the type of organization that prioritizes being proactive with its roster/payroll and getting ahead of situations.

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It might be that with Woodruff, Burnes and shortstop Willy Adames each entering their walk years that the Brewers have to entertain the concept of at least a mild recalibration if not outright rebuild. One proviso: Woodruff’s injury timeline is such that I would expect the Brewers will either non-tender him rather than pay him $10 million-plus to basically not play, or they will work out, say, a two-year deal in which he rehabs in 2024 and tries to rebuild his value in 2025 to then go back out into free agency.

In a market with so many teams craving starting pitching and a free-agent market that cannot fill all the needs adequately, I expect teams who would consider trading high-end starting to be strongly tempted by suitors. So besides Burnes, I would think the Guardians with Shane Bieber, the White Sox with Dylan Cease, the Rays with Tyler Glasnow and the Pirates with Mitch Keller — at minimum — are going to get lots of inquiries.

Burnes’ market will be somewhat chilled because he has just the one year of control left before free agency. But he is so good — likely to finish in the top seven of the NL Cy Young voting for a fourth straight year — and the market is so desperate for the availability of a pitcher like him that I still would expect the bidding to be great, if indeed the Brewers decide to sell.

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The Dodgers would have a ton of competition for Burnes. But I picked them because:

1. They were willing to acquire Mookie Betts after the 2019 season, going into his walk year, with the confidence they could sign him long-term. I would think they would feel similarly with Burnes.

1. Yet another postseason flameout in which their rotation was largely to blame — this time for being swept in the Division Series by the Diamondbacks — leaves the Dodgers motivated to reload.

1. There are many teams with strong farm systems, but the Dodgers have a depth that would allow the Brewers to essentially form a player buffet line.

I used Busch and Sheehan for this exercise. But it could be a position player and a pitcher with upside and lots of control — for example, Miguel Vargas and Ryan Pepiot or Andy Pages and Gavin Stone or … well, you get the point. The Dodgers could trade and still have plenty left. The Brewers will have their preferences, and it is possible Burnes is so in demand that it necessitates a three- or four-player package and Busch/Sheehan is just an appetizer.

But what I find intriguing about the Dodgers and Brewers is the potential to go from blockbuster to super blockbuster.

For example, do the Brewers see this as a complete reset moment and are willing to trade elite closer Devin Williams, two years from free agency, as well? It brought huge blowback, but the Brewers (under Stearns) traded closer Josh Hader at the 2022 deadline with the lefty 1 1/2 years from free agency. If the Brewers put Burnes and Williams into one deal, how much would the Dodgers (or any interested club) be willing to give up? Again, the Dodgers have the prospect collateral to do just about any deal and lots of motivation to go for it.

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Here is one other thought: To drop under the luxury tax, the Red Sox included David Price in the Betts deal with the Dodgers agreeing to pay half of what was owed Price for three more years (the Dodgers’ bill was $48 million), which also lowered the prospect return they had to surrender to Boston. I thought this was as big a mistake as Chaim Bloom made in his four years running the Red Sox’s baseball operations: You do not lower the value of a Mookie Betts if you feel you have to trade him.

But there is that precedent as a way for one organization to trim substantial payroll while the other organization gives up lesser prospects to facilitate that. And Christian Yelich has five years at $136.5 million left on his contract. If the Brewers are thinking about starting to build toward their next sustained run (they have made the playoffs in five of the past six seasons), then how much would the Brewers want to get out of that money and Yelich’s age 32-36 seasons? He has a complete no-trade clause, but grew up in Southern California as a Dodgers fan.

Yelich has not performed to the standard of his first-place and second-place NL MVP finishes in 2018-19, but he had his best year since then in 2023 with 19 homers, 28 steals and a 124 OPS-plus. In Milwaukee, he has had to be “The Man.” But on the Dodgers, he would be more protected in a lineup with Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Will Smith and Lux returning from knee surgery.

But if we are going to note Yelich’s origin story, well, Lux grew up in Kenosha, Wis., as a Brewers fan. And once Adames is gone, Milwaukee will need a long-term shortstop. And …

You get the picture. These two franchises can have quite the conversation about how big or focused they would want to make a trade centering around Burnes.