ORLANDO, Fla. — Edwin Díaz‘s years-long run with the Mets, in which he entrenched himself as one of the top closers in baseball, has come to an end.
Díaz has agreed to a three-year, $69 million deal to join the Dodgers, a source confirmed on Tuesday, ending his time in New York after seven years and six full seasons. The Mets’ final offer was three years and $66 million with slight deferrals, according to a source, and team officials made it known they had room to improve. However, Díaz chose the Dodgers before that happened.
The Mets will almost certainly proceed with recent acquisition Devin Williams as their closer and build out their bullpen in front of him. Left-handers A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley are slated to serve as setup men, but outside of those two, the bullpen currently has few certainties. The Mets figure to continue adding arms on guaranteed deals over the course of the winter, diversifying their assets rather than paying a significant haul to any one reliever.
That strategy ultimately meant parting with Díaz, one of the longest tenured Mets whose triple-digit fastball and electric entrance music — “Narco,” by Blasterjaxx and Timmy Trumpet — made him a fan favorite in Flushing. Díaz’s best season came in 2022, when he saved 32 games with a 1.31 ERA. He subsequently injured his right knee in the World Baseball Classic and missed the entire ’23 season recovering, before giving the Mets two more solid seasons entering free agency.
Overall, Díaz produced a 2.93 ERA in 332 appearances as a Met. His 144 saves rank third in franchise history.
With Díaz gone to Los Angeles, the Mets will give the ninth inning to Williams, who signed a three-year, $51 million contract last week. At the time of the deal, Williams was open either to closing or setting up Díaz.
“We’re certainly thrilled that we were able to add Devin Williams,” vice president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday. “I wouldn’t say we’re done with our bullpen at this point. We recognize that we have slots to fill. Some of those may come through free agency. Some of those may come through trade. Some of those may come from some internal candidates who we think are poised to take a next step. … We understand we’ve got some roles to fill in the ’pen, and I’m confident we’re going to be able to do so.”
