The Case for the New York Mets to Keep Closer Edwin Diaz
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox have been interested in Edwin Diaz, but here’s why it would be smarter for the New York Mets to keep him.
New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz took the league by storm last season in Seattle with the Mariners, leading the league in saves with 57 and a 1.96 ERA.
This season has been the opposite.
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He was traded along with teammate Robinson Cano in the winter to the New York Mets in an attempt to “go for it” in 2019 with the first-year GM and former agent Brodie Van Wagenen.
Some would argue that the deal was more favoritism than trying to vastly improve the team because Van Wagenen was the agent of Cano before he went to New York.
Diaz has never been comfortable in New York, so perhaps the bright lights have gotten to him while he was more comfortable in the Pacific Northwest.
Regardless he has struggled, posting a 4.95 ERA– a career-worst–with just 23 saves.
Contending teams still want him though, as there have been reports that the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are interested in the reliever.
Boston would be happy to acquire Diaz because they have a huge hole in the bullpen and Nathan Eovaldi might be better suited in a hybrid bullpen role like Andrew Miller was put into in 2016.
Los Angeles has Kenley Jansen as their closer so Diaz would slip into the 8th inning spot, but they need him probably more than Boston because they have the potential to win the World Series if they get bullpen help.
While you might think that it would be a good idea to trade him because of how much he has struggled in Queens, if they decide to go that route, they would have to replace him with a more expensive closer, and may not get the value they want because of the struggles I have mentioned.
Diaz, 25, is probably one of the best value pitchers on the market, as he is only being paid $607,425 this season before he goes into 3 years of arbitration after 2019.
In arbitration, he still wouldn’t get very much coming off a sluggish 2019 where he has produced the worst ERA of his career by more than a full point, so New York could save money while hoping he turns it around in his second season with the Mets.
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The New York Mets should keep Edwin Diaz because they would have to pay more money to find his replacement and wouldn’t get much back in a trade.