{"id":87957,"date":"2025-12-09T19:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T19:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/87957\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T19:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T19:03:09","slug":"sources-dodgers-ex-mets-closer-edwin-diaz-reach-3-year-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/87957\/","title":{"rendered":"Sources: Dodgers, ex-Mets closer Edwin Diaz reach 3-year deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>got the best closer on the free agent market Tuesday, reaching a three-year, $69 million deal with former New York Mets<\/a>reliever Edwin Diaz<\/a>, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Jorge Castillo on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The deal by the Dodgers, who were targeting bullpen help this winter, set an average annual value record for a relief pitcher.<\/p>\n

Diaz, a three-time All-Star, logged a 1.63 ERA and converted 28 of 31 save chances for the Mets last season. With an elite combination of a high-velocity fastball and vicious slider, Diaz, 31, has posted high strikeout rates throughout his career. In 2025, Diaz struck out 98 in 66 innings while walking just 14 batters.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers went into the offseason with a clear need in the back end of the bullpen after their relievers combined for a 4.27 ERA and blew 27 saves, tied for the seventh most in the majors. The state of their bullpen was so bad heading into October that the Dodgers used their starting-pitching depth to supplement it, transitioning Roki Sasaki<\/a> to closer while using the likes of Emmet Sheehan<\/a>, Justin Wrobleski<\/a> and, at times, Tyler Glasnow<\/a> in relief roles.<\/p>\n

Diaz now solidifies the ninth inning, with Tanner Scott<\/a>, who the Dodgers hope will bounce back from a disastrous first season in L.A., lined up as his setup man. The likes of Alex Vesia<\/a>, Blake Treinen<\/a>, Anthony Banda<\/a> and Brusdar Graterol<\/a>, the latter of whom is coming back from shoulder surgery, headline what the organization believes to be a deep crop of relievers.<\/p>\n

“Getting a high-leverage reliever is never a bad thing,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters Monday at the MLB winter meetings in Orlando, Florida.<\/p>\n

Now that their biggest need has been addressed, the Dodgers are expected to target an outfielder, likely via trade.<\/p>\n

Diaz opted out of the two-year, $38 million guarantee that remained on the five-year deal he signed to remain with the Mets in 2022. The contract was considered a rare five-year commitment to a relief pitcher, but it ended after three seasons once he decided to test the open market.<\/p>\n

Diaz was tendered a $22.025 million qualifying offer by the Mets, which he declined by the Nov. 18 deadline. Because he signed with a new team, New York will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round.<\/p>\n

The Mets on Dec. 1 signed Devin Williams<\/a> to a three-year, $51 million deal<\/a> as an insurance policy should Diaz go elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Diaz’s time with the Mets was marked by wild year-to-year swings. He posted an ERA under 2.00 three times but in other years was at 3.45 or worse, blowing six saves or more in each of those three campaigns.<\/p>\n

Diaz missed the 2023 season altogether after suffering a serious knee injury while celebrating a save in that year’s World Baseball Classic. The Mets acquired him in 2018 as part of a seven-player trade with the Seattle Mariners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His 253 career saves since entering the majors in 2016 are tied with Raisel Iglesias<\/a> for second — behind Kenley Jansen<\/a> (334) during that span, according to ESPN Research.<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle and Alden Gonzalez contributed to this report.br\/]<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2025 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgersgot the best closer on the free agent market Tuesday, reaching a three-year, $69 million…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[49150,49149,750,112,114,113,53,1334,3674,100],"class_list":{"0":"post-87957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-49150","9":"tag-diaz-edwin","10":"tag-espn","11":"tag-fresno","12":"tag-fresno-headlines","13":"tag-fresno-news","14":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-new-york-mets","17":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}