{"id":88947,"date":"2025-12-10T09:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T09:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/88947\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T09:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T09:53:13","slug":"dodgers-and-closer-edwin-diaz-agree-to-terms-in-blockbuster-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/88947\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers and closer Edwin D\u00edaz agree to terms in blockbuster move"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ORLANDO, Fla.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Coming into the offseason, the Dodgers<\/a> signaled that they would be conservative<\/a> when it came to pursuing help in the bullpen.<\/p>\n

Turned out, they were quietly plotting one of the most surprising \u2014 and influential \u2014 signings of the winter.<\/p>\n

In a blockbuster move on Tuesday, the team agreed to a three-year, $69-million deal with top free-agent closer Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a>, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, snatching the three-time All-Star and three-time reliever of the year award winner in a move that will transform their previously shaky bullpen.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz, 31, was the consensus best relief pitcher in this year\u2019s free-agent class. Over his nine-year career, he has a 2.82 ERA and 253 saves. In that time, no other MLB reliever tops him in strikeouts (839), while only Kenley Jansen<\/a> has recorded more saves (334). With the New York Mets this past season \u2014 his second since returning from a knee surgery that sidelined him for all of 2023 \u2014 D\u00edaz also had one of his best career campaigns, posting a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves in 31 opportunities and 98 strikeouts in 66 \u2153 innings. <\/p>\n

He was so good, he elected to opt out of the final two years of the record-setting five-year, $102-million deal he signed with the Mets in 2022.<\/p>\n

Thanks to that track record, the hard-throwing right-hander was positioned to be the highest-paid reliever on this year\u2019s market. Most projections pegged him for another four- or five-year deal, making upward of $20 million per season again.<\/p>\n

Because of that, the Dodgers appeared to be long shots to sign him, with the club believed to prefer a shorter-term contract after watching their big relief signings last offseason (namely Tanner Scott) struggle in a bullpen that ranked just 21st in ERA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came into [the offseason] wanting to focus on a shorter-term [deal for a reliever],\u201d said president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who declined to comment on D\u00edaz specifically since the signing was not yet official. \u201cWe had a very few number of guys who would potentially fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

All along, D\u00edaz was privately at the top of that list.<\/p>\n

And in recent weeks, the Dodgers widened their scope in a way that brought him into play.<\/p>\n

The team gave serious consideration to Devin Williams before he signed a three-year deal with D\u00edaz\u2019s old team, the Mets \u2014 staying in the running late into Williams\u2019 bidding even as it reached the level of multi-year offers.<\/p>\n

They were in talks this week with Robert Su\u00e1rez, another high-powered arm likely to sign a multiyear contract.<\/p>\n

And on Tuesday morning, they emerged as a surprise finalist for D\u00edaz, reportedly along with the incumbent Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

Up to that point, the belief (even from some around the team until recent days) was that D\u00edaz would ultimately fall out of their comfort zone. After all, the Dodgers had repeatedly downplayed the need for another big-name addition. And they knew signing D\u00edaz would come with the added cost of a draft pick, since he turned down a qualifying offer from the Mets at the start of the offseason. <\/p>\n

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In years past, such factors might have swayed the club to explore more conservative choices, especially for a role as volatile as closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were on a really tight budget,\u201d Friedman said, \u201cwe probably wouldn\u2019t allocate in the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

These Dodgers, however, now enjoy a virtually unprecedented level of financial flexibility and freedom.<\/p>\n

Their back-to-back World Series titles<\/a> and Shohei Ohtani-driven revenue boost<\/a> have put them \u201cin a really strong position right now, financially,\u201d Friedman said. Their ownership group also remains \u201cincredibly supportive of pouring that back into our team,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Thus, when it comes to pursuing top talent, they hardly seem burdened by monetary restrictions \u2013\u2013 especially when they can land a shorter-term, higher annual-average-value deal such as the one Diaz signed, which will set an AAV record for free-agent relief pitchers ($23 million per year) but also reportedly include $13.5 million in deferred money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a world where there are major constraints, that wouldn\u2019t be an area where I personally would allocate versus other areas,\u201d Friedman said when asked generally about making another significant addition in the bullpen. \u201cBut we\u2019re in a really fortunate position right now, and we have a really talented team going into 2026. So we\u2019re going to do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to win a World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, D\u00edaz\u2019s arrival, which was first reported by the Athletic, should provide instant fortification to next year\u2019s bullpen.<\/p>\n

He will represent the Dodgers\u2019 most clear-cut closer option since Jansen\u2019s departure at the end of 2021. He will lessen their reliance on returning veterans such as Scott (who had a 4.74 ERA and 10 blown saves after signing a four-year, $72-million contract last offseason) and Blake Treinen (who struggled with injuries en route to a 5.40 ERA after re-signing with the team last winter).<\/p>\n

Most of all, he will alleviate what was the biggest weakness in the team\u2019s run to back-to-back titles last year, when they had to lean heavily on starting pitchers \u2014 even in spot-duty relief appearances \u2014 to navigate the postseason.<\/p>\n

D\u00edaz\u2019s success is predicated on a heavy fastball that averages 97 mph and netted just a .133 batting average against last season, plus a swing-and-miss slider that helped him rank fourth among big-league relievers in overall whiff rate in 2025.<\/p>\n

His aura at the end of games has been amplified during his Mets career, too, thanks to his iconic trumpet entrance<\/a> out of the bullpen at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

He got his start in the majors in Seattle, where he had a breakout 57-save season in 2018 with the Mariners (good for second-most all-time). The following offseason, he was traded to the Mets, where he brushed off a bad 2019 campaign to become a fan favorite in Queens. <\/p>\n

Between 2020 and 2022, he had a 2.27 ERA and converted 70 of 83 saves. After missing all of 2023 with a torn patellar tendon in his knee that he suffered during a postgame celebration in that spring\u2019s World Baseball Classic, he overcame an inconsistent regular season in his 2024 return by pitching key innings in the Mets\u2019 run to the National League Championship Series (when they lost to the Dodgers<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This year, D\u00edaz then rediscovered his vintage dominance, trailing only Aroldis Chapman in reliever ERA.<\/p>\n

While D\u00edaz might not have received the kind of five-year pact he was projected for this winter \u2014 likely thanks in part to the Mets\u2019 earlier pivot to Williams, leading them to reportedly only make D\u00edaz a three-year offer themselves \u2014 his new Dodgers deal still guarantees him an extra season and $31 million compared to the contract from which he opted out.<\/p>\n

Now, he will join an instant contender in Los Angeles; where his brother, Alexis, spent the majority of last season and appeared to mesh well with the Dodgers\u2019 coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Now, he will step into a key role for a team on a quest for a World Series three-peat.<\/p>\n

And now, the Dodgers turned what started as a quiet offseason into yet another high-priced winter \u2014 reminding the sport that, even when they don\u2019t necessarily feel the need for one, they no longer ever seem afraid of making another lucrative financial splash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Coming into the offseason, the Dodgers signaled that they would be conservative when it came to pursuing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49521,5885,49522,49525,23982,426,10665,48,52,51,47,50,49,3674,49524,9011,32722,49523,427,68,72],"class_list":["post-88947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-blockbuster-move","tag-bullpen","tag-close-edwin-diaz","tag-consensus-good-relief-pitcher","tag-diaz","tag-dodgers","tag-era","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-new-york-mets","tag-recent-week","tag-save","tag-signing","tag-strong-interest","tag-team","tag-tuesday","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88947","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=88947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}