Mets Were Right to Prioritize Edwin Díaz This Offseason
Mets Were Right to Prioritize Edwin Díaz This Offseason
The New York Mets rewarded Edwin Díaz handsomely for his stellar 2022 season, and did so with an eye on the future..
Image credit: Roberto Carlo
The Edwin Díaz story arc is one to behold.
It wasn’t long ago that if you were to ask a Mets fan which player should be a priority to re-sign in free agency between Jacob deGrom, Brandon Nimmo, and Edwin Díaz, Díaz would be overwhelmingly in last place.
Fast forward to today, and the case has been made that Díaz, 28, was the Mets’ top priority among those three heading into the winter.
Diaz, the coveted piece in the once infamous Jarred Kelenic-Robinson Canó blockbuster trade, got off to an incredibly rough start in Flushing.
The lockdown right-hander the Mets thought they were getting was absolutely nowhere to be found. In his first season with the Mets, he finished with a 2-7 record, seven blown saves, and a 5.59 ERA in 58 innings pitched.
Yet despite the abysmal start to his Mets tenure, Díaz slowly started to earn the trust of Mets fans and more importantly the organization.
Image credit: Chris Simon
In a truncated 2020 season, Díaz had a whopping 17.5 strikeouts per nine innings (higher than his 2022 rate of 17.1) in 25 innings pitched.
The following season, Díaz‘s numbers took a slight dip as his ERA went up to 3.45 and his K/9 dropped down to 12.8, but he still locked down 32 saves on the year.
Then came 2022, which is the year that Díaz solidified himself as both the best closer in baseball and a Mets legend with the fanbase.
Many will attribute the popularity to Díaz striking out over 50 percent of the 235 batters he faced over the course of the season, while others will simply drop a trumpet emoji and assume you’re aware of the best closers entrance in the sport.
But regardless of what you think of first when you think of Díaz, the Mets front office thought of him as an absolute priority, and rightfully so. This is set to be a crucial offseason for the Mets and in their first move, they got it right.
After inking Díaz to a five-year, $102 million deal, the largest contract in baseball history for a closer, Steve Cohen and the rest of the Mets’ management showed that rebuilding their bullpen this offseason needed to start with locking down the best lockdown arm in the sport.
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