6:04pm: Diaz remains the Mets’ closer for now, Callaway announced Saturday (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com).
9:48am: The Mets are considering removing Edwin Diaz from the closer role after another rough outing on Friday night, per Wallace Matthews of Yahoo Sports.
In the span of five batters in the top of the ninth inning last night against the Phillies, Mets closer Edwin Diaz unraveled once again. The half inning provided a microcosm of the season thus far for the moribund Mets. Diaz walked a batter and surrendered three hits, Wilson Ramos gave away an extra base with a throwing error, and the Mets past mistakes came back to haunt them once again – this time in the form of Jay Bruce, who singled in the go-ahead run before being lifted for a pinch-runner.
Mickey Callaway has little choice but to consider removing Diaz from the closer role. Diaz now carries a 5.67 ERA, a far cry from the 1.96 ERA he put together last year en route to 57 saves for the Mariners. The situation is further pressurized by the prospects whom the Mets surrendered for Diaz, who continue to climb up prospects boards as they near their new futures in Seattle. Robinson Cano, either the tax in the deal or Diaz’s sidekick, depending on your perspective, hasn’t helped matters either. Hampered by injuries, Cano has produced just a .244/.292/.368 batting line while drawing boos from the New York crowd.
The devolution of Cano isn’t all that stunning – though Brodie Van Wagenen clearly did not see this coming – but few expected Diaz to stumble into the All-Star break such as he has. How bad Diaz has been is a matter of debate, as he’s been worth -0.4 wins above replacement by measure of rWAR, whereas Fangraphs takes a brighter view, putting his worth on the year at a positive 0.4 fWAR. Neither are what the Mets hoped for, but by Fangraphs measure there is some hope that Diaz hasn’t lost what made him so special last season.
Looking at fielding independent metric, Diaz looks downright functional with 3.72 FIP and 2.87 xFIP. His 14.85 K/9 is only down a little from last year’s mark, while a .425 BABIP and 21.9% HR/FB% speak to a certain degree of poor luck. If Diaz can get the balls to stop leaving the yard, his overall numbers should rebound. Of course, it’s a zero sum game for closers, and no matter how the peripheral numbers look, the blown saves have piled up and forced Callaway to consider his options, such as they are.
Were there a deputy on hand to depose Diaz, his removal might be hastened, but it’s slim pickings these days in the Mets bullpen. Jeurys Familia has been an equal disaster, and Seth Lugo blew three saves from June 23-29. Robert Gsellman saved 13 games for the Mets last season, but his surface numbers (4.96 ERA) aren’t much better than Diaz. The lack of alternatives might buy Diaz some time to turn it around, but the watch is on.
This is just SO Mets
They ruined the game’s best closer
Hyperbole much.
It’s more of an example of how volatile relievers can be. They pitch in such a relatively small number of innings each year that you can have extreme changes.
look at how many pitchers have trended down this year with the Mets and tell us again that its simply about volatility.
(looks at Mets stats)
It’s more of an example of how volatile relievers can be. They pitch in such a relatively small number of innings each year that you can have extreme changes.
We good now?
Hiflew—thank you for the laugh; that rocked. You’re also spot-on.
He was great last year. Let him learn from the experience of losing in NY. As he’s young, don’t give up on him and next year he starts fresh. He is not Daniel Bard.
He’s fine. I’d gladly take him on the Twins. But, this is example #97 of why you don’t pay a premium for a reliever until the team is contending.
This is actually more like he was in 2017. Trust me, we saw plenty of this in earlier Mariner games.
It is hyperbolic, but it’s also very Mets. This trade was a “Mets gonna Met” move from the start (as was hiring an agent to be a GM).
I just posted about next year being a fresh start. I did not however know Mariner fans saw this version in 2017. I have to change my tune and HOPE he’s not Daniel Bard.
Also the games best closer ruined the Mets not just the way he’s pitching BUT the Mets lived so much in the offseason they screwed themselves with this horrible trade when they should’ve signed Kimbrel and they had multiple 2b options, now they’re stuck with Cano for another 4 years unless they trade Syndergaard or deGrom attached to him.
To be fair, Kimbrel wasn’t cheap, wasn’t as good, and had the QO attached. Easy to understand why all 30 teams passed on him last offseason (Boston knowing he would reject the QO).
With hindsight, the deal with Seattle looks terrible (for now), but both Cano and Diaz could rebound and offer more than they have to this point. It’s not a closed case yet, it’s just off to a horrible start.
This statement is as dumb as when people say the Mets lose only because of injuries.
Loving this trade Jerry pulled off more and more! Can’t decide if Dipoto is a genius or Brody is a terrible GM. Maybe a bit of both? As a Mariners fan there is little to get excited about… but getting out from Canos contract (AFTER a PED scandal) when he’s in his mid 30s seemed impossible! And we got some young stars as icing on the cake. I don’t understand the Dipoto bashing…this is the first time since 2001 I’ve been excited about the Mariners direction.
Stop jumping on the Mets grave, give them some dignity!!
The Mets owners are morticians. The team deserves as much dignity as their fans in denial.
Accepting the reality means taking action. Do not buy any more Mets tickets and do not watch SNY. Post your support for the liberation from the Wilpon era on social media.
Not even a Mets fan but it’s like every day it gets worse for them
The Wilpons should’ve been forced by MLB to sell as soon as the Madoff scandal broke. Since Loria left, the unquestioned worst ownership group in baseball is the the Wilpons. The Mets fan base needs to revolt…..immediately.
I guess the bright side is this is where the Dodgers were in the McCourt era, and look at them now? The ownership is brutal, though.
Agree! Agree! Cano and Diaz were both destined to regress this season. Kudos to Jerry for pulling this off.
I was surprised the Mariners were able to get rid of Cano’s contract and still receive solid prospects back in the deal. Dipoto definitely sold high though as it would’ve been tough for Diaz to repeat last year’s performance, but I still didn’t see this kind of regression coming.
Bone19 do you really believe Cano is only in his mid 30s? Miguel Tejada wants to have a word with you.
Dipoto does look really good right now. Crawford is out performing Segura, Paxton is painfully mediocre for the Yankees and Cano/Diaz are stinking the Mets up. No reason to believe any of them would be better with the Mariners.
maybe they can find K-rod on the couch somewhere and sign him to close
he’s currently pitching in Mexico right now
I think it’s pretty safe to say the Mets are sellers !!!!! LOL
Diaz can throw 40 scoreless innings and give up 4 hits and he’d still have a worse ERA and H9 than last year, YIKES
So you’re saying he has to shoot for only 2 hits. Simple enough.
It would be fairly ironic if Bruce is the one that costs Diaz his job as closer since Bruce was basically thrown in for salary purposes in the Mets/Mariners deal. And he was salary dumped a second time to the Phils. And yet, he is coming out of the deal as the best player thus far. Yes, I know there are prospects, but they haven’t done much yet. So for now, Jay Bruce has been the best player in that deal and yet no one seems to want him.
Bruce may not be wanted however True baseball loath Cano.
So true! Loath isn’t a strong enough word for the opinion true baseball fans have of Cano..
A Pitching coach as Manager? Forget about the offense. What the heck kind of pitching coach could he have been if he can can’t find the solution to turning these guys around and getting better pitching performances out of them? Bring back Rick Peterson! At least he understands the analytical metrics and could argue against Brodie statistically. As the days have gonego by and there are
Not the worst idea in the world.
It is a shame. I have tickets to the August 9th game and I am thinking the best that can happen by then is to hope that the Mets can be Spoilers to the Nationals run to a Wild Card. Sometines i wish i could afford going more often, but by August 1 i have oftetn be gla
I love your moniker. I wonder how many here know who Joe Buzas was.
Who would’ve thought they would’ve been better off judging holding onto Bruce and Swarzak. That trade could wind up doing a lot of damage to the Mets in so many ways.
Could? It already has. This season is a disaster, Cano is a worthless albatross and the prospects they sent to the Mariners look very promising.
It could’ve been worse. The Mariners wanted McNeil instead of Gerson Bautista and were willing to eat more of Canó’s contract for it. I’m glad they didn’t do that.
The Mets have had about two dozen blown saves. I think if you took a dozen of those away they’d be contenders. Someone pointed out to me that others have had almost as many blown saves and are in better shape. I still feel the ability is there, but new management is needed. I don’t think Girardi would solve all the problems, but he would help if the Wilpon’s were willing to pay. For a former pitching coach, Mickey doesn’t know when to take people out.
Gregory Polanco for Edwin Diaz. Who says no?
If I were ATL, I’d take a chance and offer something like Allard, Demeritte, Wentz for Diaz. No, none of them are of the caliber of Dunn/Kelenic but they are nice consolation prizes with upside. It also would be sweet justice to see him return to form in suburban ATL playing the Mess 20x/year.
Lol, you’ve had some bad ideas before Run, but this is by far your worst.
seems like a good idea. the Mets need to pack it in this year and look towards the future. Diaz will be arround for a few more years in New York, so they might as well try to get his issues straightened out rather then selling low on him.
I used to feel that Al Harazin was the worst Mets gm in my lifetime but Brodie’s giving him a run for his money.
If it wasn’t for the Knicks, the Mets would be the absolute laughing stock of all of NY sports
Is it the ballpark. ??? Too Live after all the changes to the fences. ?
I feel like the Wilpons are so inept that they could be duped into hiring John Spano as their next GM.
Can’t be worse then hiring an agent right ?
Braves will trade Kevin Gausman and Jerry Blevins for Edwin Diaz and Seth Lugo. This will make it easier for the Mets to trade Wheeler and Syndergaard.
Lol no thanks
Then who will close? Me?
Jerry Seinfeld.
Cano
How about Kevin Gausman, Kolby Allard and Jerry Blevins for Edwin Diaz and Zack Wheeler.
*opens long list of terrible trade offers found in MLBTR comment section*
*places this close to the top*
It’s gotta be the top non-Padre related one.
Padres are clearly #1 in ridiculous trade scenarios suggested in MLBTR but Atlanta isn’t far behind.
Yankees have to be sandwiched in as a close second
Why would the Mets want Blevins back and Gausman sucks
Who else sucks? This article is about the Mets bullpen and closer sucks. Sucks for Sucks. The thing is in this case it does not matter if the guys the Mets get suck, because the whole team sucks. Except deGrom, Alonso and flying squirrel, so they will be traded soon. Alonso reminds me of David Wright.
how about a bucket of balls and Blooper for DeGrom, Diaz, and Alonzo.
There has been an ongoing debate on FanGraphs over whether Edwin Diaz has really been as bad as the record appears to show. After last night, the Prosecution rests its case.
I’m a fan of that proposal. Gausman is still pumping it to 97 consistently, he just needed more time this year. Playing catch in the mountain snow in Denver didn’t help him this offseason I guess..
Allards name is so easy to trade into these discussions just because there’s so much depth, but he’s so green yet and could still surprise.
5IP and 3 ER last night for the fire frogs
I don’t know why everybody hates Robinson Cano so much.He makes $24 million dollars a year..He can’t hit anymore.He barely makes it to first base when he has to run.(Sorry.That is when he decides to run).Everytime he covers second base when an opponent is stealing he half heartedly jabs at the baseball with his glove. Everytime he catches a pop up he either styles or tries a basket catch a la Willie Mays. (Sorry Mr. Cano.You don’t even belong in the same sentence as Willie Mays.)And finally. When he pulled a muscle running to first base earlier in the season he blamed management for telling him he had to run a ball out. Hmmm. Maybe everybody is correct after all.
I’m not sure I agree with “The devolution of Cano isn’t all that stunning” Cano was 3.5 BWAR in 2017, and 3.2 BWAR in half a season last year. He’s below replacement value this year, and nothing in his history would indicate that. Yes, he’s overpaid, but I don’t think this much deterioration could reasonably have been expected,
He’s too old for 2nd base.
He was suspended for PEDs. It’s not surprising that he his numbers dropped after he was caught.
Is it too late for the Mets to acquire Kelly Johnson from the Braves?
Additionally, did you see the strike Jerry Seinfeld threw last night? Better pitcher than anyone in the ‘pen right now.
Lol. It was impressive, for sure. But that is a 450 foot homerun for like 90% of MLB hitters.
Very few relievers in mlb can be counted on year in year out and considering diaz’s Track record before last season taking him along with cano’s Terrible contract was a huge risk
What happened to diaz this season anyway ? A guy with that arm shouldn’t be this bad, especially after last year
Watching the series in Philadelphia where the Mets were swept 4 games, seems to me a question of pitch selection with Diaz. He gets ahead with 98+ fastballs, then floats in a 86 MPH slider. Makes no sense. Is Ramos the one who should go?
It’s certainly normal to get ahead in the count and then have a hitter chasing breaking balls away.
Not when your heater hits 98 all the time and you leave your slider over the heart of the plate.
So a pitcher should just throw straight gas regardless of the count? Hitters will catch up to speed regardless of how fast, you have to mix it up and throwing a slider to have them fishing is the way to go. Now hanging the slider is another thing, don’t hang it! But you gotta go with it.
There’s either something wrong with him physically or he can’t endure the big city atmosphere. They may have to deal him. Problem is, who’d want him with those stats?
There’s nothing wrong with him. Underlying stats are fine. Anything can happen in 30 innings. But if they want to sell low, I’m sure a lot of teams would be happy to buy.
Once again it appears Brian Cashman knew what he was doing. This off-season when Seattle was talking to the Yankees regarding Diaz it was sad Cashman was not high on him and everyone thought he was nuts and well looks like he was crazy, crazy like a fox.
He doesn’t get enough credit as a GM outside of nyc
Cashman gets plenty of credit from this Red Sox fan. The Yankees look very dangerous for years to come.
Mets will not contend this year[obviously}
or next or 2 or 3 from now.
Even if they had Cody Bellinger, Mike Trout and Freddie Freeman.
Mets are literally cursed.
They made the World Series in 2015. Plenty of teams have it worse.
This is terrible news. As a Phillies fan I love this guy as the Mets closer. It give the Phillies the best chance to win.
Stuff is there for Diaz, it’s just lack of executing his pitches is what’s killing him, 55 K’s in 33 IP tells me he can still be dominate, just can’t walk punch and judy hitters or pipe hanging 0-2 sliders that leave the yard! Giving up on him now I think would be a mistake with the salary he makes! Cano, on the other hand, is all you’re bad Mets…LOL!
Diaz is only making 600 grand this year. One of the reasons he was so valuable in a trade
Cano has always been a stiff. Most Yankees fans knew this from watching him for years. Extremely overrated and usually nonexistent when needed the most. Glad the Yanks never re-signed him.
Post Rivera, lights-out closers have a lifespan of 1 or 2 seasons tops. Mets took a huge gamble on Diaz and it’s been a disaster.
The Mets should just trade Diaz by himself like the M’s should’ve done, could still net them a very good return.
What? Are you suggesting the M’s moving Cano was a mistake!?
Worst part of the trade is clearly giving up Kellenic but it’s magnified by the success Anthony Swarzak and Jay Bruce are having in the spots they landed. You add in the $60M assumed on 35 Yr old Robinson Cano’s Deal off PEDs. Regression of Diaz is the real surprise. Young player YES, but the variance of relievers is a constant in the game.
BVW really struck out on this deal. Not to mention the Familia, Justin Wilson signings. The Jed Lowrie deal is arguably his worst.
Compare his work to the Yankees
DJ LeMahieu ~ Jed Lowrie
Zach Britton ~ Edwin Diaz
Ottavino ~ Familia
Cameron Maybin ~ Keon Broxton
Edwin Encarnacion ~ Robinson Cano
David Hale ~ Avilan
Hechavarria ~ Gio Urshela
JD Davis ~ Morales (Mets Win!)
One is a professional front office the other picks players with no discernible strategy. Mets ownership needs to either bolster their FO or move on from BVW. Even they must recognize this unconventional hire isn’t working.
Mets & Yankees spent similarly this offseason and yet the Mets brought on literally 0 value.
Before the season, who predicted that Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson would comprise one of the worst pens in MLB? I predicted it would be the best in the NL. In this case, the Manager my not be the right man for this tea.
Why not send him down to the minor to re-fresh?
May as well let Matz close. Maybe it will feed into his attitude and preparing every day might be better for his brain.
I have absolutely no faith in Diaz or Cano! I’m ready to cut both of them loose. I would love to cut Brodie too
The agent, I mean GM should know the rule about selling the farm for a closer.
Which was worse: Chris Archer for Meadows and Glasnow or Cano and Diaz for the farm and salary place holders?