Mets closer Edwin Diaz underwent successful surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee this afternoon, the team announced. The general timeline for recovery is around eight months, although in certain cases it’s possible to return in closer to six months. The team is not providing a specific timeline for Diaz’s return for the time being. He and doctors will formulate a rehab program next week. SNY’s Andy Martino first tweeted that Diaz was dealing with an injury to his patellar tendon.
Diaz closed out Wednesday’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinal matchup pitting his native Puerto Rico against the Dominican Republic with a scoreless frame. He was injured during the subsequent celebration. Diaz was helped to his feet by teammates and trainers before eventually being placed in a wheelchair and taken off the field.
It’s a devastating loss for the Mets and the worst fear of any team allowing a star player to participate in the World Baseball Classic. Diaz was baseball’s most dominant reliever in 2022, punching out a comical 50.2% of his opponents en route to a 1.31 ERA and 32 saves. It was his second sub-2.00 ERA of the past three seasons — the first came in just 25 2/3 frames during the shortened 2020 campaign — and a strong enough showing to convince the Mets to re-sign the 28-year-old fireballer on a record-setting five-year, $102MM deal just one day after the 2022 World Series concluded.
With Diaz sidelined for what could be the entire season, the Mets’ bullpen will instead lean on veterans like David Robertson and Adam Ottavino in the late innings. New York was already set to experience a good bit of turnover after seeing Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Mychal Givens, Joely Rodriguez and Trevor Williams depart as free agents. None from that bunch, of course, is as impactful a loss as that of Diaz. His absence will place a strain on the relief corps as a whole and perhaps spur the Mets to explore the market to bring in some bullpen help from outside the organization.
The free-agent market has been largely picked over, though former All-Star Zack Britton remains unsigned and the Mets (perhaps not coincidentally) attended a workout he held for teams earlier today, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. There aren’t any impact relievers known to be available via trade at the moment, though the Mets could always try to pry a high-end reliever away from a rebuilding club like the Pirates (David Bednar) or Royals (Scott Barlow). More likely, the Mets will ride veteran arms like Robertson and Ottavino through the season’s early stages and revisit the market for bullpen additions this summer, when the supply of available arms will be considerably larger.
From a payroll vantage point, it’s worth emphasizing that players who participate in the World Baseball Classic are covered under an insurance policy regardless of the severity of their injury, as Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times reported back in February. Insurance, or lack thereof, is the reason that Clayton Kershaw did not participate in this year’s tournament, as his injury history was deemed too high-risk to be covered under the umbrella policy. Kershaw looked into taking out a personal insurance policy but ultimately announced that he would not be a part of Team USA.
The insurance coverage is a silver lining for the Mets, but given owner Steve Cohen’s apparently limitless appetite for spending, likely only a small one. The broader concern is the subtraction of one of baseball’s most talented pitchers from a roster that’s expected to vie for a title in one of baseball’s most competitive divisions. The Mets are joined by the 2021 World Series champion Braves and 2022 NL champion Phillies in the National League East, and they’ll now be without both Diaz and lefty Jose Quintana (out until at least July) for significant periods of time — quite likely the whole season for Diaz — as they look to capture their first division crown since 2015.
I hate to be Diaz that says it, but is this game over for the Mets?
They have more fight in them than this. Would be nice to see them reunite Zach Britton with Buck and have a dual closer role (eventually, with Britton) between Robertson/Britton with Raley/Ottavino as setup. Not Díaz, but could have potential.
$20M down the drain. Cohen must be pissed. This team is so injury prone everyone is getting injured before the season even starts. More like $30M if you count Quintana. At least they just got about 6 missed WAR wins. The Mets are pretty good at that.
It’s basically the baseball gods letting Cohen know there are no shortcuts to building a contending team and they weren’t amused by his attempts to buy one.
I wonder if there is an insurance policy on him, if so that company lost a bunch of money. Maybe the government, I mean the taxpayers can offer a bailout
Cohen carries insurance on his mega contracts, so he wont be hurting even if he had to pay full face value.
This is also the problem with trying to win by using FA only though too.
Bc homegrown players under big contracts don’t get injured?
They never visited Steinbrenner (George).
From a payroll vantage point, it’s worth emphasizing that players who participate in the World Baseball Classic are covered under an insurance policy regardless of the severity of their injury, as Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times reported back in February.
This is in the article.
@tuefel – outside of Scherzer, Verlander, Marte, and Quintana, what other major FAs have they engaged?
Alonso, Nimmo, Alvarez, Baty, McNeil, Peterson, Megill, are all homegrown and they replaced DeGrom, Thor, Wheeler with FAs to balance it out. The rest are results of trades – Lindor, Diaz, Carasco.
Steve, the way Cohen has spent, do you really think he’s pissed about the money? He’s pissed because their WS aspirations just went down the toilet. It’ll be interesting to see if he tries to add RP but you’re not getting Diaz production from anyone that may be “available”.
@padam
If someone comes to the argument believing they’re trying to win by using only FA, then you’re never going to convince them otherwise regardless of facts.
FA- verlander, Scherzer, senga, quintana, marte, Canha, Pham, narvaez, escobar, Robertson, curtiss, ottavino
Trade- raley, lindor, Carrasco, Diaz (rip), e Hernandez, Vogelbach, lucchesi
Hg (guys who rose through the Mets farm)- alonso, McNeil, megill, Peterson, drew smith, baty, vientos, nimmo, nido,
Seems like a good mix for a big market team. Ottomh
It’s exactly this incredibly stupid line of thinking that suppresses player salaries for the benefit of owners. The game would be far better off if fewer fans thought like a GM.
@rare
Aggressive payrolls pace competition. Agree w you.
If anything, ppl should get mad at perennially non-competitive AAAA teams. Rockies are the most egregious example to me.
Personally I feel like the game would be better if fans attached to good teams, not local teams. To incentivize on field performance.
.
.+0=.
Get the point?
Not the As? I mean, at least the Rox have tried paying star homegrown players. The As just trade them away, and sometimes for little value lol
The patella tendon is not a usual injury as it’s normally resilient enough to along with using a cadaver, is a common doner for ACL reconstruction procedures.
They have roughly $186M in pure free agent acquisitions.
FA- verlander, Scherzer, senga, quintana, marte, Canha, Pham, narvaez, escobar, Robertson, curtiss, ottavino
================
That’s still a huge amount of money.
So basically just root for rich teams? The league would die out in a couple of years. You’d see the Mets visiting Philly for a 10-game series. The Astros would be folded since they have only the 3rd highest payroll in their division. Cleveland would be gone despite finishing 1st. The Braves would be folded even though the continue to beat Philly and the NYMs every year.
Personally I feel like the game would be better if fans attached to good teams, not local teams. To incentivize on field performance.
Read again.
@raisisss: What is the article?
Really an insurance doesn’t make sense for a billionaire.
An insurance basically is for covering worst case outcomes that happen rarely so they don’t ruin you if they happen.
However in the long run the insurance wins.
For example if there is a 10% risk of a 1 million dollar damage then 10 people have to pay 100k to make it work.
@Domingo111 You’re talking about a multi-billionaire owner who also owns a successful hedge fund. Why wouldn’t he hedge his bets owning the Mets as well? Cohen is running a business, not gambling.
They should let them remove it from the “cap” calc as well. If I’m an owner I’m ripped at this, although you have to think this injury was festering and bound to happen, if it happened that way.
Guess what, if teams don’t allow their star players that are getting paid hundreds of millions of dollars to play in the WBC, this wouldn’t have happened. No team should ever take that kind of chance on their investment
@Baseball dude
1/ Don’t jump up and down in a small confined space with other players surrounding you, I mean what could go wrong. Kendrys Morales said it doesn’t end well, and people haven’t learned.
2/ No one has been injured in 2023 at spring training games, absolutely no one at all.
@JoeBrady Both the Braves and Astros are in the top 10 in payroll. I get the joke, but in this example, all the teams are huge spenders.
So… 3 real contributors out of 26.
@Domingo111 You are correct, sir. Self-insurance is the way to go if you can afford any loss, which Cohen obviously can.
By self-insuring you are, in effect, creating your own insurance company, and pocketing the profits therefrom rather than paying those profits out for no reason at all.
Baseball is a regional sport. The Red Sox and Giants gained many fans world wide due to multiple titles over the last twenty years, especially from fans who dislike the Yankees and Dodgers. Such though is gravy. Baseball cannot survive without local interest. Football is once a week and due to gambling has been the TV King for years. Baseball has 10 times the amount of home games and needs local interest.
No he doesnt need to read again. I am sure he is more baffled by your incredibly obtuse stupid take.
Would the insurance payout on Diaz lower the Mets payroll amount for lux-tax purposes?
Do you think the gov’t shouldn’t bail out a bank failure. Are you a descendant of Herbert Hoover by any chance.?
@Steve Nebraska: Actually, the Mets aren’t responsible for paying his salary while he is on the IR, and it’s $17.1 million this year, not $20 million. MLB pays salaries for players injured in the WBC.
No, it would not.
Totally agree. Always something in baseball that changes when a team thinks they’ve built the best team. Always said spending doesn’t equal winning.
If you got to pick the best 25 guys to build a team inevitably a year later you would end up with a couple guys who look like AAA players and still probably wouldn’t win the WS. Everyone thinks stacking their team like a video game is real life, it’s not. Draft and develop is the only way you can win.
Gross.
Sid bream was safe! Cheap ass Hrbeck….
Almost certainly not. While the $$ may or may not be partially covered, his contract and AAV amount is still part of the payroll, so it’d count towards the cap and lux-tax purposes.
Gavin Lux?
Didn’t know the baseball gods were bootlicking ownership shills damn
DMC – I think it’s highly possible the Mets go with what they’ve got now, and then pick up a proven reliever mid-season. The Red Sox could have quite a few quality relievers to choose from if they drop out of the playoff race early.
They’d be fools to do that with some relievers available for little but money, even if they do nothing more than pick up a couple of Drew Smith-caliber arms.
The least they should do is add Britton, assuming he’s healthy. They have two setup men for the closer role, ages 37 and 38. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to limp along w that arrangement for the four months until the deadline.
Jack – That 37-year-old just put up a 2.06 ERA and 0.975 WHIP last year. Would you be disparaging him if he was 5 years younger?
And it’s 2023, your best relief pitchers aren’t necessarily closers and quite often having a shutdown 8th is more important than a shutdown 9th especially when facing the heart of the lineup.
Also I specifically said mid-season, not trade deadline. Teams will be willing to deal by early July if not sooner.
it has too
It’s a huge blow, but I don’t think it’s game over. Robertson & Ottavino have late inning experience, and they have enough BP arms to make it work with a committee. Yankees, Phillies, dodgers, Astros don’t have lockdown closers & did pretty ok last season
Trade for his brother.
Now that would be epic, but CIN would demand quite a few of the players they’ve been deadset on not trading, including Ronny (shoutout to SNL’s Shy Ronnie — great skit).
If I were CIN, I’d ring them right up with a crazy proposal. Mediocre teams don’t need great closers — and to see his brother paired with him (when healthy) would be the PR this team needs.
Alexis is better, but why not give Cameron a look?
they tried to do that already, Ryan. it was a no go. Reds love their guy. hes about to break out.
She gets plenty of looks, but I’m not sure how good her fastballs and sliders are.
Agree, I’d love to see it. I’m a Met fan who’s still not sold on Mauricio and that he’s taken the steps w/ plate discipline he’ll need. I wouldn’t balk at including him in that deal because Diaz’s brother has nasty stuff.
The Mets don’t have enough PR?
The red sox will give them Jansen for their top 4 prospects. The sox are not going anywhere this year anyway.
65 win teams don’t need a closer.
is he good?
Reminds me of DONN Clendenin. Might become one, plays more.fills out.
Let us hope.
Hey RunDMC.
IMO Mets seem to be all in this year. I was thinking the same thing when I heard this bad news, trade for Alexis Diaz. Now knowing the Reds are not going to trade a young, cost controlled for years up and coming ace closer for a fair even steven trade. They will want an overpay. If so do you see Mets doing this? If so what players will be involved? Parada minor league catcher and Ramirez minor league outfielder for Diaz? Curious what Met fans think.
2 mid minor leaguers for A.Diaz? Diaz has 4 years of control AND Mets are over a barrel. thats a hard pass.
+ PR, I think was meant
I was scared as hell, when I heard Kershaw was gonna play for WBC, then I could sleep again when he was denied. Now Freddie Freeman is hurt playing for fn’ Canada! This is madness!!
All things considered…that’s probably what it would take (Parada + Ramirez for Diaz). It’s an overpay, but Diaz also has 4 years of control, so any trade is going to be painful. Parada is already shooting up in value, Ramirez is solid, and like you said the mets are over a barrel.
The Mets should give it a couple of months and see if they have the internal pieces to make it work. If not, they can go get a setup type guy and do closer by committee.
What could make it more interestings, what if Diaz takes a step back, would CIN risk trading him and having him bounce back? Hold onto him and miss a chance to get overpaid if Diaz regresses further?
Mets fans would like want to move Vientos or Maurico (the latter being preferred), but what else would it cost is the problem.
“2 mid minor leaguers for A. Diaz?”
Uhm…Paradas is the #2-#3 ranked catcher in all of the minor leagues. Alvarez (also a Met) is the #1 catcher. Paradas headlining a deal would be a solid get for CIN, it just depends what else they would want from the Mets.
What is crazy is the Mets traded PIT Endy Rodriguez who is another high-ceiling catcher, though it’s not clear if he’ll stick at catcher like Alvarez and Paradas. He was a much lesser known quantity back when he was traded, but he has shot through the PIT system and likely will come up this year.
Parada and ramirez is a massive overpay for Diaz. In fact, they shouldn’t include either. That’s when you just say thanks and move on.
This is the ultimate Lol Mets injury of all time
Right up there with Cespedes and his wild boar
https://nypost.com/2020/01/03/yoenis-cespedes-ankle-fractures-came-during-incident-with-wild-boar/
@Robrock30 This is different. Cespedes was engaging in activities which were inherently dangerous. Kendry Morales, Dellin Betances, and now Diaz were doing normal things on the baseball field. These were fluke injuries.
@ YankeesBleacher
You’re talking too much sense, I don’t believe certain people have the ability to understand.
@Cohen’s_Wallet Some folks here love piling it on. I don’t remember this much hate for Mariano Rivera when he tore his ACL and meniscus in 2012 while shagging outfield flyballs during practice – something he did his entire career.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Jumping up and down with a whole group of people surrounding you in very close proximity, what could go wrong?
I don’t see it as ‘normal’ at all. Didn’t anyone learn from Kendrys Morales and the inherent risk of doing this? I wouldn’t even call this a sporting injury since he didn’t do it whilst pitching, or whilst the game was active.
Unilateral traumatic ruptures of the patellar tendon tend to occur when a violent contraction of the quadriceps is resisted by the flexed knee (eg, during landing after a jump). The estimated force required to disrupt the extensor mechanism has been reported to be as high as 17.5 times body weight
@Fred M I’ll take your word behind the physics/physiology. I don’t know how you can prevent such an unfortunate incident from happening again without players becoming dispassionate. After all, it’s what drives some players to play hurt. Hell, you can potentially give someone a heart attack by dumping a Gatorade ice bucket on them. Personally, I wouldn’t change a thing.
@Yankeesbleachercreature – that was the first thing I thought of when I heard about Diaz. They were Fortunate enough to have Rafael Soriano. This whole thread is full of the same fools who said they were an 85 win or worse team last year. They won 101 with the best pitcher on the planet making 11 starts. When his injury went down preseason they were all saying the same thing. I’m not saying the Mets will be great this year but “fans” on this site love to hate. I think what really bugs them is how their owners should be embarrassed they are stealing from their fans. Guys like George (RIP) and Cohen are showing they love their team and want them to win.
Mets offseason was all hype and overspending.
Their ENTIRE season rides on two 40 year old pitchers to be durable the entire year and into the players, and a guy who’s never pitched in MLB before. If everything went well, yeah the Mets are the team to beat in the east. Braves and the Phillies are still way better.
Into the playoffs*
The Mets should still make the playoffs, but they were already all-in, so now they are much more vulnerable unless they can get an internal guy to step up and/or trade for a setup/closer, which will be very pricey.
I honestly think Cohen has too much invested in this roster that he would not make upgrades if necessary. If not right now, at the deadline for sure. They do have some options with guys like Robertson and Ottavino
Upgrades? Outside of overpaying for guys – and FA Zach Britton – what upgrades are available? I don’t see them panicking and trading top prospects (Mauricio, Baty, Parada, etc.).
Better be sooner than later. You don’t want to be staring up at the Braves in the standings by too much come deadline time. The Phillies will have Bryce Harper back in the lineup by June. The Phillies also stayed in the race after falling way back before they fired Girardi. The Phillies are better this year making it more difficult for the Metd to withstand the loss of Diaz.
The Mets at least don’t have to face Atlanta and Philadelphia 17 times this season because of the new schedule which increases outside-division games.
You better hope the Mets beat up on teams like the Tigers and the Athletics.
Gotta play Em’ on the field. PLAY BALL!
Fortunately for the Mets, the Phillies proved last year that you can finish in 3rd place, not deserve to be a playoff team, and then go to the World Series. Regular season is pretty meaningless now in Manfred’s tanking/expanded playoff MLB.
Unfortunately, the Mets (for no sensible reason) were built once again to do well over most of a 162 game season, then falter in September and certainly in October.
It’s as if 2022 never happened, as far as the FO was concerned. They built the same team—expect similar results.
He pitches one inning every other 2-3 games. The Mets will be fine.
Losing a closer is game over? Let’s not overreact. In 2021, the Braves lost arguably their best player at the time, Acuña, and everyone was writing them off. Then they won the World Series. Not saying the Mets are going to win the World Series, but even with this they will be competing for a playoff spot. And if you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.
@rct in 06 1/2 of the cards lineup was on the il for most of the season and they were able to pull it off. yes losing your closer sucks especially one as electric as diaz, but it’s still early enough to recover and who know maybe some unknown mets farm hand steps up and dominates.
To be fair, it was partly because Edmonds and Eckstein returned from the DL the last week of the regular season that the Cardinals were able to make that ’06 playoff run.
However, their absences and others almost torpedoed the regular season to where they almost missed making the playoffs in the first place and would’ve missed them had they played in any other division that year.
@landric that is very true it did seem like the last month of that season hou and stl was trying to help the other win the division.
Didn’t the wS Champ Cards win 83 games that year?
@sfes it was either 82 or 83, i do know we only played 161 games that year and stumbled into the playoffs
Mets are not the Braves. History has proven Braves can turn crap into gold and the Mets could turn gold into crap.
LonnieB would you care to elaborate?
@rct That had more to do with AA playing 3D Tetris.
braves never really had a closer in the 90s until wholers.
ask them.
The Braves also failed to win the World Series in the ’90s until 1995, the year Wohlers became their closer., despite making a much less crowded playoffs each year from 1991-93.
Landirac
I agree, that’s when making the play-offs was legitimate, not so much now for 2nd and 3rd wildcards and Manfred’s money grab along with owners.
The Phillies lost Harper for a big chunk of last season and Castallanos hit terribly last season compared to his track record. Remember the Phillies ended up playing in the NLCS against San Diego, so all is not lost.
@rct These people are idiots, man. Cohen is trying to do what the Dodgers did successfully. Jump the payroll up by tons in the beginning and keep the team competitive while rebuilding the farm. Nobody talks about how much of a joke they made of the Dodgers 10 years ago.
I’m a lifelong breves fan and know the Mets have much more fight in them. They lost a few guys but that happens to everyone l. This might be a bold take but I think if someone gets injured playing in the WBC they shouldn’t have to be paid that year!! You are playing an exhibition game for someone that’s not your team! It should be the same thing as when someone violates there contract doing other no nos such as driving an ATV. Big nuts Cohen should get his change back (although it’s chump change for him.)
They are required to have insurance to play, which will most likely pay for much of that lost season – why does anyone care that a wealthy insurance carrier has to foot the bill?? That’s misdirected compassion, imho. Teams can, and sometimes do, say no to players. They’re all approved at going.
The idea that there’s a similarity between Ron Gant riding a motorbike through the woods or MadBum on dirt bikes somehow parallels playing your sport for your country – when in many cases most have not or will not have that opportunity in the Olympics (b/c baseball is not recognized as an Olympic sport anymore) — is ridiculous.
I don’t care about the financial aspect of it or that the insurance company loses money. Also I thought only the largest contracts were insured? I could easily be mistaken on that though. Would a exhibition game that wasn’t part of the MLB curriculum be covered by the insurance? It wasn’t meant to be a lack of compassion, I feel for Edwin diaz and know he wanted to go out there and shove for a talented Mets team and show that last year was the real diaz!! I probably did a bad job conveying my message, it wouldn’t be the first or last time. My point was that if I was ownership I would be kind of pissed, my apologies for the subpar way of trying to get a point across and. On another note @rundmc how long have you been on MLBTR, I know at least four years because you were on here when I first joined. I used to be yungthiccaustinriley
Contract aside, I know each player has to be insured to play (as many have cited Kershaw as not being able to get insured for the WBC as his reason for not playing). Considering the WBC is organized in part with the MLB, I’d be shocked if this play doesn’t fall under coverage, fwiw. Yeah, I imagine Cohen’s assistants are having to replace a few things in his office after getting that phone call (or watching it live), but he knew the risks. How could you really predict something like that though? Such a freak injury.
Honestly, I’m not sure how long I’ve been at MLBTR — 8-10 years? Long enough I feel obligated to pay in to keep this site going…thanks for the note.
Good luck and have a speedy recovery.
This sucks
@bigredmachine35
At least he got to celebrate.
All for a silly little tournament. Can’t imagine how angry Mets fans must be.
not silly for the fans of the countries in the tourney and for the players participating in it.
Nevertheless, this will be a cautionary tale for all 3o teams next WBC. A real shame for the WBC and for Diaz and the Mets.
I wouldn’t blame the tournament, maybe the fact he wanted to jump up and down and celebrate…
Or if he wasn’t so brittle
But its not the tournaments fault
Yes, but it’s not the fault of the tournament. Diaz just got too energetic in his celebration. Kinda like Kendrys Morales all those years ago.
Yea it without a doubt because of this tournament. People may like it but it’s scheduled at the dumbest time. Should be a November thing in the warmer climate. Really I do find this tournament to be a joke or novelty. If it floats your boat than go ahead, I’m more hyped for opening day.
They originally wanted to do it in november. But the Japanese season (or post-season) is still going on at that time.
The WBC should be in warmer climate in NOVEMBER???
Yes… should be after the MLB season. Can’t believe that it’s not actually.
@Senor Yea like you know where they are playing now in Miami and Arizona instead of New York City as NYC just got snow. NYC still can get snow in November. I can’t believe I have to explain that.
But they don’t play it in New York? Think I’m just reading your comment wrong. At first glance, the way you wrote it makes it seem like it’s warmer overall in November.
Gotcha My bad for coming off as a dick
It could be that his knee couldn’t bear the weight of his teammates jumping on him or maybe it was just time for his knee to give out. The pictures of the celebration don’t tell you much because you couldn’t really see him until he hit the ground.
In the one I saw, one of two things happened: He seemed a bit reluctant to get into the bouncing but he either stepped awkwardly on another players foot or another player stepped on his on an “upward bounce”. It is difficult to tell which was him but both seemed to occur at the critical moment.
Eh. I’m not mad. Diaz wanted to play in this and it’s great for the game. Injuries happen. It’s baseball. Hopefully he can come back strong next year. Maybe I’ve just been pre-conditioned for stuff like this (hello Jacob deGrom) but it’ll still be a fun year.
While you don’t generally celebrate a Spring Training victory, this still could’ve happened another way just as easily at a Spring Training game.
Exactly. For all we know he could have been injured in a spring training game in some other way. No idea why everyone thinks WBC games are inherently more dangerous than spring training games.
The Mets literally practiced celebrating in Spring Training.
Bro, this tournament was basically the World Cup in all markets outside the US. What you meant to say is “I’m sad because this effects my team.”
World Cup also sucks.
Yes as a Met fan I am really angry because he is Selfish not to think of his professional obligation. Lugo has a partial tear in his UCL, never been fixed, from pitching way over the limited number of pitches the Mets asked for in a previous WBC.
Buck asked players not to play but they did anyway.
I have had major knee surgery and if you think he is coming back this year keep dreaming. And it is his balance leg; MRI will only show so much once doctors get in there, they will find other ligament damage.
Just like with Purdy in football they never know the extent of the damage until they cut you open.
Could have happened another way but it didn’t; it happened in a meaningless tournament.
Cano sucks but you suck way more. The Mets are lucky to have you.
God forbid we treat these guys as PEOPLE. Diaz has every right to play in the WBC. Get off your MLB-centric high-horse.
It’s not meaningless. It falls only behind the MLB playoffs in terms of meaningful baseball games.
Then it shouldn’t be a couple weeks into Spring Training. Seems like common sense to have it another time of the year.
When? You can’t have it during the regular season, you can’t have it during the playoffs, and you can’t have it at any other point in the offseason when most of the players aren’t in game shape.
March may not be perfect, but it’s easily the best option there is when they’ve already had their February workouts and first few games and would otherwise be playing in Spring Training anyway.
At the end of the regular season’s also reasonable. You do without the guys still in the postseason. Or you wait until the WS is over, and play ball.
No, it’s not reasonable then.
You can’t do it during the playoffs, or the guys on playoff teams are unfairly left out. Nobody wants to watch such a diminished version of the WBC.
You also can’t do it right after the World Series, as it’s too much of a safety risk (as well as the hitters having lost their timing) for the guys who weren’t in the playoffs to suddenly start playing again after a month off.
So it’s not OK to do it after they have had a month off, but it is OK to do it after pitchers have had 5 months off and just 2 weeks to prepare? Give me a break.
Exactly, although it’s over 3 weeks before the WBC starts, not just 2. Those weeks of preparation make all the difference..
Call it silly if you like, but these guys what to participate.
People inside the US don’t understand what it means for some of these players. Multiple players have said this is more important to them than the World Series. The World Series to them might be bringing home a championship for a team in a city that they moved to. Winning the WBC to them means bringing a championship to the country they were born and raised in (and many still live in). Have you seen some of these crowds? It’s World Series-level loudness/hypeness when some of the Latin/South American or Asian teams play.
While it’s true a lot of players might feel it’s more important than the World Series, the players are getting paid to play for their major league baseball teams, not in the world baseball classic. Given guys like judge, Nimmo, etc. who just signed big contracts stayed out of the tournament understanding the responsibility in signing a big contract, you could argue that Diaz should have done the same thing. Can’t say I’m exactly mad at him or anything, just saying, the players responsibility definitely lies more with their major league club than their country.
Major League Baseball — the employer of the players — expressly and enthusiastically endorses the WBC. Why? Because they’re not so myopic as to think only of today’s profits. Helping bring in new generations of fans and new generations of players is the best thing a player can do for MLB, and participating in the WBC is a big contribution a player can make toward that.
There may be some selfish owners who say their players shouldn’t participate, but they only say that on the hope that every other team’s players will participate. When asked if MLB players as a whole should participate, they vote yes because they know it’s good for MLB in the long run.
Good point. As a fan though, I’m not thinking of today’s profits, I’m thinking of wanting my team to be whole so they can try to win this year. I get it, they’re all playing for the same team and they want to help build the brand out. I do find it kind of comical though that the majority of team Italy, Great Britain, and Israel, are from the United States. I really doubt those countries care about watching a bunch of Americans pretend to be from their country play baseball. I won’t deny though that the atmosphere for some of these games with the more high profile international teams is pretty awesome to see and experience. At the same time, I have to be honest, I really don’t care about watching the US team play. I did a little bit last time because I wanted us to finally win one of these things, but I’m not really that into it right now. These are players that I’m usually rooting against Lol.
Horrible news.
Ottavino is up
Welp…
Ouch.
Both literally and figuratively.
https://nypost.com/2023/03/16/francisco-lindors-wife-edwin-diaz-injury-isnt-about-the-mets/
Katia Lindor thinks fans shouldn’t worry about Diaz missing time, it’s more important to consider his family and how it affects them. Lol
“Can people stop worrying about the Mets season for one second and worry about his health and family instead?” Katia, the “Un-a-Parent” podcast host, wrote beneath SNY’s post. “They’re people too (regardless of his paycheck since I know someone always brings that up) and they’re going through a rough time.
=================================
I am absolutely NOT concerned about his family or his health. This is a facet of sports. It’s why someone like this will earn $100M+ in his career. Injuries occur all the time. My friends and I have all broken stuff while playing.
And there have been far worse injuries that players have had to deal with. And there have been injuries to players that haven’t had the opportunity to land a big contract.
@JoeBrady Now do you understand why Manny Machado’s opt-out clause could only hurt the Padres? They could have had him for 6/$180m or traded him to some other team for all of that team’s best prospects. Instead, they had to tack 5 years and $170m onto his deal to get him to stay.
im not a mets fan JOEBRADY,but lets worry about his health?he gets to get surgery,then go home and prop his leg up and collect big fat paychecks every two weeks.ILL TAKE A BAD BROKEN SMASHED KNEE RIGHT NOW FOR 100mil.he will live and be fine.however this scews the mets.
Lol. I’d take a smashed up knee for 100,000.
Hers is an important point, but his family gets to cash a $20 million paycheck so somehow I think they will be okay. Plus, they get to have Dad around all summer instead of having him less than half the time.
It’s not like this is a life threatening or even a career threatening injury.
When something happens to a players heart, or brain, or has some sort of life threatening (or severely life altering) injury then of course the primary concern should be the players health.
And if it’s a situation like Michael Conforto, who suffers a significant injury right before they can sign a big free agent contract? Not as concerned as I am for the player who may die, but yeah I’d feel a little bad for the guy.
But an arm or leg that requires surgery but which will in all likelihood return to normal? For a guy who just signed a fully guaranteed, record breaking contract.
Nope, I’m thinking about how the team can fill the void, and trying to do the math to figure out if there is any shot he can pitch this season.
Uhhhhh…he’s GUARANTEED $20 million a year for the next 5 years. I think he and the family will be just fine. She must be under the impression that he won’t get paid while rehabbing from surgery. He gets the 100 mil whether he pitches or not. So I think they can weather this storm.
I’m not surprised that the clown who gave his own fans the thumbs down would marry someone with equally terrible takes.
Will he still get paid since he wasn’t playing for the mets?
I was wondering the same thing
There’s no clause in his contract that voids his salary for playing in the WBC.
Nor would there be since it’s sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major League Baseball.
Yes he gets paid
Cohen could have forbade him to play. He didn’t. Edwin still gets paid.
No Cohen couldn’t forbid him to play even though the WBC was an obvious risk. Buck Showalter even spoke to Yadier Molina about delicately handling his workload and not to use him on back to back days.
Why does eveyone keep saying the WBC is so risky? Players get injured in spring training games all the time too.
Yeah. It’s baseball, just like in the majors. It isn’t like they put traffic spikes between first and second to cut down steals, or they put quicksand on the base paths or make the OFers play without gloves. It’s the same rules as MLB baseball, pre-manfred.
@Von: Is that true? I thought it was in the CBA that teams could not refuse to let their players play in the WBC.
I suppose not officially, but certain players commented that they were encouraged not to participate. It has been reported that Severino was not given permission by Cashman to play for example.
https://www.essentiallysports.com/mlb-baseball-news-luis-severino-new-york-yankees-take-no-prisoners-as-star-pitcher-is-forced-to-miss-the-world-baseball-classic/
“Player participation in off-season Events will be purely vol-
untary; however, the Association will encourage Player participa-
tion in these Events. The Office of the Commissioner will
encourage Clubs to give consent for their Players to participate in
these Events.”
I can’t find anything more specific to this WBC but the 2017 event was listed in the previous CBA as an International Play Event and subject to the above. It seems to suggest teams do have a right-of-refusal.
do the fans get reimbursed for season tickets after this?
wheres the insurance for that.
like some car accident.
This is a very very sad turn of events. The celebration certainly extreme …. just such a terrible freak accident. Thoughts and prayers sent for a quick recovery.
Another Mets pitcher? What is going on??!
This hurts to hear, sorry Mets fans
Ottavino and Robertson, it’s your time to shine. Mets are still a playoff time despite this bummer news.
Mets 40 man roster is really a 40 yo roster with Verlander & Scherzer as the 2 front SPs and Ottavino & Robertson at the back end. LOL
Who peed in your corn flakes? The Mets’ infield should be in place for the foreseeable future with Alonso, McNeil, Lindor, and, eventually, Baty. Next year, Cohen will open the vault for Ohtani. The pitching staff will be ok. Alvarez will eventually be the catcher.
It isn’t necessary for a closer to throw 100 mph to be effective. The Sox had Colome who wasn’t a fire baller but in season I think he blew only one save.
Bad news for the Mets. Closed Edwin Diaz is likely out for all or 2023. Ouch!
Probably won’t return to normal either afterwards.
thats so not true Ro…..come on
He needs to push off his right leg to attain max velocity and he will be missing significant time and rehab.
Sorry, that is true he will never be the same again; that’s a medical fact
Thanks, doc.
There’s a chance of that. It’s a big tendon. Bit like the Achilles. It will take some healing.
Mets gonna Met.
The WBC was a meaningless exhibition tournament. Now it has a whole lot of meaning for the Mets MLB season. Torpedo to the bow, no way around that fact.
He didn’t injure himself playing…
Not for the players. Not for many non-American fans. This is your personal opinion. Many disagree. This isn’t meant as a shot at the Mets, but that was probably the most important game of Diaz’s career.
Agreed. PR vs DR baseball is like USA vs USSR hockey. Most people don’t realize that the victory of the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey team over the USSR’s “Red Army” in Lake Placid, NY was in the semifinals, not the Gold Medal Game. USA beat Finland in that one.
Yeah and I hope they do the same thing for the World Cup, and all star games too. And the Olympics as well if they try and bring that back.
*Cries in New Yorker tears
It could’ve happened just as easily in Spring Training.
@Lanidrac Ah, but do players jump up and down in a great thicket after winning an ST game?
They do not, sir.
No, but they can snap their knee just as easily in many other ways in a Spring Training game. For example, he could’ve tripped in the bullpen and had the exact same result.
I don’t consider it to be an exhibition tournament. While not as prestigious as a World Series Championship, winning a WBC title is still an awesome accomplishment, especially for Major Leaguers who can’t play in the Olympics.
Besides, Diaz could’ve just as easily done this in an exhibition Spring Training game.
Not that injury. He could’ve sustained an injury in spring, yes, but I’ll say almost no chance of that injury to that severity.
And it is an exhibition. Not meaningless at all to countries outside the US, but it’s a manufactured competition to substitute for the Olympics. I’m sure it means a lot, but no shot beating DR would trump a World Series victory for diaz.
The Mets are the team who literally practiced World Series celebrations in spring. So,I can definitely see it happening even without the WBC.
Yeah, it’s an Olympic substitute, and the Olympics aren’t meaningless, either. The WBC then surpasses the Olympics with MLB players involved. It doesn’t trump the MLB playoffs, but it does trump everything else in baseball.
Of course he could’ve suffered the same severe kind of injury in Spring Training! That’s the thing about freak injuries: they’re freak occurences! While it wouldn’t have happened celebrating, it could’ve just as easily happened in Spring Training by tripping in the bullpen, landing wrong on the mound, jogging around the field, or many other possible ways.
Well, I’ll edit my comment. As a met fan, our players can hurt themselves anywhere, anytime, any place.
Yeah, I’m not one of those “WBC sucks!” But I do think for a competition where not all the best talent actually plays, it just wouldn’t intrigue me. And I do wish they’d hold it after the MLB and Japanese seasons in warm weather climates instead.
You can’t ask players on teams that missed the playoffs to suddenly ramp it up again after a month off. March is the ONLY time of year where the WBC makes even a decent amount of sense to be played.
What would he be celebrating in a spring training game?
Striking out a recent 20th round draft pick?
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31039615/new-york-mets-practice-world-series-celebration-defensive-drill
And yet…
And just like that, superstars will soon stop competing in the WBC. It was only a matter of time..
And I love the WBC btw..
Maybe Americans, doubtful for Latin Americans. Playing for their country is more important than a random professional team in another country.
That is just not true. The random country pays them and that’s more important to them I am sure.
“I am sure.”
I am not.
You make it sound like MLB is opposed to the WBC. MLB was a huge part of making the WBC happen, and is smart enough to realize that MLB players participating in the WBC is vital to the health of MLB’s future. The league that’s paying them could not be more enthusiastic about them participating in the WBC.
Honestly, blaming the WBC for this injury is ridiculous. He was celebrating, not playing when this happened. There was no baseball activity taking place.
Martras,
Except he wouldn’t have been celebrating or even closing in a ST Game. Closers pitch mid games instead of to minor leaguers at the end of a meaningless game.
Maybe he would have celebrated at his friend’s birthday party? Celebrations also happen outside of baseball. It’s like blaming restaurants for a player getting into a car accident on their way to eat out.
Your continued arguments against this are ridiculous. Yes, playing in the WBC is a direct causal affect. It happened, get over it and stop acting like you work for the WBC.
I understand the importance for the players, fans, and countries. In the US, it takes a backseat to the regular season, but that doesn’t mean it is not important. I believe every player has a right to be there unless they signed a contract stating they would not.
All that being said, he got hurt there celebrating a win that if it were spring training would mean nothing. Your nonsense about he could have gotten hurt any other number of ways is just utterly ridiculous. Instead of playing fantasy injury options how about comparing it to what his routine would have been like this time of year in spring training and asking yourself would he have likely gotten hurt. The odds are far lower. Again, it happened. Accept that the WBC played the most significant part and stop the nonsense. Your silly argument is probably turning more people away from the WBC than it is gaining support for it.
A freak injury like that could’ve happened a number of ways besides celebrating.
Besides, closing out a WBC game isn’t that much different from pitching in the middle of a Spring Training game, especially since they pitch midgame in the first place so that they can still face the starting lineup. Plus, a number of WBC teams have a few minor leaguers (or more/worse) in their lineups.
Honestly with the way causation is treated here, I’m surprised more people aren’t blaming Edwin’s game performance for the injury.
If he’d blown the save, there wouldn’t be a celebration. He wouldn’t get stepped on etc, and he wouldn’t be injured.
Therefore it’s his own fault
I blame the butterflies.
But what about the trumpets? Lolmets
Good news is, in eight months he’ll be fine. Bad news is, in eight months you’ll still be a dick.
Oh wow, man, your comment has really made me reevaluate the way I judge annoying players on opposing teams. Wait, wait, I got another one for you. “10.5 games up! The division is OVAH! Nobody is catching the Mets!” Lmao, always golden. The Mets have provided me more real laughs through the years than absolutely any other sports franchise, and I’m not sure it’s even close really.
Wow, thanks for the history lesson. I almost forgot that people who laugh at injuries are generally the dumbest turds on the planet. Carry on, imbecile.
Who would you say the smartest turds are?
Goodbye Timmy Trumpet, hello Sad Trombone.
Don’t worry, Timmy Trumpet knows how to play “Taps”
That’s funny, but cold blooded!
Time to ban celebrations. These fragile players can’t take a bit of celebration without damaging themselves.
[Cody Bellinger nods slowly]
Next man up! Blaming never helped an injury heal faster…
I think it makes the injured fan heal faster.
I can see the logic in that. Great response! Hahaha
Luis Castillo and Timo Perez now welcome Edwin Díaz into the Mets Hall of Stupidity.
That’s a shame.
Need another billion dollars to get them over the top…..
Ottavino was very good last year and Robertson has experience closing, But both of these guys are older, have a history of being inconsistent, and have histories of injuries. Mets need to be a bit aggressive about getting someone via trade or consider someone else in the bullpen (John Curtiss?). Diaz is truly irreplaceable.
Mets moment
A freak injury like that can happen any number of ways and just as easily in a Spring Training game. You can’t blame the WBC for it.
It seems to happen to Mets a lot.
@landric well said, this is a freak injury that could of happened getting out of his car heading into the ballpark or getting out of the shower the list goes on so should we ban all non bb activities and players must only stay in the park for the season.
I hate people blaming the tournament for this. First of all this was a celebration injury, not a baseball one. Second, if you can’t tell how much these games mean to the players then you obviously don’t know that these are not “meaningless games”
Totally agree. These guys take this tournament more seriously than the World Series, and it shows. This injury could have happened to him during a workout session, or even just doing a running drill.
No, the injury couldn’t have just happened during a workout session or a running drill. Because when you do those in Spring Training, you’re preparing your body for the season. You’re not making a relief appearance that’s so high leverage and intensity. These players bodies aren’t built up for playoff intensity like these games seem to mean for certain players.
Good news is Mets have prospects to deal from but question is will they.
Baty, Parada, Mauricio, Vientos, are all blocked for the foreseeable future.
Wonder if they could entice the Rockies to trade Bard or Giants Doval or Pirates Bednar or possibly acquire a few arms from the Rays who always seem to have a surplus of pitching.
Wonder no more. The Giants aren’t trading Doval.
Saying that they’re blocked is an overstatement. Escobar is on the last year of his deal. If/when the Mets decide that Baty is ready, is nothing to stop them platooning him, trading Escobar, or sending EE to the bench.
No one important is blocking Vientos from taking part or all of the DH role. The people there now are expendable. The other prospects are farther away than these two, and a lot happens in a couple of years.
Who’s blocking Baty right now? If they completed that deal for Correa, sure, but Escobar’s on his walk year and wouldn’t be blocking Baty if he were ready anyway.
Considering it was just Diaz in a group jumping up and down a couple of inches, this same injury could have happened if he was just in ST throwing. Sounds like it was something that was ready to tear and that minor jumping did it., Could have easily done the same thing in ST and covering first and hit thing bag with his right leg and it could have popped then . Easy thing to blame the Would Cup games but could have happened any way at the ST facility
Sorry your Patella tendon is very thick this was not something that was weakening for a while
Same thing could happen to any pitcher sprinting over to cover firstbase on a weak groundball. Dirt wasn’t even, spikes got caught, etc.
It is just odd to me that he did not do anything that wild. Was not a dog pile, They were all just jumping up and down literally 2-3 inches in unison. To me that would be no different or actually less risky than him running full speed to first to cover and jamming his right leg at the bag at an angle to get an out. That could have easily done the same damage considering what they were doing celebrating was minimal.
He just landed weirdly. It’s happened to Kendry Morales and Dellin Betances in the past. Guys practice lateral jumps on/off raised platforms all the time as part of their routines.
Basically my point. He landed weirdly and you see players as you say get an injury sometimes serious by weirdly landing and can happen any time when you are playing a sport. To blame it specifically because of the WBC was being played is only an emotion response to the injury.. Could have happened to him landing weirdly in a ST drill or game just the same. I have no problem with the players playing. I am a Pirates fan. Bednar. Underwood, and Contreras are/were playing in the WBC. as well. Bednar and Contreras are important pieces to the Pirates present and future. I am not bothered by them pitching..
Baseball players always get injured in the weirdest ways.
Didn’t they just give him a ton of money with an extension too? Or was that last winter going into the ’22 season?
They gave him the big extension last fall **and** announced it on an NFL Sunday when a Jets game was in progress.
MLB is now considering banning jumping jacks for the 2024 season. More to come.
It makes me wonder if this was something that was going to happen regardless of WBC or otherwise.
In addition to the stress/pressure put on the arms, the pitchers legs and joints are also always being slammed down and asked to exert enough force to throw the ball 95+.
I am not by means even close to a medical expert, but I am genuinely wondering if this was something that was going to happen in the near future regardless.
The answer is in the post right below this one. The Mets can trade with the Giants for Sergio
Romo.
Scott Barlow, c’mon down!
bobby bonnila is still on the pay roll.
just sayin’
@citizen
Barlow is a pretty good closer with the Royals. Might be a trading partner.
He made the throw from 3B. From the mound should be a breeze.
Uff da!
Shutdown David Robertson. Should be good for at least a 161-save season this year. He’ll blow one game.
Their ill wishes for deGrom were granted! Just to the wrong player… karma
Ill wishes? Who, the fans? Not hardly. Not management and ownership either. He got a longer deal than the Mets were willing to give. Good for him. He certainly wouldn’t be celebrating Diaz’s injury.
Surprised teams allow their players to participate. It’s an honor to do so but this can be the result. I hope Trout and Ohtani come out uninjured. Of course Ohtani threw a pitch at 102 mph yesterday so there’s that…
If teout gets hurt no one can blame WBC. He and Rendon love that IL the last few years.
Rendon yes, Trout no. Totally different work ethics. you can’t put them in the same class ever.
It ain’t a work ethic thing – he’s just brittle.
False.
Done for the season most likely. Mets are off to a rough start
They haven’t won a game since the Correa debacle
Good point. Has SF won a regular season game since then either?
Cards may have a bullpen crunch coming up, wonder if they be willing to deal hicks who has had his ups and downs.he could help the Mets and probably bring back a good prospect
Now it’s REALLY not funny. Sheesh. That’s awful
As Phillies fan who despises the Mets, you never want to see anyone get hurt. Wishing him well on the road to recovery
I was hoping it was Laz Diaz, but I guess you can’t have everything.
WBC sounds as if it’s a great thing and maybe but at least have it after the season
LOL Mets. Not funny that Diaz got hurt…..just funny that it’s the Mets.
Right. I was just making fun of them 2 days ago for being a dysfunctional version of the Yankees still then this.
If he was already injured then he shouldn’t have been pitching in the WBC. I feel for him but not for the Mets…they should have told him not to play.
I think the Mets are going to be fine – right in the thick of the NL east with WS upside. Maybe they add relief help at the deadline to fortify things; most contenders do anyway.
I think the big loss is for baseball itself; overshadowing a historic game in a growing global spotlight, and now losing the aura and mystique of Trumpets to close out games in a huge media market, which was an experience in of itself.
Hopefully he picks up right where he left off; baseball is healthier when unique talents like him are doing their thing.
Americans will never understand the importance of the WBC for players representing their countries. And for Puerto Rico to beat the Dominican Republic and eliminate them must have felt like the Red Sox eliminating the Yankees, maybe more. As a Venezuelan I love the WBC because it’s the one chance I get to see all my idols together defending our country. (Believe me… if we beat the USA Team this saturday the celebration will be as hard as the Puertoricand did yesterday)
@venez i agree to most of us americans we don’t see the wbc as a big deal because well every year from march to october we get to see the best in the world and anything that isn’t a mlb season is just a “meaningless” game. just because we don’t care as much about the wbc doesn’t mean it’s a meaningless tourney for a lot of these countries especially those with economic or political strife they can forget about there problems and be proud of there country and there best playing on a big stage.
brodie-bruce — “for a lot of these countries especially those with economic or political strife they can forget about there problems and be proud of there country and there best playing on a big stage.”
…so Americans are interested in the WBC?!??! 🙂
Venezolano1969 — As an American, I love the WBC! There are lots of players that play in rival teams, but during the WBC I can root for guys that I wouldn’t normally. I also take a bit of pride in Baseball being an American sport, so I hope USA always shows up. (Like the English and Soccer).
Just saying, there are LOTS of Americans that love the WBC too. Don’t let all the sour-grapes posts make you think otherwise. (This is an Article about a player suffering a season ending injury, some moaning should be expected and understood.)
Freak injury. Nothing more, nothing less. Just as easily could have slipped in the dugout on a rest day in Port St Lucie with Cohen and Buck right there in attendance. People using the WBC as a scapegoat are just wrong.
Patella injury is worse than ligaments, that’s potentially career ending. Bad break for Diaz, but even if he never returns to form he’s set for life and a few generations of children after him as well. A flukey way to have things turn out for him.
Mets have some choices to backfill late innings, but this is still a difficult loss in baseball’s best division. Cant just throw money at this problem…..will test Mets organization creativity. Time will tell…….
“…will test Mets organization creativity.”
—for the love of god, have you no mercy?
I don’t know who this player Edwin Diaz is without MLBTR’s usual four paragraphs describing his first games in little league and how he did in his minor league career. Plus, I really missed those paragraphs explaining in detail his first couple seasons in the league seven years ago. 😉
In all seriousness though, this not only sucks for Mets fans but for nearly all baseball fans as well. Rivals won’t miss him but for the rest of us he was one of the most exciting closers in the game. Dang it!
Here’s a tip. Don’t read MLB trade rumors, since you’re so damn sanctimoniously brilliant.
And no, I won’t miss Diaz. Not a bit.
I don’t understand how as an owner, after spending 400 million dollars, you would think that I don’t know maybe don’t have your players play in the WBC? I mean its common sense. Billy Eppler is partly to blame as well because we only had Diaz and Ottavino as reliable relievers. “What if Diaz gets hurt?” should of been a question in the back of their minds. You need a reliable bullpen, just look at the Braves, Padres, Astros, and Dodgers last year. Could of had Hand, could of had Josh Hader, could of gotten a plethora of major league relievers. Instead we have Ottavino as our lone reliever thats reliable. Robertson is too old and Drew Smith is one of the worst pitchers I’ve ever seen. If thats your 1,2,3 for finishing off games, we will be lucky to win 81 games
Of course he’s in good spirits, his $105m is guaranteed and he has a job waiting for him after he recovers. Although I’m guessing he’ll never be the same pitcher ever again. I think it’s $105 million down the drain.
Don’t be such a sourpuss. He’ll be a solid 4.20 ERA MR.
LOL Mets. This is just the beginning. By mid season that roster will look like a geriatric ward. Pathetic. Cohen is an ass. If not for Phlubbies they’d be the biggest joke in baseball.
A simple high five should do after a victory, maybe a pat on the ass and get back to the dugout. The real losers are us fans who wont get too see the best players compete due to bonehead injuries like this.
Really. So your disappointment at not seeing Diaz pitch, trumps a fellow human having to endure surgery and then 6months of slow, tedious, painful rehab. All the while dealing with the mindf@ck of knowing that you might not get back to the awesome peak that you had just worked your way too. Ok. You have taken it hard.
@foppert I’m not a Mets fan so wether he’s playing or not I don’t really care. But fans with the over the top sympathy for pro athletes getting a knee injury, arm injury, etc I find a little ridiculous. The man didn’t die. Worst case scenario is he walks with a limp the rest of his life while collecting the $100 million guaranteed contract he signed. I’ll save my sympathy for people who get injured on the job and because of it have no idea how they are gonna put food on the table or even worse, die on the job. So yes, I’ll admit. I care more about watching the best players competing on the field than I do about a guy in Diaz’s situation having knee surgery. Maybe I’m selfish, idk.
Chipper. That’s fair. I respect the honesty. I’m pretty sure the fans will cope as well. That’s my point. Saying they are the real losers when a man suffers a possible career defining injury, is off the hook self entitlement imo.
@foopert Yeah I don’t know if that’s self entitlement or not. I’m a Braves fan and in 2021 when Acuna got hurt I’ll admit, my first thought was how are the Braves going to replace him. Also I really didn’t think the team would be as fun to watch because, at that time, he was really the only guy performing. Didn’t lose a wink of sleep worried about Acuna’s surgery or the rehab he would have to go through. But I probably did lose a minute or two wondering how AA would replace his production and if I’d be able to watch games that matter down the stretch. It’s just being a fan and there was nothing life threatening about the injury, same with Diaz. Luckily AA pushed the right buttons and I was able to watch competitive Braves games all the way through the WS. I think that’s what 99% of all baseball fans truly care about unless the injury is life threatening like getting hit in the head, etc.
It wasn’t an egregious celebration. It was a simple jump up and down. It actually looked fairly cautious and safe. I was shocked he got hurt. Freak injury.
Diaz is not a huge loss.. Someone else will step in. The “closer role” is such a hugely overrated concept. Most pitchers are able to get through 1 inning without any problem. Over the years pitching the 9th inning has been elevated to a level of godlike status it never used to be in the 80s and prior. Back then relievers lower on the depth chart used to pitch the 9th all the time without problems
Now maybe if youre fighting and scratching for the last wild card spot it makes a difference, but the Mets arent in that position
This will have little impact on their season. One reliever, even the #1 reliever in baseball, does not have the level of impact people think it does
The reality is, Drew Smith can step in, Ottavino, Robertson, or any of the other guys. Who knows, it may even take some of the pressure off, be a break from all the excitement and sensationalism of having Diaz in, and change the makeup of the team for the better
Camden453 “Diaz is not a huge loss.”
LMAO!!!
Too funny.
@THEY LIVE!!! I mean, who wouldn’t swap 65 innings of shutdown high pressure relief for 65 innings of Chasen Shreve with anything other than a shrug?
I agree with some of your points, but Buck used Diaz pretty smartly. He wasn’t afraid to pitch him in do-or-die situations in the 7th 8th or 9th. It wasn’t about getting saves per se. The guy was virtually unhittable. The Mets will definitely miss him, but the idea that their season is done is just ridiculous. When you don’t have a Diaz type, you use a bullpen by committee. The Mets can still succeed with this.
We’ve seen Diaz break down and lose it. Walks. Fastballs that fly two feet off the plate. Batters hopping over sliders that veer in feet from the plate. Then he takes something off and throws a fastball down the middle and it gets hit out
That type of breakdown will probably happen in the biggest game of his career somewhere deep in the playoffs
I give him the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t expect him to deliver when the entire season, entire World Series hinges on him getting through the inning
That WBC game was a World Series type of environment. It was the biggest game of his career and he delivered.
@von i would like to add this too, this is the type of injury that all teams wanting to win a chip face, but the winners find a way to win. this is the mets first test on the long road to winning a ws. the question is are the mets going to go out there win not having diaz, or just fold and make excuses why they didn’t win? also if 1 guy is going to make or break your season then your team wasn’t that good to start with (this applies to all teams really not just the mets)
@brodie Exactly. No team has ever won the World Series without injury concerns.
So, what team has a contract they desperately want to get rid of and who are willing to attach a closer in order to accomplish this?
Scott Barlow and Hunter Dozier for prospects
But KC will have so many suitors for Barlow, that that’s not a move they have to make, at all
I dont know that Dozier’s contract is bad enough.
Maybe Yelich, but Brewers probably wouldn’t want to make that kind of move now. Maybe in July depending on where they are in the standings.
Otoh, given how volatile relievers are from year to year it probably makes more sense from the Mets perspective to wait until in season to make a big move anyway.
Sergio Romo may still be willing to pitch. Go get him.
Romo just announced his retirement …
Great talent. Here’s to a speedy and full recovery. Go Phils!
For all the WBC hype, this is the worst case scenario that everyone worries about! They need to have the WBC in the off season, easier to recover
Unfortunate injury but at least no more Timmy Trumpet sideshow with dancing baseballs.
Can they refuse to pay him because he was stoopid?
He wasn’t really stupid. It was a cautious celebration. A tiny leap equal to something people do daily. It was a freak thing.
As I said earlier, could have done the same thing if he was having to cover 1st in that game or any ST Game.
Or if a spaceship fell out of the sky and hit his knee.
If I already had the Mets for 3rd in their division does this drop them to 4th place?
In your alternate universe, yes.
If I’m Zach Britton I’m holding out for 3 years and $33 million. After all, Cohen has proven already to have way more money than brains. Stick it to them Zach!!!
Zach might have, but he goes by Zack.
He changed the “h” to a “k” and now he can’t find a job. Better he go back to Zach.
Just read about a Pirates top 20 prospect Dariel Lopez. He dislocated a knee cap this off season doing a team designed workout that included jumping. Done for the year. Eerily familiar to Diaz.
At least he got his money
People still do not learn from the mistakes of the past, or from Kendrys Morales.
And this is the exact reason why every team owner – manager- and general manager, should not allow their players/investments to participate in the WBC. That’s a huge loss for the Mets and it didn’t even happen on their watch.
If players are going to get injured it better be at the cost while wearing the uniform of the teams that’s paying you. Imagine if that was, Trout, J-Rod, Harper, etc. it should 100% be in the players contracts “if you play in the WBC and get injured, you ain’t getting paid from Us” .
He didn’t get injured playing, he got injured doing something ridiculous. Yes, he was a member of Puerto Rico, but he wasn’t actively playing at the time, the game was over. Ban jumping up and down with 10 guys around you with cleats on that could step on your foot, what could go wrong…
It was a pretty tame celebration, and no one jumped on him as you imply here. His knee gave when he jumped.
VonPurpleHayes
Oh dear, I haven’t implied anything at all about people jumping on Diaz foot. I said that could happen as a result of jumping up and down with 10 guys with cleats on around you. Argue with yourself.
I heard a guy on ESPN saying these are “exhibition games”. How does he come up with that. These people have zero idea, the same as fans who have said “this is pointless”.
It’s obvious that some players at this baseball tournament, not “exhibition”, love their countries, and love playing for their countries and being patriots more than some players or fans who think they have more passion playing for their clubs.
It isn’t the same thing and it never will be, but that depends on your level of how much you love your own country, going by some people’s comments here, not so much, or they just do not get it.
Fred McGriff HR;
Here’s the thing….
Most of the people posting here today are talking about how important the WBC is.
In fact, MLB.COM has been covering it extensively.
However, I don’t see where MLBTR has covered it at all (perhaps I missed an article), and I’ve seen no posts in the comment section about it until a name player got inured – so MLBTR posted this story and posters are falling over themselves talking about how important the WBC is.
Samuel,
It’s more than likely the fact that some people never even heard of it before this particular version of the series in 2023. It’s been going a long time, and I’ve always loved seeing it for the fact you do get the passion from the majority of countries involved and their fans, just not from mainly one specific country, which most of the commenters who are negative about it come from.
This was the original article covering it.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/03/poll-who-will-win-the-2023-world-baseball-classic.html
You seen that guys hair? Lol.
WBC canceled.
Sign Roberto Osuna. Couple weeks of PR headaches and everyone will forget the past like they do with anyone else that performs.
Sign Roberto Osuna. Couple weeks of PR headaches and everyone will forget JJ the past like they do with anyone else that performs.
Too bad for the player. For the Mets, even I think this is unexpected. Diaz is one of the Mets’ younger players.
Whew, I can feel the Mets fans’ pain. I wanted Diaz to test the market and the Marlins to take a shot at him. Had that happened and we landed him, then this happen…I would’ve been ticked off. This stings when you are in the NL East and having to deal with the challenges of the division. And now to be in a situation where your Closer is out and you can potentially not be able to hold leads is rough. I know this from a fan experience of watching my team blow leads all over the place.
For Diaz, at least he got paid, but as a human, you hope he can recover from it for his career.
You really think Sherman would allocate that big of a percentage of payroll to sign Diaz? Yeah it totally sucks for Mets fans and baseball losing an elite closer for the season.
I’m not sure what to think of Sherman right now. There is some spending, but not all-out spending, but some of it seems to be Ng’s resistance a little. They attempted to sign Bellinger, Josh Bell, Drury and a few others, but couldn’t bring them to the finish line. They mis-spent on some of their current roster. Once they seem truly ready to go all in, then we’ll see what Sherman is about.
With Diaz, he was the right fit for the Marlins both in need and age. It made too much sense if he entered the market. But we’ll never know since Diaz never tested the market.
I didn’t care about the WBC before. Now I actively hate it.
You’re a Mets fan. There’s not much to enjoy about life.
@WiffleBall – EXACTLY!!!
I wonder if he also hated those Omar Minaya Los Mets and Jose Jose Jose Reyes years since that’s a small bit of the type of atmosphere that the WBC has.
I loved Jose Reyes as a Met and 2006 was one of my favorite teams.
I loved the two Carloses and Pedro too for that matter (though I wish Pedro had more health still in him).
Feel free to keep implying that anyone who doesn’t care about the WBC must dislike it for racist reasons though if it makes you feel better.
I actually wasn’t insinuating it as being for racist reasons. I was actually referring to a Mets bias because you hate the WBC when it brings an even more celebratory atmosphere than the Los Mets and Jose Reyes’ antics did (which you admit to loving).
Your answer about liking that Mets stuff while hating the WBC confirms what I was actually getting at.
I am known on these boards to bash Mets fans for their contradictions, fickleness, and other frailties. I don’t get into the political crud that others bring here. Do keep up.
My bad, I apologize.
A Mets bias I will happily admit too.
Fair. lol. Last year was fun though.
Oh My God ! Out for the Year ?! . Horrible. These idiots jumping around like idiots deserve it. The celebrations have gone way too far. People are getting hurt because they jumped him and twisted and turned him. What a bunch of idiots. I hope this is a lesson, and well earned for All teams and players of every level. Chill the F Out!
Horrendous take, grandpa.
You sir, are hilarious
Cohen can afford to lose as much money as you can imagine. It’s not about the money. It’s about losing the productivity Diaz brought to the team which literally cannot be replaced. Everyone complaining about the money just doesn’t get it. He only cares about winning and he’s willing to lose money to do so.
Horrendous take, child.
If that’s not the case then can you explain why he gave Diaz that deal and the timing of the signing? Child?
Can’t really fault Edwin for showing a little yippee. Got Teoscar to end the night and help PR advance. Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee got Teoscars to on Sunday and they were pretty pumped
Remember Jamie Lee in the mirror in Trading Places? Good god.
—The Mets will miss Diaz. Short of dealing they’re now looking at replacing what might have been the best 65 innings in MLB with a guy who otherwise wasn’t going to make the team out of ST, their eighth or ninth-best reliever. That’s a guy with an ERA over 4.50, on average, especially with a pen that was thin before Edwin’s jump for joy.
They were already likely to battle with the Phils for 2nd place. Strip them of another 3 wins and they’ll have trouble ensuring a lock on 6th in the NL and a playoff slot.
Imagine a $450m payroll + penalties, and now you have to sweat making the wild card playoff. Well, that’s what happens when you have holes all over the roster and think, “I know it’s the deepest position in the organization, but what we really need is an incredibly expensive shortstop in significant decline… wait, hear me out….”
It’s almost as if there’s a price for doing stupid shet…
Remember Jamie Lee in the mirror in Trading Places? Good god.
—The Mets will miss Diaz. Short of dealing they’re now looking at replacing what might have been the best 65 innings in MLB with a guy who otherwise wasn’t going to make the team out of ST, their eighth or ninth-best reliever. That’s a guy with an ERA over 4.50, on average, especially with a pen that was thin before Edwin’s jump for joy.
They were already likely to battle with the Phils for 2nd place. Strip them of another 3 wins and they’ll have trouble ensuring a lock on 6th in the NL and a playoff slot before September 28th, at best.
Imagine a $450m payroll + penalties, and now you have to sweat making the wild card playoff. Well, that’s what happens when you have holes all over the roster and think, “I know it’s the deepest position in the organization, but what we really need is an incredibly expensive shortstop in significant decline… wait, hear me out….”
It’s almost as if there’s a price for foolishness.
This isnt the wbc’s problem. This is the world we live in bad things happen it sucks.. People need to stop with the blame game as this could have happend any place at any time
As I said on my own, let’s see if you have the same attitude when it’s someone on your team going down.
Im a red sox fan..google chris sale..bike wreck..broken rib sneezing…hell we had a guy shoot himself by mistake a while back..so yea i get your sour grapes but come on lol
Wow, NJ Turdsfan is PISSED. Somebody get him his binkie.
All I’ll say is if you’re a talking head making the argument that anyone can get injured at any time, and that the WBC is a worthwhile event, you’d better be singing the same tune when one of YOUR guys goes down. Because it’s going to happen, especially when you try to ramp up this quickly during spring training.
That the best you got?
Wait, you’re telling me fans will have to deal with players getting injured? How utterly shocking.
Can Cano come back and pitch?
terrible that this happened but as a yankee fan i’m excited to see d-rob step up and achieve folk hero status
That sucks for both him and the team. They still look like contenders in the East. It’ll be just that more difficult without Diaz. Hopefully he has a quick recovery and gets to pitch towards the end of the season.
Edlose Diaz confirmed
The impact of the WBC, I hope the commissioner pays the medical and salary cost to the
METS.
Kendrys Morales?
In case it wasn’t mentioned already
Folks, stop blaming and ridiculing the WBC. It’s not meaningless and it’s not silly. It matters to the players, and it matters to the countries and locations that don’t regularly get to see the best players in the world compete in games that are, to them, intrinsically meaningful.
Oh, and it’s good for the overall health of the sport.
Is it, in this case, bad for the Mets? Sure. But that’s sports, and that’s life. Rational adults should be able to deal with it. As for the rest of you, kindly put your thumbs in your mouths where they belong. The rest of us don’t want to hear your crying.