Dec. 2: While the Mets do still hope to re-sign Díaz, there’s been a gap in talks. Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that while Díaz has indeed been seeking a five-year pact, the Mets’ preference has been to limit the commitment to a three-year term (presumably at a top-of-the-market annual value).
Dec. 1: The Mets are adding Devin Williams to the back of their bullpen on a three-year contract. That gives them an established closer if Edwin Díaz signs elsewhere, but it apparently won’t completely shut the door on Díaz staying in Queens.
Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to report that the Mets still have interest in re-signing Díaz. It seems Williams is on board with that plan, as DiComo writes that the new signee is open to pitching in a setup capacity if the Mets bring back their incumbent closer. Díaz rejected a qualifying offer and is reportedly seeking a deal in the five-year, $100MM range. At last month’s award ceremony, the three-time All-Star put the chance of a reunion around 50-50. “If they came with the best deal for me, I’d enjoy to stay with them,” Díaz told reporters at the time, “but at the end of the day, I don’t know what they’re thinking.”
The Williams signing presumably reduces the odds of a Díaz return. The Mets might feel more comfortable walking away and collecting a compensatory draft pick now that they no longer need a closer. Yet they certainly still need to add in the late innings. Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsley, Gregory Soto and Ryne Stanek also all hit free agency. If Williams were penciled into the ninth, Huascar Brazoban would be their most established right-handed setup man. They should bring in another two high-leverage relievers at least.
Díaz is also simply an upgrade over Williams in the ninth inning. While there’s reason for optimism in the latter’s track record and underlying metrics, he’s a bit of a gamble coming off an uneven year with the Yankees. Díaz has no such concerns, as he posted a 1.63 earned run average while striking out 38% of opponents across 66 1/3 innings last season. He went 28-31 in save chances. That’ll be reflected in their respective contracts, but the bullpen would look a lot more formidable with Williams in the eighth and Díaz back in the ninth.
The Blue Jays are the only other team that has been publicly linked to Díaz this offseason. Teams like the Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Angels could also be in the mix for high-leverage bullpen help.
When your starters can barely last 5.0 innings, you may need 3 closers…
Diaz-Williams-Minter isn’t enough of a pen.
Which is why they might sign Framber Valdez to get an inning eater that makes it easier on their bullpen
Or knock the Reds’ socks off with a trade offer for Hunter Greene.
The Reds might trade a pitcher, but not Greene or Burns.
It depends on the offer. As a small market team, a package headlined by Sproat and Jett Williams might interest them. Throw in Benge and you might have something resembling a deal.
It would take McLean and Sprout and Benge.
Since we both know Dodgers, I would say it would take DePaula, Hope and Morales were Dodgers seeking Greene.
I see Greene on Reds.
I think the Mets can get it done without surrendering McLean. Benge, Williams, and Sprout would all make the Reds opening day roster and have six years of control apiece. If need be, add Senga and pay down some of his salary. Reds would be better in 2026 and in the future; Mets get their rotation-topping ace (health permitting).
I would love to see Greene on the Dodgers, but the trade would have to include an MLB-ready starting pitcher going to the Reds.
The Reds have plenty of interesting pieces, no reason for them to trade their Ace IMHO. But thank you for the interesting exchange.
I agree the Reds should hang onto Greene, but can envision a scenario where they don’t. A great talent. That slider of his is ridiculous.
Who can the Reds add for an offensive punch this offseason?
6:51 AM PST
Mark Sheldon
Mark Sheldon
MLB.com
If the Reds could afford to add Schwarber or Alonso, it would give protection to De La Cruz and Stewart. More likely, they trade a lesser pitcher for a comparable position player.
Interesting article. Alonso is the only one of the five who would be considered an impact bat. They need a home run hitter.
Either Schwarber or Alonso makes sense. I’m impressed with Stewart, and feel De La Cruz will be better in 2026 with the second-half injury stuff behind him. It’ll be interesting to see if Marte takes the next step toward stardom. Like you said, they have some pieces.
Why not make it fun and do a straight up McLean for McLain?
The fun would be watching Mets fans blow a gasket.
Benge, Williams, and Sprout
=======================
That won’t be close. The Red Sox offer would be Duran + Campbell, and that likely wouldn’t be enough.
I have nothing to base this on, but I do not believe Diaz returns to the Mets.
Fun for Reds, not for Mets.
No it wouldnt… three top 100s no chance
Sure it would. Three top 100s may be too steep. Love Greene’s talent, but he only has three years left and has never pitched a full season.
I can see the Dodgers taking a chance on Greene whose upside is undeniable but so is his injury history and I can’t see the Mets dealing McLean plus more for him.
If I were a dodgers fan I would love to see Paul skenes and Tarik skubal and every all-star on the dodgers roster
The Mets won’t trade Benge
The Reds would do that deal all day, the Mets would not
Not always. As a Mariners fan, You saw Framber Valdez pitch. He could be good, or bad. Or maybe you give up 6 runs and still go 7. It depends. For Valdez, there’s two modes. Good or bad. He’s pretty streaky.
Maybe move Holmes back to the bullpen and replace him with a starter who can go more than 5?
He averaged 5 1/3rd innings/start, that’s not bad at all for a converted reliever in his first full season.
It’s very hard to find 165 innings w 3.5 ERA for $13M
Except that the second half of the season he could barely get through 4 and when he did get through 5 or maybe even 6 he was ineffective for those innings. Holmes should100% go back to the pen
“Except that the second half of the season he could barely get through 4 and when he did get through 5 or maybe even 6 he was ineffective for those innings. Holmes should100% go back to the pen”
Yeah, he’s a coveted reliever, did that surprise you?? because it seemed like everyone expected that to happen even from before spring training lol. It’s part of the reason we had so many SPs bc we had no idea who could last a full season….and theonly one who did was Holmes
The only other starter we had with 160 IP was Peterson who had a 4.2 ERA, looked way more gassed than Holmes did, and is on the last year of his ARB….. and you want to move Holmes back to BP?
You know we need innings, right?
That would be a waste of time, energy and resources.
Totally reasonable
Diaz should be a future Dodger. Dodgers should get Diaz and Suarez along with a premium bat in the outfield and call it the day.
That is such a dodgers thing to do but sadly that has a decent chance of happening since they are in the running for tucker
Diaz and Suarez should first look at the Dodgers track record for the number of pitchers on the IL the last couple of years.
And for paying pitchers well to win rings.
If they offer 4yrs high AAV like Tanner Scott, they wouldn’t care if they become an LAD write-off.
Scott’s contract was an outlier for the Dodgers. They don’t usually do long deals for relievers.
But the ohtani era dodgers are different because if they have the money why not put it to use
They had the money previously and still didn’t do long reliever contracts. I think they thought they had a strong closer for three years. Year one definitely didn’t work out, but here’s hoping the next two years Scott can be effective.
Getting Diaz as well would be huge.
I always liked the idea of established 7, 8 and 9 guys. Would be cool if they were doing that.
Pitchers get hurt on every team.
metzfan if it’s just about money they will resign Diaz and you forgot to mention they have Mintor
@metzfan At this point Minter has to be treated as “nice to have, but you’d be a fool to rely on him for more than 20 innings.”
The Mets need another serious lefthander out of the pen—not someone like Gregory Soto. Tyler Rogers, who doesn’t have a significant platoon split, would be a good pickup.
Ah but Tyler is the right-handed one! Taylor is the lefty. You just walked into the Parent Trap
Raley is the other LH. And was good as usual last year. We need another RH late inning RP that can also Close. Like Suarez or Fairbanks. Bringing back Rogers would be a good move too.
Getting Williams for the 8th inning tells me Cohen is gonna get crazy this off season. Best way to get rid of the bad taste of last year is to commit to about half a billion dollars in salaries.
@swanhenge The problem is, as of today we have no idea whether the Mets got ‘Williams ‘for the 8th inning.’
Either they dont sign diaz- huge mistake
Or they just gave $51milion to a set up guy with a 4.79 era
lolmets are back!
And lolchandlerbing is trolling again.
I swear he just refreshes MLBTR, Pro Football Rumors, and Hoops Rumors all day, every day. All to just post trolling nonsense.
….and he mutes those of us who call him out over his nonsense. Careful rct. You might be next on chandler’s dreaded s…t list. He muted me because I was “rude” to him, lol.
Might as well load up on RPs/Closers. Starters seem to want the big money but only pitch 4 or 5 innings every 5 days. Overpriced and overrated compared to the Big Boys of the past that would go 9+ innings.
Old York: You’re right about the pitchers of the past, but it isn’t SPs who pull themselves out after five innings. It’s over-managing by their managers.
It’s only over managing when the guy being pulled is actually physically capable of holding up strong well past 100 pitches.
This day and age, the 100 pitch count is so ingrained into most guys from Little League onward, it’s all their arm knows.
I wish it wasn’t so prevalent either, but I’m not sure the solution is as simple as just leaving guys out there for longer.
The issue isn’t the pitch count so much as it’s times-through-the-order penalties being an actual thing backed up by the stats. Pitchers do worse when they stay in to face the same hitters 3 or more times in a game.
Thing was the other teams guy was out there pitching well over a hundred pitches with teams that had longer benches and shorter bullpens. Made it easier to leave a guy longer than nowadays with bigger bullpens, doesn’t hurt they all throw 95+.
Back in the day, I’d take a worse Randy Johnson or Greg Maddux over a middle reliever.
The “problem” is that pitchers have to throw harder and have insane spin rates, which causes injury.
He’s talking 70’s baseball when teams were constructed with more position players than pitchers.
Most only face the top of the lineup a 3rd time through. They’re taken out before they reach the lesser hitters at the bottom. This skews the data
I remember the late 60s and early 70s, when teams carried just 10 pitchers for most of the season.
The 1969 Mets, for example, had Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Don Cardwell, and Jim McAndrew start 148 games while Nolan Ryan started 10 and Tug McGraw started 4.
McGraw, Ryan, Ron Taylor (considered the closer), Cal Koonce, and Jack DiLauro comprised the bullpen.
Outside of those 10, only Al Jackson with 9 made more than the occasional relief appearance, and he was sold to Cincinnati in June.
I miss those carefree Jack DiLauro days. Never played again after 1970. And I didn’t know he passed away last year. RIP.
Are they getting Framber, or Ranger, or Zac Gallen ?
G’s and Diaz. LOL.
Just like last year with Montas, Stearns bids against himself and overpays early in the offseason. Clearly Diaz is gone. It’s really gonna sting when he doesn’t bring Alonso back
Williams was going to get paid regardless of when he signed.
Per Will Sammon this morning……”Williams received at least five other offers from teams with glaring needs at closer, league sources said.
Senga will be closing games for the Mets.
No, he really won’t.
Unless you mean he will be closing the clubhouse gate, no he won’t.
They should move Holmes back to the pen.
And this will be unpopular but I would bring back rubber arm Stanek. I don’t think the guy has ever been on the IL. That’s pretty dang underrated.
Stanek hasn’t been good for a couple of years now. At this point he’d be lucky to soak up garbage time innings during blowouts.
ShaqFoo:
Stanek is washed. And Holmes pitched well as a starter. Would be in bad faith to sign a reliever who they converted into a starter and who pitched well as a starter just to move him back to the bullpen
As I said, it would be an unpopular opinion… but most ppl think that every arm in the pen should be a HOFer… it doesn’t work that way. You’re always going to have some arms to fill in the gaps, pitch in the middle innings, take the occasional mop up work… and it’s very valuable that the guy in this role be reliable to take the ball each time the mgr calls. Stanek is that guy.
ShaqFoo:
I’m not asking for a Hall of Famer. I just wouldn’t want Stanek in the bullpen anymore because he’s washed up.
No. That’s false. He’s clearly not washed up… and no, I am not his agent. You’ve given no back up for your claim anyway.
ShaqFoo:
Oh my God, take a look at the numbers. 5.30 ERA, 1.6 WHIP. You are wrong wrong wrong. He couldn’t be more washed. You talk about how many innings he pitches. Who cares how many innings he pitches if he’s absolutely horrible?
They also have a couple of RPers who will debut this year.. guys whose numbers were off the charts.
Any chance Steve Cohen would like to buy the Red Sox?
I wish he would then he would take them out of the Alonso running so his other team, his childhood team the Mets could re-sign him. This is a great idea.
Yup, just what RS want. To go from 4 WSC this century to -0-, and to go from a 2025 playoff team to a golf team.
Nice synchronicity on that point. Europe retained the Ryder Cup over the US at Bethpage Black just as NYM confirmed LOLmets in Miami on the final day of the season.
With so many starters, wouldn’t be a bad idea to move Holmes to the pen. If the three kids stick they’d have 7 starters. Holmes to pen, Senga traded out.
Holmes had a good season converting to starter. Why would you try to change that?
$51 million is awful expensive for a set-up man, even for the Mets. I think they make an attempt to keep Diaz but i expect him to sign elsewhere
Rsox:
I think the Mets are not messing around here. They have spending ability like nobody else. I don’t know what will happen, but I think the plan is to still sign Diaz.
I think this is a bunch of smoke. They knew Diaz was gone so they went to plan B.
This one belongs to the Reds:
Gone? He would need somewhere to go. I haven’t seen him sign elsewhere yet. And certainly not for five years.
Gone as in they knew he wasn’t coming back. Or the possibility was so slim they decided to move on. Teams don’t wait forever, at least those that as actually have plans to fill holes.
This one belongs to the Reds::
I don’t think he’s gone though. I think he’s still very much in their plans.
I am. Severely doubt they pay up for him after paying Williams closer money already. And yes, I get Williams could have gotten even more if he was better last year, but he still got closer cash, not setup cash.
Going from Edwin to D Will does not seem like a good idea
Steven Cohen be like…
SPEND! SPEND! SPEND! I WANT TO WIN THE WORLD SEREIS, SO SPEND!!!
Lots of people, with no baseball knowledge, are making comments about how Met starters can’t pitch five innings. Holmes never pitched over a 100 innings before and he was making the adjustments. This year, he should be more able to pitch six innings. Senga was working his way towards six innings before Pete Alonso ruined his season and the Mets’ playoffs hopes by not being able to make a routing toss to first. Peterson had a complete game shut out and was averaging six innings a start until the end of the year. McLean was pitching six innings a start. Manaea wasn’t fully healthy last year, but is capable of six innings a start. So, with this in mind, Stearns is trying to find the guys to get the last three innings. The Mets will have a healthy Minter, Williams for the eighth and they will resign Diaz. Add to that Ross and Scott, as well as Railey and the Mets will be fine. They will improve team chemistry by trading McNeil and letting the obese, one dimensional DH go. The Mets are going to have a conga line of pitchers and position players coming up.
Adios Sugar. It was awesome having you while you were here. I’m just sorry our small market minded and inept GM only wants a draft pick and not the services of a high end closer.
86mets: Let’s see how you do when you get a MLB GM job.
While money isn’t an issue with Cohen, I don’t buy that they aren’t operating within a budget. That being said I DO think that they are going to make a serious attempt at resigning Diaz. But truth be told I am not sure beyond that you are going to see them spend egregiously. The rest of their moves could theoretically come via trades (getting Senga and McNeil’s contracts off the books and getting cheap, useful pieces back that can fill the bullpen or bench) or low level signings. Whatever high end starting pitcher they likely try to trade for (Skubal, Joe Ryan, potentially Hunter Greene) aren’t going to be making a significant amount of money in 2026 compared to what they will going forward. The corner OF bat or potential 1B solution might come to the Mets via trade as well and not through free agency. So – while I wouldn’t be shocked if Cohen spent a ton of money – I think there is a good chance that is overblown and it really is just a case of moving money off the books and adding some payroll but not as much as people think. Either way I expect many Mets fans to complain no matter what.
I agree Mets fans are funny this time of year.
I’d prefer Diaz as the closer. Devin may turn it around, but I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket. Devin should be the set-up man, maybe a few spots where he does close, but Diaz should be brought back. Cohen is looking like he wants to spend like he did a few offseasons ago, so he may tell Stearns to push the button.
I think the Mets will be in on everyone. I think term will be the difference in if they’re signed or not.
Díaz was terrible his first year on the Mets. So why is expecting Williams to be fine so unusual?
I don’t think signing Williams precludes the Mets from also signing Diaz. One thing that last season showed is that you could have a generational closer, but if you don’t have proper depth, especially a bonafide setup option, you’re in trouble. Williams is a prime bounce back candidate, and his advanced stats were actually rather good. I also feel that this move helps with the Diaz negations and it makes them seem less desperate to sign Diaz. Regardless, it’s a good move, I’m certain of it.
The remaining Mets moves must be to resign Diaz, along with 1 or 2 additional arms. Resign Alonso. Sign either Bellinger/Tucker and preferably Schwarber as well (particularly if Alonso isn’t resigned). Sign Framber Valdez and someone else for the 4 or 5 starter position. That would be a recipe for a really good team.
Let’s go easy on the spending. We’re the Mets, not the Dodgers. Don’t forget they already have Soto’s contract, plus a number of others on the books.
I’d love to see them spend some money, but we should also consider trading some of the non-Baty infielders to bolster the roster. I’d package Acuna or Vientos for something of value and need.
I’d they let Diaz walk, a trade for JoJo Romero for the 7/8th should happen.
If the Mets aren’t willing to go more than 3 years on Diaz, I feel like Suarez will be the fallback option as his age should keep his years down
Just give Diaz the damn 2 extra years before someone else does
Yankees seem like they would go at least 4yrs. LAD no surprise either like they did Scott.
Jays will, they dont care.
Mets still need Diaz because they are going to use Devin Williams as a starter after seeing Clay Holmes dominate the NL East last year.
Think Diaz will sign with either the Mets, Jays or Dodgers. In that order from a most likely stand point.