One of the biggest signings during the offseason was the Los Angeles Dodgers signing of former Mets closer Edwin Diaz. The Dodgers gave him $69M over three seasons. To put it simply, David Stearns, the New York Mets GM, didn’t want to give a reliever $24M a year. At first, such a move might have seemed dumb, as the Mets bullpen probably became a lot weaker. However, as time has moved on, the Mets are seeing that Stearns might have made the right move this time.
Picking Williams over Diaz As Mets Closer May Have Been the Right Choice
Firstly, the Dodgers Didn’t Have the Greatest Offseason (At Least So Far)
The two big signings LA made were two massive overpays, and perhaps some of the worst signings over the offseason. Kyle Tucker is a good hitter, but he is nothing compared to a hitter like Juan Soto. However, LA decided to give Tucker a four-year, $240M deal. That is a waste of money. Tucker is a talented hitter, but if the Mets overpaid Soto, then the Dodgers committed murder by paying Tucker that much. Not to mention, Tucker has just four home runs and a average .254 average. Oh, and the two teams that also could’ve gotten him other than the Dodgers? The Mets and Toronto Blue Jays. Both teams are happy they didn’t give him 60 million a year.
The second signing was Diaz, who is one of the best closers in baseball. However, Diaz has a history of injuries and is 32. Diaz missed all of 2023 and struggled in his return of 2024. He numbers with the Mets:
2019: 5.69 ERA, 99 K, 22 BB, 26 S, 7 BLSV, -0.6 WAR
2020: 1.75 ERA, 50 K, 14 BB, 6 S, 4 BLSV, 1.3 WAR
2021: 3.45 ERA, 89 K, 23 BB, 32 SV, 6 BLSV, 1.0 WAR
2022: 1.31 ERA, 118 K, 18 BB, 32 SV, 4 BLSV, 3.2 WAR
2024: 3.52 ERA, 84 K, 20 BB, 20 SV, 7 BLSV, 0.5 WAR
2025: 1.63 ERA, 98 K, 21 BB, 28 SV, 3 BLSV, 3.0 WAR
Diaz had an unbelievable 2022 before a season ending injury. Upon his return in 2024, Diaz struggled mightily before having a much better second half. In 2025, Diaz did almost as good as he did in 2022. However, those numbers don’t really justify $23M a year. Diaz in his first Dodgers season so far has a 10.50 ERA with 10 K and 5 BB. Diaz however needed a surgery to repair his elbow, which will sideline him until the second half of the season. He was averaging just 95.7 mph on his fastball, which isn’t good considering his career average is 97.7.
Mets Closer May Be Settling In
The Mets decided to replace Diaz with New York Yankees closer Devin Williams. Williams career ERA is 2.58, which is actually better than Diaz, who’s career ERA is 2.91. Williams saw back-to-back-to-back seasons with an ERA below 2.00 with the Milwaukee Brewers. This lead the Yankees to trade for Williams after Clay Holmes, their old closer, signed with the Mets. Williams didn’t perform well at all, ending the season with an uncharacteristic 4.79 ERA. Albeit with 90 strikeouts to 25 walks.
The Mets didn’t look back though and signed him to a three-year $51M deal. Williams started his career as the Mets closer in his first nine appearances with a 10.29 ERA. His ERA is still 5.68, which isn’t exactly good. However, since then, Williams has now had six straight scoreless appearances. Such a thing is very good for New York who hasn’t done well to begin the season.
New York Needs No Slack From Their Bullpen
Unfortunately for New York, their offensive struggles have mostly continued. In the last two games, the Mets lost 6-2 with a bad performance from their offense. Even in their win, the Mets scored just three runs and needed to go to extras to score more than one run. Soto, their best offensive bat, is batting just .148 in May, while others, continue to struggle.
To say the least, New York needs it’s best relievers to deliver big time. Williams streak of scoreless games is big sign. And a very good sign for New York. The Mets closer is needed for this team to do well.
Main Image: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
