Inside the Dodgers’ pursuit of Edwin Díaz: How they pounced to poach the Mets’ closer

The three-minute voice memo Kiké Hernández despatched shortly earlier than the Winter Meetings in December detailed every little thing price figuring out about Edwin Díaz’s scenario.

No, Hernández advised Andrew Friedman, the Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations, the New York Mets hadn’t even but made a proposal to Díaz.

No, Hernández advised Friedman, Díaz did not intend to use the Dodgers as leverage.

And, sure, Hernández advised Friedman, Díaz held a honest curiosity in taking part in for Los Angeles.

Hernández, a free agent himself at the time, noticed a possibility to make a number of connections. He and Díaz are shut buddies, and after spending 9 of their 13 major-league seasons in Los Angeles, there isn’t any group Hernández is aware of higher than the Dodgers.

As Hernández lately defined to TheAthletiche knew that brokering free agent signings was hardly half of his job description. But he recalled telling Friedman: “’If you want to keep winning, this is your guy.’”

That voice memo marked a turning level for the league’s two spenders of their bid for the sport’s most highest completed closest. It was an unlikely twist in a narrative that might in some way develop to embrace one of the stars from “Modern Family,” lodge safety reprimanding anxious Dodgers brass for cranking up the quantity to Díaz’s entrance music “Narco,” and workforce executives making a daring vow to create a pathway for Díaz to Cooperstown.

The inside story of how Díaz switched coasts — spurning the New York Mets after six years for a stunning new begin with the Dodgers — highlights the contrasting approaches of two of baseball’s heavyweights.

“When we started talking, we knew it was either Mets or Dodgers,” Díaz mentioned to TheAthletic final week. “But with the Dodgers, we did everything quick.”

Less than three weeks into the season, Díaz is already set to see his former workforce, with the Mets touring to Los Angeles for a three-game sequence that begins Monday. It’s a situation neither the groups nor the participant might have predicted 4 months in the past, based mostly on conversations with a number of individuals briefed on his free company, who lately shed extra mild on the high-stakes flip of occasions.

The GM conferences in November sign the unofficial begin of baseball’s offseason, when groups usually search to meet with gamers they’re fascinated by signing. But the Dodgers noticed little cause to maintain such a sit-down with Díaz.

“We started the offseason with very little confidence about signing Edwin,” Friedman mentioned.

The Dodgers believed Díaz would command a four- to five-year contract, and with a number of mega-deals already on their books, Friedman most popular relievers on one- to two-year offers. The record of candidates was slim.

The reliever market, often one of the final to take form, started to transfer extra rapidly than the business first predicted. Raisel Iglesias, whom the Dodgers had recognized at the GM conferences as a major goal, re-signed with the Atlanta Braves on a one-year, $16 million deal in mid November. Ryan Helsley was the subsequent closer to go, signing a two-year, $28 million take care of the Baltimore Orioles. That left Devin Williams, Robert Suarez and Díaz as the prime remaining closers.

The Dodgers had been one of a number of golf equipment that engaged with Williams earlier than he took a three-year, $51 million contract from the Mets.

Díaz, nevertheless, remained off Friedman’s radar.

Ace TheAthletic first reported at the timethe Mets by no means knowledgeable Díaz of their intentions to signal Williams, regardless that a number of membership sources mentioned they maintained an curiosity in signing each gamers.

At sure factors throughout his free company, nevertheless, individuals shut to Díaz mentioned that the closer didn’t really feel needed sufficient by the Mets.

“I realized Edwin probably feels a little disrespected by this,” Hernández mentioned.

The Mets appreciated Díaz’s accomplishments and character. Over time, I’ve discovered to deftly deal with ups and downs in New York City, not a simple process. But the Mets’ course of appeared to lack urgency, as they held agency on their desire for a deal of lower than 5 years.

Thanks to an help from Hernández, the Dodgers would search to exploit the stalemate.

Díaz and Hernández are shut. They are each from Puerto Rico and their ties return to when Hernández’s father coached Díaz earlier than the latter was drafted. They performed collectively in two World Baseball Classic tournaments. They additionally share the similar brokers, Joel Wolfe and Edwin Rodriguez, from The Team (previously Wasserman). Rodriguez had represented each gamers since earlier than they had been drafted.

Given their connections, Hernández figured it was time to step in: “I reached out to Andrew, and I let him know that I know this guy really well, and I think it’s the right time to act on things.”

Friedman responded a couple of day later. He requested if Hernández and his spouse, Mariana, might attain out to Díaz and his spouse, Nashaly, to share their expertise with the Dodgers and the way the workforce cares for participant’s households. Díaz and Nashaly have three sons who dwell in Puerto Rico however journey with their mom to be with Díaz throughout the summer season. The 4 organized a name, with Hernández and Mariana explaining in nice element the care and luxury they acquired over 9 years with the group.

“I told him, ‘I don’t think you’re going to regret it one bit if you sign here,’” Hernández mentioned.

At the starting of the winter, Díaz did not take into account Los Angeles a possible vacation spot. Now he was intrigued.

“When you see the roster, they have a bunch of good players, but they always want to improve,” Díaz mentioned. “You never know what the Dodgers are thinking.”

Friedman’s aversion to a three-year deal remained agency — besides when it got here to Díaz. If the closer’s curiosity was as robust as Hernández indicated, would possibly the reliever be prepared to take lower than the projected four- to five-year deal? Would the next annual common worth assist enhance these odds of him taking a shorter contract?

The Dodgers have a penchant for what they time period as “hanging around the backboard” — a technique made attainable by their deep-pocketed possession group. When they see a possibility on the market, they pounce. As the Winter Meetings obtained underway, Friedman realized one other window was opening.

Edwin Díaz had 144 saves and a 2.93 ERA in his Mets profession. “I don’t have anything bad to say about them.” (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Dave Roberts was on trip. On the Sunday earlier than the official begin of the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Roberts was in Kansas City attending the Chiefs’ sport in opposition to the Houston Texans with longtime buddy and Emmy-winning actor Eric Stonestreet. That’s when the Dodgers’ supervisor acquired a textual content from Friedman, asking if he’d be free to hop on a videoconference name with Díaz.

Roberts was stunned. Díaz had not come up in talks with the entrance workplace.

“The first time I learned he was on our radar, we were on the Zoom call the next day,” Roberts mentioned.

By now, Díaz’s market was gaining readability. League sources mentioned the Braves checked in and explored the potential value whereas the Toronto Blue Jays additionally expressed curiosity, though they stopped brief of making a proposal. The Dodgers made an preliminary three-year contract proposal, and on the day Roberts watched the Chiefs sport, the Mets provided Díaz a three-year deal price $66 million that included deferrals.

The following day, a Monday morning, simply earlier than his flight to the Winter Meetings, Roberts logged onto a video name from Stonestreet’s home. He was joined by Friedman and basic supervisor Brandon Gomes, who had already arrived in Orlando and had known as in from the workforce suite. Díaz and Nashaly signed on from their residence in Puerto Rico.

One specific assertion stood out to Díaz: “The Dodgers told me if I came to Los Angeles and we have the chance to sign you, we will make you a Hall of Famer.”

The Dodgers, a number of individuals on the name mentioned, made Díaz really feel needed. His spouse was equally impressed. It additionally helped that Díaz’s brother Alexis briefly pitched for the group in 2025 and raved about how he was handled. Things had been starting to line up for a seismic signing. The Dodgers sensed it as properly. When the name ended, Roberts knew he had his new closer.

“I told the guys, ‘We got him,’” Roberts mentioned. “It just went so well.”

Friedman had been skeptical, though that modified after the name. The Dodgers upped their provide.

“That Monday, we sensed a real shift in the conversation,” he mentioned. “Then it became, let’s do anything and everything we can to get him to a yes.”

Negotiations continued into that Monday night time, whilst Gomes downplayed the want for a high-end closer, telling reporters that night, “There aren’t as many clear paths to make the team meaningfully better.” Those feedback didn’t match the temper of the workforce officers gathered in the workforce suite. The talks gained velocity and the pleasure in the room matched the tempo.

Around 11 pm, assistant basic supervisor Alex Slater discovered Díaz’s ninth-inning entrance music on YouTube and performed it on the tv in the suite. Not lengthy after the acquainted trumpets of “Narco” by Timmy Trumpet and Blasterjaxx blared by means of the room, the group acquired a noise grievance and a go to from lodge safety, who requested that they tone issues down.

But by the following morning, the Dodgers had each cause to celebration.

Díaz agreed to a three-year, $69 million contract, along with his $23 million annual common worth setting a document for aid pitchers. In a matter of days, Los Angeles went from having reliable bullpen issues to signing the greatest out there closer on the market, locking up the ninth inning for a minimum of the subsequent three years.

The Dodgers might management the 32-year-old Díaz for a further season thanks to a $6.5 million conditional workforce possibility for 2029 with no buyout. The Dodgers might train the possibility if Díaz has a specified harm by means of the finish of the 2028 season, per the Associated Press, and he doesn’t finish the season or postseason wholesome, or if he has a specified surgical procedure.

Neither the particular harm nor surgical procedure has been disclosed. But if the conditional possibility is exercised, Díaz might earn $2.5 million in efficiency bonuses for 2029 based mostly on completed video games: $750,000 every for 45 and 50 video games and $1 million for 55.

The Mets’ final bid was for much less, though the membership had steered it might go increased. Díaz did not give the Mets that probability.

“I did find that one perplexing. (I’m) not sure exactly how Edwin arrived at that decision,” Mets proprietor Steve Cohen mentioned in a February interview with Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose. “Obviously, it’s a personal decision on his part, and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid.”

Cohen added, “I could argue our bid might have been better than the Dodgers’ when you have that fourth conditional year that I don’t think people were really talking about in his contract. But he made his decision.”

It is unclear precisely how far the Mets would have gone for Díaz. The closer was in search of an annual common worth of a minimum of $20 million after deferrals had been taken into consideration, league sources mentioned, with much less deferred cash unfold over a shorter interval. But it’s affordable to assume that Díaz might have figured that the Mets wouldn’t hit that mark.

To change into a free agent in the first place, Díaz opted out of a five-year, $102 million deal that set a document at the time for the richest deal for a reliever. That resolution got here after a stellar 2025 season by which Díaz posted a 1.63 ERA over 66 1/3 innings with 98 strikeouts.

Ultimately, Diaz mentioned, his resolution got here down to a want to win his first World Series and to be with a workforce he felt supported by.

“I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization, players, staff, ownership,” Díaz mentioned in spring coaching. “They treated me really good. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. But at the end of the day, I’m here. This is a new journey for me and I’m happy to be with the Dodgers, so let’s see how it goes.”

Not since Kenley Jansen have the Dodgers boasted a standard closer. They went 5 seasons with out naming a ninth-inning man.

Thanks to the prompting of a clubhouse staple, they now have one of baseball’s greatest relievers for the foreseeable future. After Díaz signed, Friedman joked with Hernández that it was the first time a free agent had helped signal a participant.

Eventually, Friedman returned the favor. The Dodgers re-signed Hernández two months later, bringing again a fan favourite for another 12 months.