You can’t have enough great relievers, and New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz is arguably the best one on the open market this offseason.
A two-time National League Reliever of the Year, Diaz is among the more overpowering closers in MLB, hitting triple digits with his four-seamer and making hitters look silly with his slider. Diaz, who opted out of the final two seasons of a five-year, $102 million deal and figures to seek a similar pact, is a plug-and-play closer and in the prime of his career. The Mets will likely make a considerable effort to keep Diaz, but they’ll have plenty of company to secure his services.
Here are the three best fits for Diaz should he depart Queens.
Edwin Diaz is a three-time All-Star. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
The Tigers could use an impact bat (Eugenio Suarez? Alex Bregman?), but they could also use a boost in their bullpen, and adding Diaz would certainly qualify as such a jolt.
Detroit’s bullpen was 26th in MLB in strikeouts (533), 17th in ERA (4.05) and tied for 16th in WHIP (1.30) last season. Will Vest held his own in his first season as a full-time closer, but he still blew seven save opportunities, and Diaz is more proven in that regard.
Diaz could become the Tigers’ new closer, sliding Vest into a setup role. Furthermore, all of Detroit’s midseason bullpen acquisitions – Kyle Finnegan, Rafael Montero and Paul Sewald – are each free agents, making it incumbent upon the Tigers to add depth in the later innings. Last season, Diaz posted a 1.63 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 98 strikeouts and a 248 ERA+ in 66.1 innings pitched. He would add stability to manager A.J. Hinch’s bullpen.
All that said, Detroit could feel that it can bank on Vest, Brenan Hanifee and Brant Hurter making a collective jump and/or re-sign Finnegan, opting to save money and spend it primarily on an impact hitter.
Edwin Diaz posted 3.0 wins above replacement in 66.1 innings pitched in 2025. (Photo by Bryan Kennedy/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Blue Jays were on the precipice of a World Series triumph. But Miguel Rojas’ solo home run with one out in the top of the ninth inning of Game 7 tied the game and the Dodgers went on to win in the 11th. Toronto needs to use that heartbreak as an excuse to throw haymakers this offseason to shore up its pitching staff, which signing Diaz would qualify as doing.
In the regular season, Toronto’s bullpen was 16th in ERA (3.98) and tied for 13th in WHIP (1.28). To boot, it boasted a 4.44 postseason ERA. Offseason pickup Jeff Hoffman – who was an All-Star in 2024 – underwhelmed, posting a 4.37 ERA, blowing seven save opportunities and, unfortunately for the right-hander’s sake, was the one who surrendered the game-tying home run to Rojas in Game 7 of the World Series.
Enter Diaz, who has posted an ERA below two in four of the last seven seasons that he has pitched (Diaz missed the 2023 season due to a knee injury). Diaz would give Toronto another reliever who posts strikeouts at a high rate and become its new closer, with Hoffman moving back into a setup role, which was his primary niche before joining the Blue Jays.
What could stop Toronto from forking over a top-line contract for Diaz or any reliever for that matter, though, is it potentially viewing adding an ace as higher up on the list of needs (the Blue Jays’ starting rotation was 20th in MLB with a 4.34 ERA in the 2025 regular season) – and a proven closer being exactly what another team needs.
Edwin Diaz has recorded 253 career saves. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
Yes, the Dodgers just won the World Series – again. But for the sake of having as close to a perfect roster as possible, Diaz is exactly what the Dodgers need.
In the regular season, the Dodgers’ bullpen was tied for 20th in ERA (4.27), a mark which was also 11th out of 12 playoff teams. Moreover, they were tied for 20th in WHIP (1.33), which was last among playoff teams. Left-hander Tanner Scott, who was signed to a four-year, $72 million deal last offseason, recorded a 4.74 ERA and led MLB with 10 blown saves; Kirby Yates, who was signed to a one-year, $13 million deal last offseason, posted a 5.23 ERA.
While, more often than not, Los Angeles was able to evade trouble in the postseason, it finished the playoffs with a 1.57 bullpen WHIP, with the unit being aided by starter Roki Sasaki becoming a fixture in the late innings. To avoid entering the postseason with a shaky bullpen, getting a new closer should be priority No. 1 for the Dodgers this offseason.
Diaz would become manager Dave Roberts’ new closer, giving him an established All-Star-caliber reliever who has also shut the door in postseason games. If Scott gets back on track and/or the Dodgers have an internal development, the more, the merrier. But they can’t take any chances.
The Dodgers have the money, as a $350 million payroll in 2025 showed, and the need. They’re the perfect fit for Diaz.
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