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By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
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As the New York Mets try to fix their deeply flawed pitching staff, they also have to decide how much it's worth paying the most consistent member of that staff.
When Edwin Díaz has been healthy for the last four years, he's been the most consistent closer in baseball. Since the start of 2022, he owns a 2.08 ERA and 300 strikeouts in 182 innings pitched, converting 80 of his 93 save opportunities.
Now that Díaz has opted out of the last two guaranteed years of his contract, the Mets are in a pickle. Do they commit another huge contract, probably upwards of $20 million average annual value, to bring him back for another four to five years? Or do they turn their bullpen into a gigantic question mark for next season?
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And they also have to beware of teams with money to spend and holes at the back of the bullpen, both boxes the Toronto Blue Jays check.
In a recent article, Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors predicted that the Mets would lose Díaz to the Blue Jays this offseason. The site also projected Díaz for a four-year, $82 million deal, which would set a new AAV record for relief pitchers, and three other contributors had Díaz signing with different clubs.
"The Mets pounced to proactively re-sign Diaz before he could truly even test his market last time. That deal was under former GM Billy Eppler. Will new president of baseball operations David Stearns make a similarly aggressive strike?" wrote an uncredited MLBTR contributor.
"It’s hard to see, but it’s always possible owner Steve Cohen could take matters into his own hands and retain his superstar stopper. If not, Diaz is going to draw interest from basically every big-market contender (e.g. Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays)."
Toronto's Jeff Hoffman allowed the most home runs of any reliever in baseball during the regular season, then blew a save opportunity in Game 7 of the World Series on a home run by backup infielder Miguel Rojas, who hadn't had a hit in over a month.
As for the other writers, Tim Dierkes had Díaz signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Anthony Franco picked the San Francisco Giants, and Darragh McDonald chose the New York Yankees.
It's still early in the offseason, but it's fair to say that the baseball community has collective doubts about the Mets' willingness to pay up for Díaz a second time.
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