Edwin Diaz helped provide some clarity for New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, who remains perplexed after watching the star closer spurn his old club to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency back in December.
It boiled down to $3 million, as the Mets’ three-year offer at $66 million was eclipsed by a $69 million pact from the two-time defending World Series champions. While New York reportedly said they would be willing to up that bid, Diaz never offered a chance to do so, as he opted to move out west, a decision Cohen called “perplexing.”
“I was a free agent, so I got the chance to talk with everyone,” Diaz told reporters over the weekend. “I think the Dodgers did a great job recruiting me. At the end of the day, I chose to be here. I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization, players, staff, and ownership. 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.”
His explanation came just one day after Cohen spoke with Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose to express his confusion as to how he lost out on one of the best relievers in the game.
“I did find that one perplexing,” Cohen said. “Not sure exactly how Edwin arrived at that decision. Obviously, it’s a personal decision on his part, and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid. I could argue our bid might’ve been better.”
The Mets already attempted to create a cushion in case Diaz walked in free agency this winter. They signed former Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees closer Devin Williams, along with another ex-Yankees closer, Luke Weaver.
“I’ll tell you something, when things got hot and heavy, when this was coming down, I felt pretty good about our decision to sign Devin Williams,” Cohen said. “I described it to [president of baseball operations David Stearns] that it was really clever, because it was a good hedge in case things didn’t work out with Edwin.”
