NEW YORK — After a historic season, Edwin Díaz has struck an equally historic deal to remain with the Mets.
Díaz and the Mets have agreed on a five-year, $102 million contract that is the richest in history for a reliever, a source with knowledge of the deal told MLB.com. The contract, pending physical review, includes a post-season 2025 opt-out, a $20 million team option for 2028, and a full no-trade clause. It surpasses Aroldis Chapman’s just signed five-year, $86 million deal with the Yankees as the largest for a helper.
It also takes Díaz off the market just days before he would have been eligible to sign with any team. He would become a free agent for the first time in his career.
Díaz ends one of the most dominant seasons with a modern day closer, an all-star campaign that changed a once-rocky narrative with the Mets.
Shortly after general manager Brodie Van Wagenen took over Díaz and Robinson Canó in a polarizing trade in December 2018, Díaz debuted the most challenging season of his career, making seven saves, losing seven games and an ERA in his freshman year in New York of 5.59 scored.
He bounced back with stronger performances in 2020-21, but just this past summer has he become one of the most popular helpers the Mets have employed. His rate of 17.1 strikeouts per nine innings was the second-highest in AL/NL history among pitchers with at least 30 innings, trailing only Chapman’s 2014 campaign with the Reds.
Over time, Díaz became a Citi Field phenomenon thanks to his opening music “Narco” by Dutch DJ Blasterjaxx and his Australian partner Timmy Trumpet. The throbbing beat accompanied Díaz as he jogged out of the bullpen, eventually spawning production elements like stadium lighting effects and a camera that got closer and closer to him as he made his way up the hill. The Mets’ broadcast partner, SNY, stopped cutting to commercials just as Díaz was about to enter the game.
Just 28, Díaz is a two-time All-Star who has saved 205 games in seven seasons, including three with the Mariners and the last four with the Mets. He owns a career 2.93 ERA.
The Mariners’ Puerto Rican draft pick was a third-round pick in 2012. His younger brother Alexis has just finished a breakout season for the Reds and Edwin has said he would be delighted at the chance to play in the same bullpen as Alexis at some point in his career. Most teammates refer to Díaz by his nickname “Sugar,” which was given to him by his childhood friends because they believed he resembled the title character in the 2008 film Sugar.
Díaz’s deal completes the first point of a busy offseason for the Mets, who must rebuild their bullpen around it while also filling in several rotation spots and potentially improving offense.