Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the chances of the Mets trading Edwin Diaz in the coming days have “significantly increased” in the last 48 hours, with the Los Angeles Dodgers being one team with interest.
That is a big change from the reports prior to that saying the Mets were demanding more than they got in their deal to acquire the right-handed closer this offseason, in which they surrendered Jarred Kelenic, Justin Dunn, Gerson Bautista, Jay Bruce, and Anthony Swarzak for Diaz and Robinson Cano.
Furthermore, Buster Olney of ESPN hears that the Mets probably won’t have to settle for a lower package because of his struggles this season and that the Mets could trade him without worrying about selling low on him.
The 25-year-old has a 4.81 ERA, 3.50 FIP, and 1.449 WHIP while notching 22 saves this season. However, he’s also blown four saves and registered six losses. That being said, his strikeout rate is in line with his career 14.1 K/9 as his rate currently stands at 14.0 K/9 on the year.
A rival evaluator told Olney that despite his struggles this season, Diaz has “the type of talent you bet on” and that “there is a team that will pay face value for that.”
Diaz comes with three years of control following this season as he enters his first year of arbitration this offseason. For his career, Diaz has a 3.01 ERA, 2.72 FIP, and 1.090 WHIP with 131 career saves in parts of four seasons.
If the Mets are truthfully planning on dealing Noah Syndergaard and/or Zack Wheeler, the team’s chances of competing in 2020 and maybe even 2021 would become very slim.
Having a closer on a team that doesn’t plan on competing is considered by some as pointless since, without a good team, a closer gets very little opportunity to do his job.
So, if the Mets are serious about trading one or both of those starters, trading Diaz might make sense if they can truly get a similar prospect haul to the one they surrendered to acquire him in the first place.
