Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the Mets are open to the idea of trading away All-Star closer Edwin Diaz if they get a “home run” package. According to an executive Passan spoke with, the Mets are “asking for more than they gave up for him.”
Diaz, 25, has struggled mightily this season as he has a 4.81 ERA, 3.51 FIP, and 1.424 WHIP across 42 games (39 1/3 innings). The closer has blown four saves as he is 22-for-26 in save attempts and also received six losses this year.
On the plus side, Diaz has maintained a similar strikeout rate to last season as he is averaging 14.0 SO/9 this season as compared to 15.2 SO/9 in 2018.
However, there is little-to-no-shot a deal of this magnitude happens as what the Mets gave up was obviously very substantial as they surrendered two top 100 prospects in Jared Kelenic (22nd) and Justin Dunn (65th), according to MLB Pipeline. The Mets also sent Jay Bruce, Gerson Bautista, and Anthony Swarzak to the Seattle Mariners in order to acquire Diaz and Robinson Cano.
With the poor season Diaz is having, it is almost impossible to see a team giving up that type of return for him despite the fact that he would come with three years of control after this season via arbitration while only making the league minimum this season.
Furthermore, as Passan notes, there are other options such as Felipe Vazquez, Ken Giles, and Shane Greene available who are actually having strong seasons.
Even if Diaz was still pitching as he did in 2018 when he had a 1.96 ERA, 1.61 FIP, and 0.791 WHIP to go along with 57 saves and 124 strikeouts in 73 appearances (73 1/3 innings), it is still possible the Mets would not receive that type of offer from any team because of the previously mentioned many avenues available for contending teams in need of bullpen help.
