Coming into the offseason, the Dodgers signaled that they would be conservative when it came to pursuing help in the bullpen.
Turned out, they were quietly plotting one of the most surprising — and impactful — signings of the winter.
In a blockbuster move on Tuesday, the team agreed to a three-year, $69-million deal with top free-agent closer Edwin Díaz, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, snatching the three-time All-Star and three-time Reliever of the Year award winner in a move that will transform their previously shaky bullpen.
Díaz, 31, was the consensus best relief pitcher in this year’s free-agent class. Over his nine-year career, he has a 2.82 ERA and 253 saves. In that time, no other MLB reliever tops him in strikeouts (839), while only Kenley Jansen has recorded more saves (334). This past season with the New York Mets — his second since returning from a knee surgery that sidelined him for all of 2023 — Díaz had one of his best career campaigns, posting a 1.63 ERA with 28 saves in 31 opportunities and 98 strikeouts in 66 ⅓ innings.
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That track record positioned Díaz to be the highest-paid reliever on this year’s market, with most projections pegging him for a four- or five-year deal upward of $20 million per season. Because of that, the Dodgers appeared to be long shots to sign him, with the club believed to prefer a shorter-term contract after watching their big relief signings last offseason (namely Tanner Scott) struggle in a bullpen that ranked just 21st in ERA.
However, in recent weeks, the Dodgers' approach had begun to subtly shift.
The team had strong interest in Devin Williams before he signed a three-year deal with Díaz’s old team, the Mets — staying in the running late into Williams’ bidding even as it reached the level of multi-year offers.
They were in talks this week with Robert Suarez, another high-powered arm likely to sign a multiyear contract.
And on Tuesday morning, they emerged as a surprise finalist for Díaz, reportedly along with the incumbent Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.
Still, in an offseason that had seen the Dodgers repeatedly downplay their need for a big splash, Díaz seemed to be out of their comfort zone, especially after turning down a qualifying offer from the Mets at the start of the offseason that would cost whatever club signed him a pick in next year’s draft.
In past years, such factors might have swayed the Dodgers to explore a more conservative path to bolster their bullpen.
But now, coming off back-to-back World Series championships and bathing in pools of cash thanks to a Shohei Ohtani-driven revenue boost, the club has demonstrated a different line of thinking.
For top talent, they have few financial reservations — especially on shorter-term, higher annual average value deals like the one Díaz signed, which will set an AAV record (at $23 million per year) for free-agent relief pitchers.
Díaz’s arrival, which was first reported by the Athletic, instantly changes the outlook on the Dodgers’ bullpen for next year.
Now, they have perhaps their most clear-cut closer option since Jansen’s departure at the end of 2021. Now, they will be less reliant on returning veterans such as Scott (who had a 4.74 ERA and 10 blown saves last season — the first of his four-year, $72 million contract) — and Blake Treinen (who struggled with injuries en route to a 5.40 ERA after re-signing with the team last winter) to help shoulder a previously undetermined ninth-inning role.
And most of all, they have now alleviated what was the biggest weakness in their run to back-to-back titles last year, when they had to lean heavily on starting pitchers — even in spot-duty relief appearances — to navigate the postseason.
Díaz’s success is predicated on a heavy fastball that averages 97 mph and netted just a .133 batting average against last season, plus a swing-and-miss slider that helped him rank fourth among big-league relievers in overall whiff rate in 2025.
His aura at the end of games has been amplified during his Mets career, too, thanks to his iconic trumpet entrance out of the bullpen at Citi Field.
Díaz had already signed one record-breaking contract in his career, when as a first-time free agent he inked a five-year, $102-million deal in 2022 — the first nine-figure contract ever for a reliever — to re-sign with the Mets, who originally acquired him in a trade from Seattle after a breakout 2018 campaign in which he led the majors with 57 saves.
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That deal, however, came with an opt-out after this past season. And though Díaz missed all of 2023 with a torn patellar tendon in his knee, and regressed to a 3.52 ERA in his return to the mound in 2024, his 2025 performance was so good that he decided to re-test the market this winter and forgo the remaining two years and $38 million guaranteed left on that contract.
Díaz might not have received another five-year pact like he was projected for this winter — likely thanks in part to the Mets’ earlier pivot to Williams, leading them to reportedly only make Díaz a three-year offer themselves.
But his new Dodgers deal still guarantees him an extra season and $31 million. It gives him the opportunity to aid the club’s quest for a World Series three-peat. And it serves as a reminder to the rest of the baseball world: that even when they don’t necessarily need to, these big-spending Dodgers are never afraid to flex their financial might.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
