Edwin Díaz Talks Record Contract on Four-Year Anniversary of Trade

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On this date four years ago, the Mets agreed to send outfield prospect Jarred Kelenic, right-handed pitching prospects Justin Dunn and Gerson Bautista, and veterans Anthony Swarzak and Jay Bruce to the Mariners in exchange for closer Edwin Díaz and second baseman Robinson Canó.

Fast forward to Dec. 1, 2022, when Mets’ GM Billy Eppler and Díaz are on a Zoom call with reporters to talk about the record-setting five-year, $102 million deal the Mets gave the start closer. Díaz acknowledged that he saw on social media that it was the four-year anniversary of the deal. “Four years ago, I was getting traded to here, and now I’m signing the biggest deal for a reliever,” Díaz said.

The 28-year-old Díaz entered the 2022 season coming two solid seasons in a row after a disastrous first season in New York and he quickly announced to the baseball world that he was ready to dominate once again. Díaz struck out a ridiculous 50.2% of the batters he faced and posted a minuscule 1.31 ERA in 62 innings for the Mets as they won 101 games.

Both Díaz and Eppler said that the deal to stay in New York came together quickly as both sides made it clear what they wanted. “The number one priority for me and my family was to stay in New York because we love the team and the organization. They treated us great and we feel like they’re a part of our family,” Diaz said.

Eppler was of course asked questions about the Mets’ long list of free agents and how he plans on filling out the roster for the 2023 season. “Without getting into specifics… I’m having an active dialogue on many fronts. The volume of phone calls and connections… are pretty constant,” Eppler said.

The opinion of Mets fans on the trade with the Mariners has certainly much different on Dec. 1 of 2022.

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