Mets Give Díaz Qualifying Offer
On Thursday, the Mets made a qualifying offer to Edwin Díaz. This year, the qualifying offer comes in at $22.05 million. Díaz has until November 18 at 4:00 PM EST to decide if he will accept it or not. Díaz opted out of the last two years of the five-year, $102 million contract that he signed in November of 2022. The contract deferred some of the total, bringing down the annual payroll hit on the Mets’ tax bill. He had $38 million remaining on the contract through 2027. There is almost no chance that Díaz will accept the qualifying offer, and in the event he does sign elsewhere, the Mets will receive a pick in between the third and fourth rounds of the MLB Draft (130-140 overall) as a result of the Mets being over the tax threshold.
Diaz is coming off a stellar season. In 62 appearances, Díaz had a 1.63 ERA and a 13.30 K/9. He improved his control and had a WHIP of 0.87 (nearly matching his 0.84 WHIP in his otherworldly 2022 season). Diaz also improved his groundball rate (48.1% up from 44% in 2024). All told, Diaz had a 2.0 fWAR and 3.0 bWAR in 2025 and remained one of the most reliable closers in all of MLB.
There are, however, a couple of areas that make a front office hesitant to give Diaz the contract he desires. For starters, his velocity dipped once again. In the last three years, his velocity has gone from 99.1 mph in 2022, to 97.6 mph in 2024 and 97.4 mph in 2025. Díaz also had his lowest strikeout rate since 2021. Despite those concerns, Diaz is still relatively young (entering his age-32 season) and, outside of his horrific leg injury, has been extremely durable. That durability, combined with his elite 2025 season, should allow Díaz to command a contract worth $20 million per season for at least three years.
A reliever receiving the qualifying is rather rare. Dating back to 2015, there have only been four full-time relievers who received the qualifying offer. Kenley Jansen (2016), Wade Davis (2017), Craig Kimbrel (2018) and Josh Hader (2024). Jansen re-signed with the Dodgers for five years and $80 million, and Kimbrel, as a result of the qualifying offer, waited until the season started to sign with the Cubs for three years and $43 million to avoid the signing team from surrendering a draft pick. Wade Davis, coming off an impressive four-year run as one of the best relievers in MLB, signed a three-year, $52 million deal with the Colorado Rockies. The most recent QO was to Josh Hader. He signed a five-year, $95 million deal with the Houston Astros that surpassed the current-day value of Díaz’s contract after factoring in deferrals.
Unlike the previous time Díaz was a free agent, it appears more likely now that he will at least test the open market. Both parties remain interested in a reunion, and it is unclear exactly what Díaz is looking for. Paying relievers in their 30s over $20 million annually doesn’t appear to be a typical David Stearns-type move. However, given the gap between Díaz and the next best option on the market, coupled with the number of holes in the Mets’ bullpen, this could create the perfect storm for Stearns to step outside his comfort zone and keep “Sugar” in Queens for the long haul.
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