The Los Angeles Dodgers' quest for a third straight World Series title came to a disastrous end on Thursday when they were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at home. 

Last year, the Dodgers were clearly the better team when they swept Milwaukee on the same stage. But this season, the Brewers returned the favor. 

Now, Los Angeles has a lot to figure out. Its already expensive roster only grew in cost last offseason when it acquired Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz to add additional stardom in hopes of a three-peat. 

At the time, these deals made the Dodgers the overwhelming favorites to get a third consecutive ring, but things quickly went south for Diaz's first season in Dodger blue, and he never recovered. 

At this point, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman must hope that his front office did not make a mistake in signing Diaz.

When Los Angeles signed Diaz, it was to a three-year, $69 million guaranteed contract, which set a Major League Baseball Average Annual Value record of $23 million per year for a relief pitcher. 

At the time, this was very exciting for the Dodgers. Even after back-to-back World Series titles, they still had a clear weakness in the closer's role, and the addition of Diaz was supposed to overwhelmingly improve that. 

Diaz was coming off a season with the New York Mets in which he went 6-3 with a 1.63 ERA across 62 appearances and 66.1 innings pitched. His strong 2025 campaign included the third All-Star selection of his career, and his addition to what was already a super team made fans of the sport look at the Dodgers' business practices as unfair.

However, it did not take long for the excitement to fade.

Following a pair of uncharacteristic outings on April 10 and April 19 in which Diaz gave up three earned runs in each, he was placed on the 15-day Injured List for loose bodies in his right elbow. By May 10, he was transferred to the 60-day IL.

On July 29, Diaz finally returned to the mound, but by Aug. 18, he was back on the 15-day IL — this time with neck inflammation. Before landing back on the IL, Diaz had a nightmare of an August in which he allowed more earned runs (10) than batters he struck out (seven). 

He returned to the mound on Sept. 18 and was much better, as he appeared in five games and logged nine strikeouts while allowing only one hit and one walk in five shutout innings of work. It seemed as if the Dodgers were finally getting the version of Diaz they paid for, and he was solid enough in the postseason, in which he logged two saves in four appearances. 

However, in Thursday’s Game 4, he gave up a solo home run to David Hamilton in the top of the ninth inning that extended the Brewers' lead to 6-4 and buried Los Angeles, which was the cherry on top of an ugly year for Diaz.

Diaz's 2026 season was the worst of his decade-long career. The 32-year-old only appeared in 21 regular-season games, in which he posted a 2-2 record with an 8.68 ERA in 18.2 innings of work. 

Injuries certainly affected Diaz, and while he did look more like himself at the end of the season, he was absolutely not worth the mammoth contract he received. 

The Dodgers' front office already pushed the financial envelope by signing Diaz last offseason. Now, they must hope that the struggles that he faced were an outlier and that he will return to form next year so that they get their money's worth.