The New York Mets made another significant move in their offseason overhaul by filling the closer slot, but this year’s closer definitely won’t be making “Diaz money.”
Instead the Mets passed on the contract demands of pitcher Edwin Diaz and turned to Devin Williams, who signed a three year deal with the club, according to a report from Will Sammon of The Athletic and a follow-up piece by Chris Kirschner.
The move is surprising in a couple of ways, the first being that it represents a pivot away from Edwin Diaz, who opted out of his two year deal with the clear intent to rack up another five-year contract, reset the market and make way he called “Diaz money” in the process.
The fact that Williams got a three-year deal was also surprising. Williams was a disappointment in his crosstown stint for the New York Yankees, and The Athletic had him projected to get a one-year, $18 million deal after posting a career worst 4.79 ERA for the Yanks.
But Mets GM knows Williams from his time in Milwaukee, and there’s evidence to suggest he could rebound. According to Kirschner , Williams 37.7 percent swing-and-miss rate ranked in the 99th percentile, and his chase rate and strikeout rate were elite as well.
Williams defended his record with the Yankees, but the fact is that he was never a great fit to begin with. Williams challenged the Yankees longstanding policy of not allowing facial hair, and he immediately struggled, posting a 9.00 ERA in April.
The closer also defended his performance with the other New York team, saying it was based on a few bad outings.
“The statistics ended up the way they were because I had four or five blow-up games,” Williams said earlier this offseason. “They ended up scoring three or ended up scoring four. I just wasn’t able to get out of it after one run. That contributed to why my ERA looks the way that it did. It wasn’t necessarily like I was bad in every game. It’s just when I had a bad game, it was terrible.”
Williams eventually found his groove and became effective, but the Yankees saw him as a small-market guy who couldn’t adapt to New York. Stearns and the Mets obviously have no such concerns, especially given their willingness to give the 31-year old a three-year deal, although terms were not announced.
As for Diaz, it’s surprising to see the Mets pass on him, given that he was a favorite of owner Steve Cohen. It’s also fair to ask if Diaz’s flamboyant style played a part in reported clubhouse unrest and tension between superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor and outfielder Juan Soto.