Before agreeing to a three-year, $69 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 7, All-Star closer Edwin Díaz reportedly had multiple contract offers.
In an article for ESPN, MLB insider Jorge Castillo reported that aside from the three-year deal the Dodgers offered Díaz, the Atlanta Braves were also very interested in signing the All-Star closer, as they reportedly offered a five-year contract to Díaz. The Braves wound up signing fellow All-Star closer Robert Suárez to a three-year, $45 million deal on December 11.
Castillo also reported that while Díaz was not given a heads-up about the Mets' inking a three-year, $51 million deal with closer Devin Williams, he was still interested in returning to Flushing, with the Mets offering the 31-year-old a three-year, $66 million contract.
It has been a brutal offseason for the Mets thus far, which started with the ballclub trading outfielder and longest tenured player Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers for infielder Marcus Semien. And then during the Winter Meetings last week, the Amazins' saw their stellar closer agree to that aforementioned three-year contract with the back-to-back World Series champions, followed by slugging first baseman, Pete Alonso, agreeing to a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles after spending the first seven seasons of his career in New York.
The Mets are able, though, to fill both Díaz's and Alonso's holes they will be leaving on their roster with Williams slated to be the club's closer in 2026, while veteran infielder Jorge Polanco who agreed to a two-year, $40 million deal with the Amazins' on Saturday to reportedly play first base (a position he's only played in one inning before during his 12-year career).
2026 will feel and look different for the New York Mets, even though signing Pete Alonso may have seemed unlikely from the start. It sure looked like their All-Star closer, Edwin Díaz, had every intention of trying to remain a Met, even after reportedly bluffing a five-year deal with the Braves.