The Mets extended Edwin Díaz a $22.05 million qualifying offer on Thursday. Calvin Hernandez / Getty Images
A reunion between the New York Mets and Edwin Díaz won’t be so simple this time around.
After the 2022 season, New York and the closer agreed to a new five-year contract before free agency even opened. This year, the two sides couldn’t come to terms as swiftly, and the Mets extended Díaz the $22.05 million qualifying offer on Thursday.
Díaz opted out of the final two years and $37 million on that initial five-year deal. The right-hander, who turns 3…
The Mets extended Edwin Díaz a $22.05 million qualifying offer on Thursday. Calvin Hernandez / Getty Images
A reunion between the New York Mets and Edwin Díaz won’t be so simple this time around.
After the 2022 season, New York and the closer agreed to a new five-year contract before free agency even opened. This year, the two sides couldn’t come to terms as swiftly, and the Mets extended Díaz the $22.05 million qualifying offer on Thursday.
Díaz opted out of the final two years and $37 million on that initial five-year deal. The right-hander, who turns 32 in March, has until Nov. 18 to accept or decline the offer. There is zero chance he accepts it.
The expectation, based on conversations with league sources, is for Díaz to test the market this time around. The Mets have already shown some interest in re-signing Díaz, a league source said, but it’s unclear how far the club will go to retain him. The star closer seems poised to land a deal that keeps him atop the market.
After all, Díaz opted out of $18.5 million per season over the next two; the top annual salary for a closer is Josh Hader’s $19 million with the Houston Astros. Díaz, the No. 11 free agent on The Athletic’s Big Board, should become the first closer to earn $20 million per season. There’s a reasonable chance the deal will be long enough to make him the first closer to sign a nine-figure contract.
Díaz is coming off a season in which he converted 28 of 31 save chances and posted a 1.63 ERA — returning to his peak form after an uneven 2024 and a 2023 season lost to a preseason knee injury. In seven years with the Mets, he’s collected 144 saves and pitched to a 2.93 ERA. If he does return to New York, he should pass Armando Benítez (160) for second on the franchise’s saves leaderboard, behind only John Franco (276).
To be clear, the quickness of Díaz’s re-signing in 2022 is the aberration, and the way the process is playing out this winter is the norm. Just because he didn’t re-sign immediately this time doesn’t rule out an eventual return to Queens. Díaz has long expressed a fondness for playing in New York.
“If I decide to opt out, I would love to come back,” he said on the last day of the season.
Nov 6, 2025
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