Is Edwin Diaz the closer or not? Mets aren't helping him by not making it official
Mets releiver Edwin Diaz during a spring training workout at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Feb. 10. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
JUPITER, Fla.
What’s so scary about the Mets just naming Edwin Diaz their closer already? If he looks as good as they say he does, and his stuff is “electric,” and his slider keeps getting better, as manager Luis Rojas said Thursday afternoon, then why is this such a radioactive topic?
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen traded for Diaz a year ago to be the Mets’ closer. He sacrificed three of the franchise’s top prospects, including Jarred Kelenic, and took on roughly $65 million for five years of a 36-year-old Robinson Cano, mostly to fix the club’s biggest weakness at the back end of the bullpen.
As of this minute, that deal is shaping up to be one of the worst in Mets history. We already knew all that. But the only way to change that narrative is to hope Cano somehow performs like an All-Star again and Diaz returns to being the 57-save guy he was during his last Seattle season.
Maybe Cano will be able to turn back the clock for another year or two. It’s within the realm of possibility. But until Diaz gets the opportunity to redeem himself, and we mean as the closer, this trade remains an epic fail.
The Mets refuse to budge, however. Rojas insists he’s fine with a bullpen full of closer candidates, but that’s not exactly the case.
Dellin Betances, at his best, is one of the most dominant relievers in the sport, but he’s still working his way back from shoulder and Achilles injuries. He didn’t have his A-stuff pitching a simulated game the other day and his first Grapefruit appearance isn’t until Saturday.
Is the newly slimmed-down Jeurys Familia someone to be immediately trusted in the ninth inning? How about Justin Wilson? They have closer experience, sure, but ideally should be in a setup role.
The Mets like the flexibility they have with Seth Lugo — the club’s most effective reliever last season — so they’d rather not pin him to the ninth.
Just throw Diaz back into the bullpen’s deep end again. He either sinks or swims, and then the Mets have their answer. And if he’s unable to handle the pressure of that title here in early March, then we’ll know he can’t be trusted in April. I just don’t understand the point of playing mind games with him now.
When I asked Rojas on Thursday if he had spoken to Diaz about being the closer again, the manager repeated his familiar mantra.
“We haven’t talked about anything to anybody about roles,” Rojas said.
Would he be fine sticking with that strategy on Opening Day? Not having a predetermined closer?
“We have a lot of individuals that can do that,” Rojas said. “We could get there [and name one] and we could also have a committee with the guys in our bullpen based on their track record. But we’re not defining roles.”
Apparently, this isn’t a camp competition for the closer’s role, either. So after two Grapefruit appearances — the first meh, the second an upgrade — Diaz was relegated to pitching in a simulated game Thursday at the PSL complex rather than taking a 40-minute bus ride to face the Cardinals in Jupiter.
What does a simulated game involve? Facing other Mets, with the catcher calling balls and strikes. In this case, Diaz retired four hitters with 17 pitches — two flyouts, two groundouts, zero Ks — in a group of minor-leaguers that included top prospects Ronny Mauricio and Andres Gimenez.
On occasion, Diaz asked the batter where a certain pitch was in his effort to refine his fastball command. The Cardinals wouldn’t have been so cooperative, which is why Diaz seemed to prefer the Field 7 environment.
“I think it’s more important for me to be feeling good with the pitches,” he said. “I think if I get my pitches the way I want to, we’ll get good results, so that’s my main focus right now.”
Makes sense. This is spring training, after all. For what it’s worth, Wilson got knocked around before Diaz came in, as did Lugo a bit in his first appearance since breaking his pinkie toe.
We can’t help but think, however, that Diaz would benefit from soaking up as much of the Grapefruit atmosphere as possible, considering that last season’s problems seemed to stem more from his psyche than his stuff.
As of now, Diaz says the uncertainty about the closer role is not on his mind.
“I haven’t talked to the manager about it,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my job, to demonstrate that I can get outs. If they make the decision to give me the ninth inning, I would feel happy about that.”
Sounds like a good reason. And yet the Mets don’t see any advantage to doing it.
“I think he’s fine,” Rojas said. “Right now, he’s working on very detailed stuff with a new pitching coach. He’s getting a feel for it and it’s working. So he’s in a good place for me.”
Just not where Diaz needs to be. At least not yet, anyway.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
