If there was a game that embodied the New York Yankees’ bullpen in 2025, it was that catastrophic collapse against the Miami Marlins after the trade deadline. That trio of David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird was touted as saviors, but even they couldn’t keep it together, playing a big part in squandering leads of 6-0, 9-4, and even 12-10 in the 9th inning. At that point, it felt like the season was cursed, and it didn’t matter who Aaron Boone would be bringing out of the bullpen. Prime Mariano Rivera may have had issues on that 2025 team, too.

This is why it isn’t so surprising to hear the Yankees linked to Edwin Diaz, that fireballer with a pro-wrestling entrance, who has been a staple of the New York Mets since 2019. According to Ken Rosenthal, he could be a target.

Diaz to the Yankees?

“The Mets’ crosstown rivals, the New York Yankees, are another club with potential interest,” Rosenthal wrote in the Athletic. “The Yankees, too, have other priorities: a starting pitcher and at least one outfielder. While they are set with David Bednar as their closer, they also face the losses of two high-leverage relievers in Williams and Luke Weaver, and Díaz is proven in New York.”

Relievers and running backs are the two most volatile positions in sports, and Diaz has proven to be an outlier. He has been a mark of consistency since entering the league in 2016. In six years with the Mets, Diaz has a 2.56 ERA in 328.1 innings. His 2022 season was so prolific that he garnered MVP and Cy Young votes.

Díaz is a two-pitch pitcher, and that fastball has been one of the best pitches in the sport for some time. Last year, opposing hitters hit .133 off of it with a .295 slugging percentage. He generated a 39.4% whiff rate with it as well. It’s the type of swing-and-miss stuff that the Yankees have desperately been missing.

Buyer Beware

In Diaz’s most recent contract, he signed a five-year deal worth $102 million. He opted out after this last season, voiding the final two years, hoping for a bigger payday in free agency. Rosenthal previously reported that Diaz is seeking similar numbers to the last one, and if the Yankees are going to foot the bill, are they really considering paying a 31-year-old reliever into his late thirties?

Diaz has indeed been a model of consistency, but paying a reliever the big bucks has hurt them in their most recent past. Look no further than Aroldis Chapman, who ended up becoming the worst-case scenario on all fronts in his final seasons in New York. Chapman gave up back-breaking home runs in back-to-back playoff series in 2019 and 2020, effectively ending the Yankees’ season both times.

Chapman then lost the closer role in 2021 despite a hot start and was eventually usurped by Clay Holmes in 2022. In that final season, he walked out on the team before the postseason, skipping out on a mandatory workout.

By the end of his deal, the Yankees were stuck paying a guy who could no longer pitch in the ninth inning. His first deal wasn’t so different than what Diaz may be getting. In 2017, the Yankees signed him to a five-year, $86 million contract, followed by a three-year, $48 million extension in 2020.

Of course, Chapman was his own special nightmare, and the only thing he was worse at than finding the strike zone as a Yankee was his ability to be accountable. Even if it’s doubtful that Diaz would come with the same character concerns, there should still be a worry about paying an exorbitant fee for a reliever again.

It’s less about Diaz making too much, because he has more than earned it, but the fact that Hal Steinbrenner is the owner, and he can give the directive to cut payroll at any time. Any free agent comes with risks, and somebody like Kyle Tucker can turn into a pumpkin, too, but they already lived the agony of a star reliever losing it and being stuck with him, and they should think hard before making that same mistake again.

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