This past Sunday, the New York Mets re-signed Edwin Díaz closer to a five-year, $102 million deal – the biggest stoppage deal in MLB history. For reference, the previous all-time high in average annual value of $18 million was awarded to Liam Hendriks of the White Sox before 2021. The previous record for the largest contract pool for relievers. was set right in the last season when the Angels signed Raisel Iglesias with a four-year, $58 million contract.
Essentially, Díaz just ripped a hole in the painkiller market.
Does he deserve a record signing? Sure. After all, two of his last three seasons have seen him post ERA-plus over 200 and he has increased his penalty kick rate over 9 times from 12.8 in 2021 to 17 ,1 in 2022. He is also only 28 years old (will be 29 at the beginning of next season). Does he deserve this crazy record contract? That is debatable. The presence of a closer class is undeniably precious in today’s MLB. Do not believe me? Ask any Dodgers fan how they feel about that question.
Argue on that topic all you want. “Is it realistic that the closer price is worth more than $20 million a year?” That’s the question everyone is pondering. The question I want to ask is “Who cares how much he gets paid? Does it really matter?”
Steve Cohen recently suggestions that he plans to spend $300 million in 2023. That would be nearly $23 million more than the Dodgers spent on their Opening Day listing. It would also be nearly $50 million more than the Mets spent on their Opening Day listing. Basically, he plans to spend a lot.
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If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last few years of baseball, it’s that luxury taxes don’t stop owners from spending. And with some players calling for the luxury tax to be raised even higher, there is even more incentive for owners to spend. It is clear that Cohen is not interested in spending as long as he likes what he gets or believes he will get his money back.
The former doesn’t really apply to the MLB free agency. However, the fact that Cohen once bought a statue to 141.3 million USD for a bronze sculpture Maybe because he wanted it, showing that money wasn’t an issue. If he wants to see his Mets win, he will draw all stops. If he wants to spend over $300 million because he wants a great player on his roster, he will do it.
Modern MLB has shown us two proven ways to consistently win games. You are a low market team with a great data and scouting department that builds your farm system so stable that you end up having two or three years to win the title – like Rays or Guardians – or you spend tons of money to get all the best players and keep your window open forever. You can also combine the two like the Dodgers and Astros have, which is what the Dodgers did and why they can afford to pay David Price, Trevor Bauer, Dustin May, Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Max Muncy and Craig Kimbrel oodles of cash while they perform at the lowest levels of their careers or not at all.
The Mets have a good farm system, usually rating in the middle of the pack. However, that is not enough to guarantee success. The Mets need to spend and spend big.
With a net worth of over $17 billion, Cohen (pretty much) doesn’t care how much he spends this season. 300 million USD is an absurd number that has never been seen in MLB. With that in mind, it’s hard to assume anyone is getting paid higher on the Mets’ list. In fact, overspending when you don’t care about money can actually be a good strategy as it sets a new standard for players of similar skill level in the same position. You think Kenley Jansen won’t use this number as a yardstick for his upcoming free company? Surely he will. He won’t earn as much as Díaz. That’s undisputed, but the standard has gone up and so all teams will have to spend more on painkillers moving forward, and most other teams don’t want to spend more than they can. must have.
Díaz is an incredible potion who provides a great fan experience. As long as the Mets have him, their cowshed will remain one of the best in the league. Yes, they’re giving him a lot of money, probably too much, but I’m sure Cohen will tell you that it’s completely priceless to play that role and give fans another 5 years of Diaz’s life. price. Cue trumpet!
