The New York Mets are the latest team to snatch up one of the top relief arms on the free agent market this offseason. It was announced by Will Sammon of The Athletic that the Mets have agreed to a deal with reliever Devin Williams, who spent last season with the New York Yankees.
MLB insider, Jeff Passan, later said that the deal is a three-year contract worth $50 million. This move comes just days after the Baltimore Orioles landed Ryan Helsley on a two-year deal. Both Helsley and Williams were reportedly on the Blue Jays radar, and now, they may have to turn up the heat on the Mets for another big bullpen star.
Blue Jays can zero in on top relief target after Mets’ latest hefty contract
Edwin Diaz is arguably the best arm on the market. In six years with the Mets he has compiled a 2.93 ERA in 255 games, in which he has 144 saves, 538 strikeouts and an 8.5 bWAR in 328.1 innings pitched. The Blue Jays also met with the agents of Diaz earlier this offseason and at that point, it was said that Diaz was seeking a deal that was around $102 million for five years.
If that is what he is looking to earn, the Blue Jays may not be comfortable with dishing out that kind of cash to a reliever, but it doesn’t mean they can’t make the Mets spend even more than they feel like they need to, to get their guy back.
According to Mets beat writer, Anthony DiComo, the Mets are still interested in getting Diaz, despite the Williams signing. DiComo says, “Williams is open to pitching in a setup role.”
Williams was far better as a setup guy with the Yankees, than he was as their closer, so it makes sense the Mets would still want a guy they can trust in a ninth inning role. The Blue Jays also had some issues with their ninth inning guy, with closer Jeff Hoffman giving up a league leading (among qualified relievers) 15 home runs. Earlier this offseason Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said that Hoffman wasn’t “married to the idea of being the closer” which has brought on the speculation that they would go after someone like Diaz.
At this point it looks like the Blue Jays could be battling the Mets not just for Diaz, but also for Kyle Tucker and if Toronto wants to end up with either of them, they’ll have to stay at the negotiating table for as long as possible to keep the pressure on the Mets to go above their own contract comfort zone.
