Edwin Diaz had a chance to catch up with Steve Cohen before the Dodgers’ series opener against the Mets in mid-April 2026, a brief reunion that came months after Los Angeles pried him away from New York on a three-year, $69 million deal.
Diaz told Cohen what he said the only way a closer can: directly. The Dodgers right-hander said he was glad to see the Mets owner, then explained that the conversation fit the moment because the two clubs had just spent the week meeting in a three-game series, with the pitcher's new team facing the one he left after six seasons.
The move landed hard in Queens because the Mets had spent the previous six seasons with Diaz and were widely viewed as the favorite to keep him. Instead, they signed reliever Devin Williams during the offseason, and Diaz said he was caught by surprise when the Dodgers made their push. Kiké Hernández later told Andrew Friedman that he thought it was the right time to act, saying, “I realized Edwin probably feels a little disrespected by this,” and, “I reached out to Andrew, and I let him know that I know this guy really well, and I think it’s the right time to act on things.”
That call helped set up one of the offseason’s sharpest transfers between rivals. The Dodgers’ pursuit of Diaz was not just about adding a closer; it was about beating the Mets for one of baseball’s best in a market where both clubs had been competing for the same arm. The result shifted the balance of a matchup that already carried extra weight when the clubs met again this week.
What makes the story linger is how little surprise there was in New York until there suddenly was. The Mets had reason to believe Diaz would stay, and the Dodgers made their move only after Williams arrived in Queens. In the end, Los Angeles got the finish it wanted, New York got the reminder it did not, and Diaz walked back into the same ballpark this week wearing a different uniform.
