Dodgers' reported contract wrinkle with Edwin Diaz kicks Mets while they're down

The Dodgers put a decisive end to Tanner Scott's short-lived tenure as their closer when they signed Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69 million contract on Tuesday, the second full day of Winter Meetings. He might not have gotten the five-year, $100 million deal he wanted (which he was never going to get), but a $23 million AAV is a new record for a closer, and his 28 saves in 31 opportunities and 1.63 ERA warranted something exorbitant.

LA's top brass tried to lull everyone else into a false sense of security on Monday night, when Dave Roberts reiterated that the team didn't feel there were any big moves to make. It's easy to imagine Roberts, Andrew Friedman, and Brandon Gomes walking away from their media scrums giggling to themselves, knowing that this signing was in their back pockets.

Of course, a number of other teams were in on Díaz, including the Mets. They signed Devin Williams to a three-year, $51 million contract before the meetings, but kept the door open on re-signing Díaz.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Mets offered him three years and $66 million (including deferrals) and were willing to go higher, but Díaz clearly wasn't interested in hearing them out and went with the Dodgers instead. According to Anthony DiComo, Diaz's camp didn't circle back to the Mets before accepting LA's cash.

Edwin Díaz reportedly turned down a three-year, $66 million offer from the Mets before signing with the Dodgers

Díaz left two years and $38 million on the table when he opted out of his initial contract with New York. He and Pete Alonso's decisions came as no surprise after they both turned in All-Star seasons, but their team staged a historic collapse after the break. The Mets have since traded away a centerpiece of the franchise in Brandon Nimmo, lost out on Kyle Schwarber, and now have to kiss goodbye to Díaz goodbye too.

The Mets have had a run of bad publicity this offseason, with less than favorable feedback on president of baseball operations David Stearns and rumors of discord in the clubhouse. Between that and their championship drought being one of the longest in baseball, the Mets are just an unfailingly hopeless franchise.

The Dodgers, the best team in baseball, will give Díaz, the best closer in baseball, more opportunities to win a World Series than anyone else. It's a simple pitch, but it's clearly all that Díaz needed to hear if he wasn't even willing to give his old club a real shot to match LA.