LOS ANGELES — Edwin Diaz pulled on a different blue cap and a white jersey with an unfamiliar number Friday, when he formally left the New York Mets for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
One of the best relievers in Major League Baseball has changed teams and coasts for a landmark free-agent contract, and the Dodgers are confident Diaz’s usual dominance will allow him to stabilize their chaotic bullpen by becoming their first true closer in five years.
And Diaz’s famous, heraldic entrance music? That’s also staying exactly the same, even if he is changing going from one side of the country — and one National League club — to another.
“It’s going to be super exciting when the trumpets sound in Los Angeles,” the 31-year-old from Puerto Rico said in Spanish. “It’s going to be special.”
Diaz left the Mets after seven years for a $69 million, three-year contract with the two-time reigning World Series champions, who have a deep roster and even deeper pockets. The Mets spent even bigger during the 2025 season (with the Dodgers a close second), but they wound up a distant second in the NL East Division to the Philadelphia Phillies and failed to make the playoffs after reaching the 2024 NL Championship Series.
When it came to the decision about his baseball future, “it wasn’t easy,” Diaz said in English while speaking down the hall from his new clubhouse at Dodger Stadium.
“I was playing seven years in New York. They treated me really good. They treated me great,” he added. “I chose the Dodgers because they’re a winning organization. I’m looking to win, and I think they have everything to win, so picking the Dodgers was pretty easy.”
Diaz was already the highest-paid reliever in the majors last season in Queens, where the slender right-hander nicknamed Sugar became a fan favorite for his talent and competitive grit — and for his signature bullpen walkouts to “Narco,” a stirring, trumpet-laced dance track.
The Dodgers loved all of it — even the music. General manager Brandon Gomes was already musing about a trumpet-themed bobblehead.
“As we were looking to add impactful players to what we felt like was already a championship-caliber club, we felt like Edwin was the perfect fit,” Gomes said.
Gomes called Diaz “a selfless superstar (who) fits right into our clubhouse culture. He’s proven this time and time again. In the playoffs, he’ll take the ball in the fourth, fifth inning, take down multiple innings to finish a game. And it’s somebody that we feel like is exactly what we need.”
Diaz was outstanding for the Mets last season, posting a 1.63 ERA and recording 28 saves in 31 chances along with 98 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings pitched. His departure along with the exits of first baseman Pete Alonso and outfielder Brandon Nimmo this offseason has stoked serious fan discontent.
There’s absolutely no discontent around the Dodgers, who are still basking in the glow of a second straight title won in spite of their bullpen.
Los Angeles relievers stumbled to a 4.27 ERA that ranked 21st of 30 teams in the majors this year. High-priced veterans Tanner Scott and Blake Treinen were mostly ineffective, while several relievers missed large chunks of the season with injuries.
In the bigger picture, nobody has lasted long as the Dodgers’ dedicated closer in the four seasons since they parted ways with Kenley Jansen. No reliever has recorded more than now-departed Evan Phillips’ 24 saves in a season for Los Angeles in that stretch, and this year’s profound struggles put bullpen help atop the champs’ winter priority list.
Diaz, who began his MLB career with the Seattle Mariners from 2016-18, the sport’s reliever of the year in 2018, 2022 and 2025, seasons in which he also was selected to the MLB All-Star Game.
“We have a high bar to name someone the closer,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “You have to be one of the best. You have to be elite and dominant at what you do. Sugar is that.”
The Dodgers assuaged their bullpen woes this fall by frequently using their starting pitchers in relief. Prized rookie starter Roki Sasaki returned from a long injury absence and effectively became the closer, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto secured the World Series MVP award by earning victories in Games 2 and 6 as a starter and in Game 7 as a reliever.
Scott and Treinen are expected back, along with a group of solid (when healthy) relievers that includes Anthony Banda, Jack Dreyer and Alex Vesia. That wasn’t nearly enough for the Dodgers, who went out to get arguably the top closer in the game. Manager Dave Roberts’ bullpen now is likely to be the most expensive in the majors in 2026.
“Adding an elite closer like Edwin is going to make any bullpen better,” Gomes said. “Now it allows Doc and our coaching staff to put guys into spots leading up to that knowing that it doesn’t really matter who’s (batting) in the ninth, that we’re going to like the matchup.”
Diaz, who will turn 32 shortly before next season begins, is wearing No. 3 with the Dodgers because his customary No. 39 is retired in honor of beloved catcher Roy Campanella, the Pro Baseball Hall of Famer who played for the club when it was still in Brooklyn.
Diaz said he chose his new number to honor his three sons.
“Adding talent on talent is always exciting to do,” Gomes said. “One of the bigger things with Edwin is just the positivity. Everything we’ve heard is this guy is just an incredible human being, but also is going to work his tail off, mentor younger guys, set good habits. He’s going to settle into the clubhouse culture and also make everyone better.”