The New York Mets are still listening to teams on Edwin Diaz and the Tampa Bay Rays are the latest team with reported interest.
Whatever the plan is for the New York Mets, it’s still unclear. The team is considering dealing Edwin Diaz and the Tampa Bay Rays are interested in the flame-throwing right-hander, according to Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio.
After leading the AL in saves with 57 and posting a sparkling 1.96 ERA in 2019, Diaz hasn’t lived up to the hype in Flushing. With the Mets, he’s pitched to a 4.95 ERA and only converted on 23 of his 27 save opportunities.
That being said, he’s been better since the All-Star break. Over his last seven appearances, he’s converted on all four of his save opportunities. Additionally, he’s only allowed one run in 5.2 innings during that span.
He hasn’t been stellar, but Diaz is managing to keep runs off the board which is the most important thing. His stuff is top-notch so his less-than-impressive first half shouldn’t scare away potential suitors.
The Mets recently acquired Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays, undercutting the New York Yankees who were reported to have interest in the All-Star. Trading Diaz to the Rays, or the Boston Red Sox, would deal another blow to the Mets’ crosstown rivals.
However, the Mets shouldn’t, and likely aren’t, approaching this trade deadline with the goal of hurting the Yankees’ chances.
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen is pivoting from his earlier stance that the Mets were the team to be in the NL East. After a disappointing first half, he’s reassessing where the Mets are at.
