As if not talented enough, the Los Angeles Dodgers just went out and signed Edwin Diaz to the richest contract for a reliever in MLB history. The Dodgers are fresh off two consecutive World Series titles, and they’re clearly aiming for more and to become a genuine dynasty. Early in free agency, they’re cementing their status once again.
Dodgers add Edwin Diaz in embarrassment of riches
The Los Angeles Dodgers had a really strong bullpen in 2024 when they won the World Series. They had to use bullpen days and piece together series because of a rash of injuries to the starting rotation. It worked, as they were able to dispatch the New York Yankees in five games.
Then, in 2025, they addressed this by beefing up the starting rotation, signing Roki Sasaki (who failed as a starter but went to the bullpen), Blake Snell, and bringing back Clayton Kershaw. They had a strong rotation, one of the best in baseball en route to a second title in a row, but that bullpen was shaky despite signing players like Tanner Scott.
So what are they doing for 2026? They’re already beefing up that bullpen yet again. The signings of Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates didn’t work out well, so they’re going even bigger by signing Edwin Diaz, arguably the best reliever on the free agent market. They signed him to a three-year, $69 million deal – the highest AAV ($23 million) for a relief pitcher in baseball history.
Diaz had already opted out of the two-year, $38 million guarantee left on the initial five-year deal he signed with the New York Mets in 2022, and now he’s given himself another year and $31 extra million.
Plus, as an added bonus, he went to the defending champs and left a team with a whole lot of questions. The Mets went to the NLCS and lost to the Dodgers in 2024, then signed Juan Soto and some other talented players, figuring they could dethrone the Dodgers this time. Instead, they missed the playoffs entirely, and now Diaz has fled to the west-coast rivals. The Mets did sign Devin Williams, but he’s no Edwin Diaz.
Diaz is a three-time All-Star, and he recorded a 1.63 ERA and recorded 28 of 31 save chances in 2025. Now, he’ll get the chance to record even more saves with a better rotation and arguably better offense backing him up in Los Angeles.
If nothing else, this signing only affirms what many baseball fans have come to fear. The Dodgers are the new Evil Empire. They have bought, more or less, two consecutive championships, and they’re only continuing to add more talent. Take a look at the talent they’ve signed (or traded for) since the 2023 season ended:
- Shohei Ohtani
- Blake Snell
- Roki Sasaki
- Teoscar Hernandez
- Tyler Glasnow
- Edwin Diaz
- Kirby Yates
- Tanner Scott
- Hyeseong Kim
- Michael Conforto
That’s almost an All-Star team, and that doesn’t include when they traded for Mookie Betts a few years ago or signed Freddie Freeman recently. They have no limits when it comes to spending, and it has led to at least two World Series titles. If they keep this up, and there’s nothing to suggest they’ll just stop adding talent and stop pursuing titles, then they could be the preeminent dynasty in baseball history.
Every baseball team is theoretically capable of doing this, but most owners don’t want to. It’s also true that the Dodgers bring in more revenue than virtually every other team, so their owner can afford to pay the luxury tax a little more than others, but still.
This isn’t a team doing something only they can do; they’re just taking advantage of a system that allows them to do whatever they want and face the consequences, so they’ve chosen to do just that.
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