Edwin Diaz frames Dodgers switch as a family call, leaving Mets fans with questions about what happened behind closed doors

edwin diaz has offered a clear public explanation for a move that still unsettles pockets of New York Mets fans: he says the decision to join the Los Angeles Dodgers came down to his family and the best deal available in free agency, even as the sequence of events has fueled a belief among some supporters that the Mets didn’t — or couldn’t — push harder to keep him.

What did Edwin Diaz say, and what did he avoid saying?

In comments given to journalist David Lennon, edwin diaz described the departure from New York to Los Angeles as emotionally difficult but ultimately grounded in family priorities and the realities of free agency. He said he had spent seven years with the Mets and noted that he liked playing for the organization, respected the people there, and still stays in touch with plenty of former colleagues.

Diaz also addressed fan frustration directly, acknowledging that he understands why some Mets supporters are angry about the move. He said he had to make the best choice for himself and his family, and added that “you never know” whether he could end up with the Mets again after his three years with the Dodgers.

What Diaz did not do in those remarks was map out the specific back-and-forth of the negotiations from his perspective, beyond the broad themes: he was a free agent, he sought the best deal, and his family helped shape the decision. That omission has left space for continued debate about whether the break was purely transactional or also shaped by communication and timing.

What do the known contract numbers and negotiation details show?

The publicly stated figures sharpen the sense of a narrow margin. The Dodgers deal was described as three years for $69 million, while the Mets’ offer was described as three years for $66 million.

A key point, cited in the same coverage thread surrounding Lennon’s interview, is that the Mets were not given a chance to counter before Diaz chose the Dodgers. Separately, Anthony DiComo of MLB. com was cited as saying the Mets indicated they would be willing to increase their bid, while Diaz’s camp did not expect a meaningful increase.

Those elements can coexist without fully resolving the central dispute: Mets fans are left to interpret whether the process broke down because the Mets’ position did not feel credible to Diaz’s side, because Diaz had already preferred the Dodgers, or because the window for a counteroffer closed too quickly. What is confirmed in the provided account is limited to the stated dollar figures, the claim that the Mets were not given a chance to counter, and the suggestion that Diaz’s camp did not expect an increase that would change the outcome.

How did the World Baseball Classic injury still shape the conversation?

A separate but related thread continues to follow Diaz: the 2023 World Baseball Classic injury that ended his entire 2023 MLB season. During a live batting practice session observed in Florida, coaches reacted with visible alarm when Diaz instinctively moved off the mound in pursuit of a pop-up. One coach repeatedly yelled for him to take it easy, reflecting an ongoing sensitivity around the moment he suffered a full-thickness tear of his right knee’s patellar tendon while celebrating a Puerto Rico win at loanDepot park. He required surgery and missed the season.

Diaz himself referenced that memory in plain language, saying that those around him did not want “the same thing to happen again. ” The episode illustrates how his career narrative in New York and his public image remain intertwined with the injury — both as a personal setback and as a franchise-level blow for the Mets.

That history also feeds the emotional temperature around his departure. Diaz was described as once beloved in Flushing, and the injury was portrayed as shattering personally, damaging to the event’s reputation, and catastrophic for the Mets. Against that backdrop, his decision to sign elsewhere is not experienced by fans as a simple roster change; it is viewed through the lens of a long relationship, a high-profile absence, and then a surprising exit.

In the end, the public record presented here offers a firm outline but not a complete narrative: edwin diaz says the move was a family decision and the best deal, while contract details and disputed negotiating dynamics ensure the questions persist in New York even as he begins a new chapter in Los Angeles.