Mets tried to trade for Alexis Diaz this summer

[RedsManRick]

When you don't have a team ready to compete for a championship, you always take good offers for relievers. They're so volatile and provide relatively little value when you aren't creating championship leverage.

[RED VAN HOT]

Mets have extended EDWIN Diaz. 5 years $102 million plus a 6th yearteam option for $20 million.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/...dwin-diaz.html

He can opt out after year 3
https://twitter.com/timbhealey/statu...76047912747008

I was one of the posters pushing for Edwin Diaz, but that price is ridiculous. I was thinking 5/40 and I value bullpens. That will be a bad contract before it is over.

[Kinsm]

You were thinking 5/40?

Lol, I think you're going to be way low on most FA contracts then.

[Tom Servo]

When you don't have a team ready to compete for a championship, you always take good offers for relievers. They're so volatile and provide relatively little value when you aren't creating championship leverage.

The Reds holding onto Garrett when teams were supposedly eyeing him as a pre-arb gem will haunt me forever. I was begging them to sell high.

[westofyou]

The Reds holding onto Garrett when teams were supposedly eyeing him as a pre-arb gem will haunt me forever. I was begging them to sell high.

Servo is correct.

I'm of the opinion that no franchise is worse at scouting LH pitchers than the Reds

This does not include this year, but 2015-21

Player			    IP           ERA-LG   
Amir Garrett                255.2       -.73   
Brandon Finnegan            229.1       -.15   
Wade Miley                  177.1       0.75   
Wandy Peralta               151.1       -.63   
Cody Reed                   124        -1.17   
Tony Cingrani               119.2       -.63   
John Lamb                   119.2      -2.03      
Sean Doolittle               38.1       -.18   
Alex Wood                    35.2      -1.33   
Manny Parra                  32.1       0.24   
David Holmberg               28.1      -3.49

[757690]

I am curious what the offers were from the Mets that the Reds turned down. The Mets say the price the Reds was asking was too high, but that may mean that the Reds asked for actual prospects in return.

I can see the Mets expecting to get Diaz for two 25 year old utllity guys in single A, and being shocked when the Reds said no.

[RedTeamGo!]

I was thinking 5/40 and I value bullpens.

What? He was the best closer in baseball last year.

[Wonderful Monds]

I wouldn’t be opposed to trading Diaz, but I would need a real haul. Probably not a realistic one honestly, like a top 50 guy and another lower top 100 guy after that.

I take the philosophy that a team rebuilding like the Reds should be adding good players to the roster whenever possible, and essentially acting is if their window could open at anytime. That’s sort of how Jocketty positioned the 2010 Reds to compete rather unexpectedly. With the crop of guys coming up in the next couple years, it’s not really out of the realm that Diaz could be a part of a contending team here.

And I also think there’s value having a guy in the pen who can end games when you have a young rotation whose innings you’re building up. Having a good pen is kind of essential to not having to use a billion guys to get through the end of a game and subsequently having half the pen unavailable on any given day, and then needing to rely on the valuable young starters to eat innings.

[JustaFan]

I seem to remember those who were upset at two, not one but two, closers the Reds traded (gave away). Are any of you - those who were upset about the trades that should not have been?

[mth123]

I seem to remember those who were upset at two, not one but two, closers the Reds traded (gave away). Are any of you - those who were upset about the trades that should not have been?

Nobody said they should give him away. I wouldn't trade him for Noe Ramirez or just let him walk. But If I could deal him for a top 50 prospect who is healthy, and productive at AA or higher, I'd absolutely do it. I'd consider it for lover levels, but it would depend on the player.

[Wonderful Monds]

Nobody said they should give him away. I wouldn't trade him for Noe Ramirez or just let him walk. But If I could deal him for a top 50 prospect who is healthy, and productive at AA or higher, I'd absolutely do it. I'd consider it for lover levels, but it would depend on the player.

I’d need more than one, honestly.

I’m not sure what makes bullpen arms more expendable than any other good young controllable player tbh. You’d be lucky if that AA guy turned out to be as good as Diaz - who was a 3.1 bWAR player this season, and is controllable for at least another 5 seasons.

To make trading him really be worth it, you’d have to turn him into a couple of potentially above average players.

[RED VAN HOT]

What? He was the best closer in baseball last year.

I was naively counting on his desire to pitch with his brother. If this contract is an indication of the cost to buy a bullpen, then the Reds must be content with developing one.

[Wonderful Monds]

When you don't have a team ready to compete for a championship, you always take good offers for relievers. They're so volatile and provide relatively little value when you aren't creating championship leverage.

Just to address this as it kind of ties into my last post above - that’s probably true for most relievers. But Diaz has the profile of an elite reliever, if he’s not already there.

3 WAR is still a good amount of production, reliever or not. Odds are the guy you trade Diaz for would be lucky to be a 3 WAR player. When you consider the amount of controllable years he has left before he hits FA, it would seemingly take a genuine haul to make the cost-benefit risk of trading him to be worth it.

And while relievers are generally volatile, I would guess (without having the stats in front of me) that the best elite closers are more stable reliable players. Take the elder Diaz, who certainly stumbled in his first year as a Met, but otherwise has righted the ship and has been a 10+ WAR guy for his career.

[Wonderful Monds]

Just to illustrate what the ballpark of value Diaz might have, that trade values site gives him 29 mil in trade value.

Using examples of our own organizational guys, best case scenario of what you could probably get for him would be Arroyo (22 mil in value) and Steer (11 mil)

IMO I think I would probably not take that deal.

[Big Klu]

I was naively counting on his desire to pitch with his brother. If this contract is an indication of the cost to buy a bullpen, then the Reds must be content with developing one.

He still has that desire -- it's just that it will be in blue and orange.