LAS VEGAS — Before the Mets’ star closer departed Citi Field for the final time this past season, general manager Billy Eppler told him he was wanted back by the franchise.
Edwin Diaz had just completed perhaps the best season ever by a Mets reliever, and Eppler had already talked to the right-hander’s agent, Joel Wolfe, about a possible reunion.
In the weeks that followed, discussions intensified, leading to the five-year contract worth $102 million for Diaz, which became official on Wednesday. The contract includes a $12 million signing bonus, opt-out, no-trade and a club option for a sixth season. From the Mets’ perspective, however, one detail was perhaps the most crucial: deferred payments totaling a reported $26.5 million.
“On our end, I don’t want to use the word ‘deal breaker,’ but it was a very big element for us,” Eppler said at the GM Meetings. “We needed to have that in there for the CBT [competitive balance tax] purposes.”
The deferred dollars lower the average annual value of the deal and won’t count toward a highest-level CBT threshold that will increase to $293 million next season. It was $290 million this season. Teams with payrolls above that level are subject to a 60 percent penalty on each dollar spent.
Mets closer Edwin DiazAPBut the Diaz contract could serve as an indicator of how the Mets will proceed this offseason, with Jacob deGrom and Brandon Nimmo remaining as their own high-profile free agents they hope to retain. Spotrac calculated the Mets’ 2022 payroll, for CBT purposes, at $313.7 million.
Eppler has declined to say what the cutoff will be for the 2023 payroll.
Diaz emerged as the game’s best and most celebrated closer this past season, pitching to a 1.31 ERA with 118 strikeouts in 62 innings. Along the way, he converted 32 of 35 save opportunities for a team that won 101 games.
“Getting somebody to anchor the back end of our bullpen and somebody who is reliable and the manager trusts him, the fans trust him, the owner trusts him, I think everybody feels good when he comes running into the game, so I think everybody feels good about it,” Eppler said.
It’s a bullpen under construction, with Drew Smith the only other reliever under club control who pitched significant innings in 2022. Another Mets reliever from this past season, Mychal Givens, became a free agent Wednesday when the Mets declined to pick up their end of his mutual option for next year. The right-hander was acquired at the trade deadline by the Mets and pitched to a 4.79 ERA in 19 appearances for the team. Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor May and Trevor Williams are among the other relievers from last season who are free agents.
Eppler credited pitching coach Jeremy Hefner for his hand in Diaz’s emergence.
“There was a component of some confidence in how [Diaz’s] stuff behaves,” Eppler said. “Specifically his slider and fastball and some design elements to it. My hat goes off to Jeremy Hefner, just being able to help him maximize that potential and turn it into an elite level performance, because it was a pretty historic year from a closer perspective.”
The Mets have until Thursday to decide on picking up Carlos Carrasco’s $14 million option for next season.
Carrasco will receive a $3 million buyout if the Mets decline that option. The Mets also have to decide on the option for right-handed reliever John Curtiss, who was signed last season while undergoing rehab for Tommy John surgery.
Mets claimed reliever Tayler Saucedo off waivers from the Blue Jays. The left-hander had a 13.50 ERA in four appearances for Toronto last season.
