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The Dodgers have signed closer Edwin Díaz, and Ken Rosenthal at MSN isn’t holding back on his assessment of the move. Rosenthal weighed in on the signing with a pointed take, per his report published May 25.

Díaz, now 32, was once the most dominant reliever in baseball. His 2018 season with the Mariners — 57 saves, a 1.96 ERA, 124 strikeouts in 73.1 innings — remains one of the greatest closer seasons in modern history. That performance earned him a five-year, $102 million deal from the Mets, the richest contract ever given to a reliever at the time. He struggled badly in his first year in New York, posting a 5.59 ERA in 2019, but he roared back in 2022 with a 1.31 ERA and 32 saves that made him look every bit like the pitcher the Mets had paid for. Then came the cruel twist: he tore his patellar tendon celebrating Puerto Rico’s win at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, costing him most of that season. His return in 2024 was rocky — a 4.00-plus ERA and diminished velocity that had evaluators questioning whether the elite version of Díaz would ever resurface. His 2025 season brought more of the same inconsistency, and the Mets eventually moved on.

For the Dodgers, this is a classic buy-low play on a pitcher with an elite ceiling. Our bullpen has been historically good lately — we just set a franchise record with 36 consecutive scoreless innings — and adding Díaz to that mix gives Andrew Friedman another high-leverage arm with closer experience. If Díaz can recapture even 80 percent of his peak form, that slider remains one of the nastiest pitches in the game. The pitch used to generate whiff rates north of 50 percent, and even in his down years it’s been a weapon.

I think this is a smart, low-risk move. Díaz’s best days might be behind him, but he doesn’t need to be the 2018 version of himself to help this team. We need depth in high-leverage spots, especially with the postseason grind in mind. If he’s cooked, you move on — the financial commitment here isn’t going to handcuff the front office. But if something clicks, if the velocity ticks back up and the slider starts diving like it used to, we’re looking at a bullpen that could be genuinely unfair.

The bigger picture here is that the Dodgers continue to stockpile arms with pedigree. Between the franchise-record scoreless streak from the current group and now adding a former All-Star closer, the front office is clearly prioritizing bullpen depth heading into the summer. That’s the right call. Starters eat innings, but October games are won in the late innings — and Díaz knows what those moments feel like. Whether he can still rise to them is the question, but I like the bet.

Source(s): Ken Rosenthal (MSN) | First reported: May 25, 2026 9:43 PM UTC

God Bless and Go Dodgers