$69 MILLION CLOSER LANDS IN LA; RIVALS QUESTION IF ROBERTS’ COMMENTS WERE A CALCULATED BLUFF
ORLANDO, FL—Less than 24 hours after Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts publicly downplayed the need for major offseason moves, the Dodgers stunned the league by signing star closer Edwin Díaz to a massive three-year, $69 million contract, securing the game’s most dominant late-inning arm.
The contradiction—Roberts insisted on Monday, “There’s really no big splash that we feel needs to be made”—immediately fueled speculation at the Winter Meetings: Was the manager’s statement a genuine belief in the roster, or a perfectly calculated bluff orchestrated by the front office to lower the market and keep rivals off-balance?
THE DEAL AND THE DILEMMA
Díaz’s deal not only patches the Dodgers’ most obvious weakness—the bullpen struggled last season, forcing the team to get creative with rookie starter Roki Sasaki in the closer role—but it also sets a new standard for reliever contracts, breaking Díaz’s own record for the highest average annual value (AAV) for a closer ($23 million).
| Dodger Need | The Díaz Solution |
| Closing Stability | Díaz finished 2025 with a 1.63 ERA and 28 saves, instantly becoming the team’s first true closer in years. |
| Bullpen Depth | His presence shifts Tanner Scott and others into high-leverage set-up roles, transforming the entire unit. |
| Postseason X-Factor | The “Narco” entrance music and emotional energy are proven commodities in October pressure situations. |
Dodgers General Manager Brandon Gomes echoed Roberts’ earlier sentiment on Monday, saying, “There’s not as many clear paths to make the team meaningfully better.” However, Gomes quickly added, “If there’s something that we need to do that’s aggressive, we feel like it makes sense for us, then obviously we’ll do it.”
THE BLUFF OR THE BELIEF?
Rivals immediately seized on the discrepancy, with many analysts concluding Roberts’ non-committal stance was a classic piece of Dodgers posturing. The strategy: publicly signal contentment, reducing urgency among competitors, only to strike swiftly when the opportunity for an aggressive, high-value move presents itself.
- Rival Reaction: Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns, who reportedly offered Díaz a highly competitive three-year, $66 million deal, was left to face reporters with few answers, the loss amplifying the Mets’ quiet offseason.
- The Intent: The move demonstrates that while the Dodgers feel confident in their core (Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman), they remain ruthless in addressing weaknesses with world-class talent, regardless of the cost—or the optics of contradicting their own manager.
The signing of Edwin Díaz confirms two things: the trumpets are indeed coming to Los Angeles, and when the Dodgers say they don’t need a “big splash,” everyone else in baseball should start swimming.
