Report: Red Sox, Yankees among teams most interested in Mariners' Diaz
Seattle Mariners closer Edwin Diaz is a hot commodity on the trade market.
Diaz is being pursued by multiple teams, with the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and New York Yankees reportedly expressing the most interest, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
While Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto previously stated that Diaz is one of the players he'd "have to be blown away" to trade, a rival executive who has talked with Seattle told Sherman that may not be entirely true. The executive said the Mariners are exploring attaching Diaz to a deal involving high-priced second baseman Robinson Cano, who they're apparently working hard to move.
However, Sherman reports that not all of the teams interested in Diaz were open to taking Cano - who's owed around $120 million over the next five seasons - as part of the deal. The possibility of Diaz being part of a Cano trade may ultimately depend on how much of the second baseman's contract other teams are willing to take on, Sherman reports.
Extent of #Mariners’ willingness to move Diaz a big question. GM Jerry Dipoto said he would need to be “blown away,” but some execs believe M’s open to trading Diaz alone for maximum return, or packaging him with Cano for major salary relief and prospects, as @JoelSherman1 said.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 28, 2018
Cano, who has a full no-trade clause, has been connected to both New York teams in the past week. The Mets have apparently been "aggressive" in their pursuit of the 36-year-old, and are said to be engineering a swap involving Cano and a controllable player such as Diaz or outfielder Mitch Haniger, with Jay Bruce possibly heading to Seattle as part of the return.
New York would prefer not to trade prospect capital for Cano unless the Mariners ate a large portion of his contract and included Diaz or another young, controllable player, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Wednesday.
Atlanta and Philadelphia have both previously been connected to Diaz this winter, as both NL East teams are looking for bullpen upgrades. The Red Sox, meanwhile, could see Diaz as a long-term replacement for free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel, while the Yankees would simply add to what's already an embarrassment of riches in a deep and powerful bullpen.
The 24-year-old Diaz was named American League Reliever of the Year after racking up 57 saves while posting a 1.96 ERA and striking out 124 (15.2 Ks per 9 innings) in 2018.
Diaz has another four years of team control remaining, and won't enter arbitration until next winter.