It has been just a few days since the Los Angeles Dodgers rocked the free agency landscape of Major League Baseball with the signing of the sport’s best closer, Edwin Diaz.

The Dodgers lured Diaz to LA with a three-year, $69 million deal to strengthen a bullpen that demonstrated some weaknesses last season. After the signing, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman discussed the thought process behind pulling the trigger on Diaz at the Winter Meetings in Orlando.

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“You know, for us, and you guys touched on it,” Friedman said. “There’s so many different ways to win. And for us, it’s about figuring out the strength of our roster, leveraging it the best we can. And in ‘24, it was through our bullpen. And in ‘25, it was really through our rotation.

Last season, the Dodgers’ relievers led MLB in strikeouts (687) but ranked 21st in ERA (4.27) and sixth in earned runs (312). Each of the five teams that allowed more runs — the Minnesota Twins, the Athletics, the Los Angeles Angels, the Colorado Rockies and the Washington Nationals — all finished with sub-.500 records and missed the playoffs.

“Our bullpen obviously didn’t perform up to the standard that we expected going into the year,” Friedman added. “And it was pretty surprising to us. You know every spring training I talk about the thing that keeps me up at night is a bullpen. It feels like every year I feel the best about it is the years it’s the worst two years I feel the worst about it. And there’s such volatility to it. You know those guys are tightrope walkers for a living.”

The Dodgers attempted to strengthen their bullpens with the additions of Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates last offseason. Scott earned a four-year, $72 million deal. He appeared in 61 games and logged a 1-4 record with a 4.74 ERA and 30 earned runs. He also had 10 blown saves and did not pitch in the postseason.

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Meanwhile, Yates agreed to a one-year, $13 million deal in January and appeared in 50 games for Los Angeles. Over that stretch, he went 4-3 with a 5.23 ERA and 24 earned runs. Yates did not see the mound in the playoffs either and is now a free agent.

By adding Diaz, the Dodgers get a three-time All-Star, a two-time Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award winner and a Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award winner.

“It’s hard,” Friedman added about being a reliever. “And so, for us, if we’re able to strengthen that and add to it with what we feel like we’ll be a really strong group coming back and some bounce back that it has a chance to be a strength again.”

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