![\"Edwin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270810100-e1776109580908.jpg\")
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 10: Edwin D\u00edaz #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in relief against the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on April 10, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
In pursuit of a third consecutive championship, the Los Angeles Dodger<\/a>s made some bold and unexpected moves this past offseason.<\/p>\n The Dodgers signed star outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract, but also signed one of the best closers in baseball, Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a>, to a three-year, $69 million contract.<\/p>\n According to Katie Woo and Will Sammon of The Athletic<\/a>, the Dodgers made a great sales pitch in their pursuit of the star closer.<\/p>\n According to president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, Los Angeles had very little confidence in signing D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n So what did they do to sign him?<\/p>\n What Sales Pitch Did the Los Angeles Dodgers Make for Edwin D\u00edaz?<\/p>\n While the Dodgers thought they had no chance of signing D\u00edaz, they wouldn\u2019t give up in their pursuit.<\/p>\n It seems odd that the reigning back-to-back champions would have to sell themselves. However, veteran players such as Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez sold the Dodgers as the place to be, and so did Friedman.<\/p>\n \u201cOne particular statement stood out to D\u00edaz,\u201d Woo and Sammon wrote. \u201c\u2018The Dodgers told me if I came to Los Angeles and we have the chance to sign you, we will make you a Hall of Famer.’\u201d<\/p>\n This is a bold statement to make. But given his prior performance, it\u2019s a definite possibility.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Dodgers, multiple people on the call said, made D\u00edaz feel wanted,\u201d Woo and Sammon wrote. \u201cHis wife was equally impressed. It also helped that D\u00edaz\u2019s brother Alexis briefly pitched for the organization in 2025 and raved about how he was treated. Things were beginning to line up for a seismic signing. The Dodgers sensed it as well. When the call ended, Roberts knew he had his new closer.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though it\u2019s hard for closers to get into Cooperstown (only nine have gotten in to date), D\u00edaz\u2019s talent is undeniable.<\/p>\n Is D\u00edaz on a Hall-of-Fame Trajectory?<\/p>\n Between the Seattle Mariners<\/a>, New York Mets<\/a> and Los Angeles Dodgers, D\u00edaz has accumulated 257 saves in 10 seasons. Over that time he has gotten to three All-Star Games and three Reliever of the Year awards.<\/p>\n In 2018 with the Mariners, D\u00edaz had an MLB-leading 57 saves, tied for second-most in a single season with Bobby Thigpen. Francisco Rodriguez has the single-season record with 62 saves.<\/p>\n His 257 saves rank 37th all-time. However, in the beginning of his age-32 season, D\u00edaz should have plenty of time to rack up saves. It\u2019s just too early to determine if he\u2019ll be in Cooperstown. However, this will be an opportunity to make a great case for it.<\/p>\n Now that he\u2019s on a juggernaut like the Dodgers for the next few years, saves should come in bunches for D\u00edaz. So far in the 2026 season, D\u00edaz is 4\/5 on save opportunities with a 6.00 ERA.<\/p>\n While that would be a career-high ERA for D\u00edaz, don\u2019t expect it to last.<\/p>\n According to Baseball Savant<\/a>, his xERA is 3.04, good for the 70th percentile. While not inspiring, it sure is a lot better than his actual ERA, and should go down further. His strikeout percentage is 34.5%, good for the 91st percentile, meaning his stuff is still good.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz will be back to his normal self in 2026. Whether he\u2019ll be a Hall-of-Famer one day is another mystery.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMatthew Singer<\/a> Matthew Singer is a sports reporter covering MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2025, and has two years of experience covering local professional, collegiate and high school sports, including writing for Cronkite News and Arizona PBS. More about Matthew Singer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Dodgers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 10: Edwin D\u00edaz #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in relief…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-674964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-dodgers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-dodgers","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-dodgers","12":"tag-ladodgers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangelesdodgers","17":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116399286878612849","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}