Josh Hader signing with the Houston Astros might not matter much at all to the New York Mets. They have their closer, Edwin Diaz. The possibility of the Mets ever pairing Diaz and Hader together was never realistic. His five-year contract worth $95 million handed down by Houston assures it.
Why feel anything at all? For starters, he’s not on the Philadelphia Phillies roster right now. One of the best matches for Hader sits right here in the National League East. Who they’ll assign to finish game
s for them is a bit more unknown. Let them scramble. Let them squirm.
It’s not where Hader landed that benefits the Mets most. It’s the dollars. Worth only $7 million less than what Diaz signed, the key is that it was less at all.
The market for top relievers didn’t go up and it should make Diaz even more likely to opt in after 2025. If Hader got more, there might be some temptation on his part to look for a fresh contract as soon as possible. We know exactly why Francisco Lindor got $341 million. It was a million more than Fernando Tatis Jr.
Hader was the only closer in baseball with the possibility of overtaking Diaz and his $102 million deal signed last offseason. No one else out there looks even close to their level. It requires years of excellence in the ninth inning on top of hitting free agency at the right time.
Diaz’s opt out would come ahead of his age 32 season which is a bit trickier than when he was in his 20s last winter. Would he risk the guaranteed money for two more years in a free agent market that tends to prefer going much shorter with players in his role?
The Diaz deal gives the Mets a chance to opt out before the 2028 season, a sixth year available to them. At that point, Hader will be in the final year of his contract with Houston. He has no opt outs available to him nor is a portion of his deal part of a signing bonus as Diaz’s is
