Look out Dodgers fans, the ninth inning at Chavez Ravine is about to get a lot more exciting!
The Los Angeles Dodgers newest closer, former Mets’ reliever Edwin Diaz, arrived at Dodger Stadium on Friday afternoon to sign his new three-year, $69 million contract with the Boys in Blue and address the media for the first time.
Sitting behind a podium inside the press conference room at Dodger Stadium, with his family sitting in the front row, Diaz donned the iconic Dodger jersey for the first time, grinning from ear to ear as he revealed his reasons for signing with the back-to-back World Series Champions.
Flanked by Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, and general manager Brandon Gomes, Diaz shared that he confided in his brother, Alexis, who pitched for Los Angeles out of the bullpen last season, as well as fellow Puerto Rican, Kiké Hernández, when ultimately deciding whether to return to Queens or join the Boys in Blue.
“I talked to Alexis a little bit when the conversations were getting closer. He told me that they are a really good organization that treats every player the same,” said Diaz about his conversations with his brother. “That was something I was looking for. He told me nothing but great things about the Dodgers, and that made the decision easy for me.”
Diaz spent the last seven seasons with the Mets, an experience that helped shape him, test him, and harden him. However, in those seven seasons, New York never reached the World Series. Something the Dodgers have done five times in the last eight seasons.
“This wasn’t an easy decision. I spent seven years in New York,” said Diaz, reflecting back on his time with the Mets. “I chose the Dodgers because they are a winning organization and I’m looking to win.”
The Dodgers have not had a dedicated closer since 2021, the last year of Kenley Jansen before he signed with the Atlanta Braves as a free agent. However, that’s not for lack of trying. Los Angeles has signed several former closers over that span, including All-Star Tanner Scott to a record-setting deal last season.
But Scott was a shell of himself in 2025, blowing an MLB-worst 10 saves, while sporting a nearly 5.00 ERA (4.74). Scott did not appear in the Dodgers playoff push, missing most of the postseason after having an abscess removed from his lower body. Both Friedman and Gomes made it clear that they were not actively seeking a new closer, but that the opportunity to sign someone of Diaz’s pedigree was too enticing to pass up.
“I think this was more the opportunity to get ‘Sugar’ and add him to our mix,” said Friedman. “We have a high bar. To name someone our closer. You have to be one of the best. You have to be elite and dominant at what you do, and ‘Sugar’ is that.”
The Dodgers have operated with a “closer by committee” approach each of the last two seasons in the playoffs. A strategy that has earned them two titles. However, the ninth inning was always a rocky road. Former Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Walker Buehler, earned the save in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series against the Yankees on two days rest, and rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki became the closer for Los Angeles in the postseason after never having pitched in that role previously.
World Series MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, arguably the Dodgers best starting pitcher during the 2025 season, pitched out of the bullpen on no days rest against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the World Series, earning the save. With Diaz, the Dodgers are hoping they won’t have to use starting pitchers in that role again.
Diaz, affectionately called ‘Sugar’ by his teammates, earned the nickname in high school because his travel ball team said he reminded them of the protagonist in the 2008 film “Sugar,” about a Dominican baseball player. As Diaz became a dominant closer for the Seattle Mariners organization, his “sweet” pitch mix of fastball and slider helped the name stick.
Diaz told reporters on Friday, that his ability to not romanticize the role of closer, and take it one pitch, one out, at a time, has helped him become the three-time All-Star and three-time Reliever of the Year Award winner he is today. Diaz admitted the final three outs of the game are by far the most important, and most difficult, but his ability to remain in the present moment, and immediately flush away the results, good or bad, has helped him in his career.
The 31-year-old donned the iconic Dodgers jersey for the first time during his press conference, choosing the No. 3 for his new chapter in Los Angeles after previously wearing the No. 39 throughout his career.
The No. 39 for the Dodgers was worn by Roy Campanella and was retired by the Dodgers on June 4, 1972. Diaz said the Dodgers sent him a list of available jersey numbers and he and his wife chose the No. 3 in honor of his three children.
“I talked to my wife. We have three kids. We chose number three for my three sons,” said Diaz.
Outside of his number, Diaz is most famously known for his walkout song at Citi Field. Diaz comes out of the bullpen gates to the EDM song “Narco” by Blasterjaxx, featuring a trumpet solo by Timmy Trumpet.
Trumpet, an Australian musician, DJ, songwriter, and record producer, rose to fame for his live trumpet playing during electronic music festivals, and famously performed “Narco” live at Citi Field during the 2022 season.
For fans concerned that Diaz might choose a different walkout song for his new team in Los Angeles, the All-Star closer revealed he will keep the song during his tenure with the Dodgers and can’t wait for that trumpet solo to blare when he walks out of the bullpen gates at Dodger Stadium next season.
“I think the fans will love that music right away,” said Diaz. “I can’t wait to come out in the ninth to Timmy Trumpet in the first game of the season and get the win for the Dodgers.”
Can you imagine? All of Dodger Stadium will be leaning forward in anticipation, waiting for that Timmy Trumpet solo to blare. The familiar rhythm that once rattled Citi Field will now echo off the San Gabriel Mountains, sending 55,000 people to their feet before Díaz even toes the rubber. Some entrances are theater. This one is a warning.
For the Dodgers, this move is about more than the final three outs. It’s about structure. It’s about letting the bullpen breathe. It’s about handing the ball to someone who has stood in the fire and learned how to stay calm while everything around him burns.
Back-to-back World Series champions don’t chase headlines. They chase edges. Edwin Díaz is an edge — sharp, electric, and built for October.
When the ninth inning arrives in Los Angeles now, it won’t feel uncertain.
It will feel inevitable.
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