By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Mets fans vented their anger on Tuesday after learning that All-Star closer Edwin Diaz had agreed a three-year, $69-million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, intensifying scrutiny on New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns.
The deal, which would take the 31-year-old right-hander from Queens to the two-time defending World Series champions in Los Angeles, was widely seen by fans as a case of the big-spending Dodgers further consolidating
their advantage.
"David Stearns should be fired over this, that's how bad this is," said Justin Morelli, a native New Yorker and host of the ShotClock Show.
He called the decision especially damaging given the Mets' stated "win-now" posture after last year's record 15-year, $765-million contract for slugger Juan Soto and a narrow miss of the postseason.
"You collapse at the end of last year," Morelli said.
"You're trying to bring hope to this franchise and their fans and make them think this year is going to be different, and you don't re-sign the best closer in baseball for this contract?
"You let him walk out the door to the team that just won the World Series? You've got to be kidding me."
Diaz, one of the Mets' most popular players, went 6-3 with 28 saves and a 1.63 ERA in 62 relief appearances in 2025.
He opted out of the final two years and $38 million of the five-year deal he signed with New York in 2022. The Mets extended a $22.025-million qualifying offer, which he declined.
Fan backlash gathered pace on social media and Mets-focused podcasts, with much of it aimed at Stearns and at owner Steve Cohen's perceived reluctance to deploy his financial resources to retain key stars.
"It is officially time to have a conversation about David Stearns," Rich MacLeod, host of the "Just Mets" podcast, posted on X.
"Regardless of the contract, letting Edwin Diaz leave - to the Dodgers, no less - is an absolute DISASTER for the New York Mets."
MacLeod questioned why the wealth of Cohen, a billionaire who bought the club promising to spend aggressively, had not prevented the departures of several franchise cornerstones.
"Isn't the point of having Steve Cohen as your owner so that you don't have to lose your own players like Jacob deGrom, Edwin Diaz and (potentially) Pete Alonso?" he said.
"I'm genuinely at a loss right now, man."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon)
