Edwin Díaz was introduced at Dodger Stadium in a brief press conference on Friday afternoon, and will wear number three with the Dodgers. He’s previously only worn 39 in his major league career, but that number is retired in Los Angeles for catcher Roy Campanella. Díaz said he chose three in part because he and his wife have three kids.
“I chose the Dodgers because they are a winning organization,” Díaz said on Friday. “I’m looking to win, and I think they have everything to win.”
In his analysis this
week of the Díaz signing, Michael Baumann at FanGraphs wrote, “The Dodgers know better than anyone that Díaz is not a sure thing. But, like, he’s about as close as you can get.”
From R.J. Anderson at CBS Sports: “No one is going to feel bad for Roberts, who just won his third World Series title as a manager, but his job should be a lot easier next season now that he has an obvious ninth-inning answer at his disposal in Edwin Díaz. … Weird things can happen with relievers — even those as good as Díaz — but Roberts shouldn’t have to do as much stressing about the game’s final outs heading forward.”
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Speaking of Dave Roberts, the $8.1 million average annual salary of his contract that which runs through 2029 makes him the highest-paid manager in the sport, but Jeff Passan at ESPN points out that that’s still less than half of top head coaches in the NFL and NBA, and that many new managers hired this winter are only making around $1 million.
Roberts in an interview with Japanese media revealed that Shohei Ohtani in 2024 made a “very, very big contribution” to help the mother of former Dodgers reliever Gus Varland get treatment for cancer. Anthony Solorzano at the Los Angeles Times has more, including the good news that Varland’s mother is now cancer free.
The Dodgers and Blue Jays met in the World Series, and have made and are poised to make impactful deals this offseason, too, writes Alden González at ESPN. Among the Dodgers’ interests reported by González was a Kiké Hernández return, plus trade targets Steven Kwan and Brendan Donovan.
Brett Pill, who was a Dodgers minor league hitting coach and coordinator for the last six seasons, was hired Friday by the Colorado Rockies as their major league hitting coach.
