Running a baseball team is very much so a numbers game, and even the most successful of organizations will miss on a few acquisitions throughout the course of the year, particularly those on the fringes
of your 40-man roster, short-term replacements who might evolve into something bigger. For the Dodgers in 2025, one of these players was Alexis Díaz, brother of newly signed Dodger closer Edwin Díaz.
Promoted to the big leagues in 2022, Díaz worked his way into assuming the role of Reds closer, one he fulfilled through the 2024 campaign, but even prior to the start of last season, he had been showing worrisome signs. A 3.99 ERA in 2024 didn’t cost Díaz his closer gig only because the Reds didn’t have much in the way of better options at the time.
All of those saves earned Díaz a substantial $4,5 million salary in 2025, one that the Reds were more than willing to part with early in the year, particularly with him starting the season injured and looking shaky in his return. With the Dodgers in need of bullpen help as Evan Phillips was on the shelf, the salary commitment was no deterrent in the pursuit of the younger Díaz brother. Pitching in Triple A for the Reds after he allowed eight runs in six innings to start the year, Díaz was moved to the Dodgers in late May for Mike Villani, a former 13th-round pick in 2024.
Although the need was time-critical, the Dodgers opted to send Díaz to Arizona and then the minors before giving him a chance with the big league club, and that proved a wise decision—if Díaz’s stats with the Reds were unsettling, things got even worse in Oklahoma City, with 9 runs in 10 innings. Throwing strikes in particular was a massive problem for Díaz, who, in his short period with OKC, walked eight batters.
The initial report was positive on the beginning of Díaz’s tenure with the big league club, racking up four scoreless performances between late July and early August, but it didn’t last. Díaz allowed five runs in his next six appearances, and although the total numbers weren’t that bad, he never fully gained the trust of the team. As the Dodgers scrambled to open up a couple of 40-man rosters in the middle of their catcher crisis in early September, Díaz, who had earned back-to-back holds to wrap up August, was the odd man out. Designated for assignment, the 29-year-old reliever was claimed by Atlanta, where he finished the year with a few underwhelming appearances.
2025 particulars
Age: 29
Stats: 18 games, 17.2 IP, 8.15 ERA, 12 walks, 17 strikeouts. 9 games, 9 IP, 5.00 ERA, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts with the Dodgers
Salary: $4,500,000
Game of the year
Returning to Cincinnati a couple of months after getting traded, Díaz earned his only win of the season on July 29th, retiring all four hitters he faced to help Los Angeles beat the Reds 5-4.
Roster status
Let go by the Braves, Díaz was a free agent this offseason and signed a one-year deal with the Texas Rangers.
