Could Mets make a shock trade to supplant Edwin Diaz with 49-save closer

At some point, Major League Baseball followers expect the New York Mets to make several big splashes this winter.

However, as the team seeks ways to improve its roster after a run to the National League Championship Series, could one of its biggest moves in a spot few expect?

It is hard to imagine Citi Field not being serenaded by the sounds of Timmy Trumpet's Narco during every Mets' save opportunity, but that is exactly what Fansided's Josue De Jesus may be prognosticating.

While identifying "Five best Mets trade targets" this winter, De Jesus names current St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley.

Helsley led all of MLB with 49 saves for a sub-standard Cardinals team last season. According to multiple reports, he is expected to be on the trade block as St. Louis seeks to rebuild in 2025. 

The six-year MLB veteran has so far spent his entire career with the Cardinals. He emerged at the back end of the St. Louis bullpen in 2022, logging 19 saves that season, but just 14 saves in 2023.

Few saw Helsley dominating the way he did in 2024. Not only did he log nearly 50 saves for an 83-win team, he posted a 2.04 ERA with 79 strikeouts in 66-1/3 innings in doing so. 

While the Mets have the prospect capital to make a deal happen, is the team concerned enough about Edwin Diaz's shaky 2024 to spend that capital on a new closer?

When Diaz is on his game, there are few better at closing out a contest. The problem is that he is not the most consistent closer in the game. 

While the eight-year veteran did return from his injury-lost 2023 season with 20 saves in 2024, he also blew seven opportunities during the regular season — not to mention he blew one of three save opportunities in the playoffs.

A closer ever since making his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2016, the 30-year-old Diaz has alternated good seasons with bad seasons since being acquired by the Mets via trade before the 2019 campaign.

Diaz is in the midst of a three-year, $64 million contract that runs through 2025 but also includes player/team options through 2028.

While Mets owner Steve Cohen likely wouldn't bat an eye at paying that much for a prospective set-up man, it is uncertain whether Diaz would stand for possibly being replaced as the Mets closer.

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