Mets' Edwin Diaz wants in on 2026 WBC — if team is OK with it
Mets pitcher Edwin Diaz throws during a spring training workout in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Thursday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Edwin Diaz is both a patriot and a conscientious employee, so when it comes to the next World Baseball Classic — 2026, right around this time — his desires are clear.
Yes, he wants to represent Puerto Rico again. But yes, he will check with the bosses first.
“No guarantee, but I’m hoping to do it,” the Mets’ closer told Newsday on Friday. “I gotta see how this year goes for me. If I have the chance to represent Puerto Rico, 100%, yeah, because it’s my country. We don’t have the chance to play for our country [often].
“If everything goes well and the team gives me a chance to go — because I want to be on the same page with them — I’ll go and represent my country.”
It’s a more complicated decision for Diaz than it is for others because of the history. In the 2023 iteration of the international tournament, he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee — while celebrating a win over the Dominican Republic, a major rival — and missed the entire season. His absence was the first in a series of body blows for those Mets, who got broken up at the trade deadline, setting the stage for the hiring of David Stearns and the start of another new era.
Despite the bad memories, Diaz is raring to go again.
“I know I got hurt there, but it was a freak injury. It was weird,” he said. “It’s not like I got hurt pitching or something. But I want to see where they’re at with me and see how it goes.”
Carlos Mendoza, who before he became the Mets’ manager served as Venezuela’s WBC bench coach, is a big fan and in general has little problem with his players participating — as long as they’re still getting ready for the season.
“Now, if they’re going to play [it’s fine]. But if you have a guy who is going to be sitting on the bench [it’s not fine],” Mendoza said. “You’re losing two weeks of camp. That’s the ones that are concerning.”
As for the nightmare scenarios, such as Diaz or when the Astros’ Jose Altuve suffered a broken thumb while playing for Venezuela?
“You don’t even want to think about it,” Mendoza said, noting that injuries happen in spring training games, too.
Diaz won’t need to make a call on the WBC until next offseason. Before that, he will face an even bigger decision: Should he opt out of his contract and become a free agent?
His five-year, $102 million contract — still the largest ever for a reliever — includes the ability to try the open market again after this season.
“That’s something I gotta look at after the season with my agent, see where we’re at and make a decision,” Diaz said. “Right now, I’m not thinking about that. I want to help this team win. I love this team. I want to stay here because I love the team, I love the coaches, I love the ownership, I love everyone. I feel really good right here.”
Diaz will be guaranteed another $38 million across two years (2026-27). He’ll have to gauge whether he can top that total if he becomes a free agent. That will depend greatly on what sort of season he has, especially after a volatile return from injury in 2024.
He posted a 3.52 ERA and recorded 20 saves but blew seven, lost his job as closer, spent time on the injured list with a shoulder injury, served a 10-game sticky-stuff suspension and rounded into form by autumn.
Looking for a smoother season, Diaz highlighted that this spring training is “way different” than last year, when he was wrapping up the rehab of the year-old WBC knee injury. Now he’s a normal player.
“I got more freedom this year,” he said. “I feel really good because I’m able to work on whatever I want. I don’t have to ask trainers, coaches, anyone, ‘Can I do this?’ Now I go out there and play catch, do whatever I want and that’s it.”
Notes & quotes: Jett Williams said he was OK after getting hit in the right hand — on the meaty part, below the pinkie — by fellow prospect Blade Tidwell during live batting practice. He was in clear pain initially, did not bat again and later wore a compression sleeve on his hand. “It’s going to be sore,” Mendoza said, “but he’s going to be all right.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
