Edwin Díaz’s first season with the Dodgers has gone so badly that even a postseason roster spot is no longer a given.
The three-time Reliever of the Year has been hammered by injuries and ugly results in Los Angeles, with two trips to the injured list and numbers that tell the story in blunt fashion: a -1.3 bWAR and an 11.85 ERA. The Dodgers came into the year expecting Díaz to help push them toward a third straight World Series title. Instead, they may be left deciding whether there’s enough evidence of progress to trust him in October.
“We have to go with our best pitchers, as far as performance, talent, all that stuff,” Roberts said in The Athletic 's report. “So my bet is that he will be (on the roster).
But again, there’s got to be some kind of evidence or something for us, again, to sort of bet on. And so my bet is yes, but we still got to see something.”
That uncertainty is exactly what the Padres - and really every other National League contender - are hoping to see from afar.
For San Diego, the situation offers a rare chance to point at a Dodgers issue and feel justified about it. The gap at closer is obvious.
Mason Miller has given the Padres a dominant late-inning weapon, posting a 1.12 ERA, a 0.855 WHIP, and a league-best 37 saves. Díaz, by contrast, looked overwhelmed in his latest rehab outing this past Sunday with Triple-A Oklahoma City, when he gave up five runs in 0.2 innings against minor leaguers, allowing three walks and two hits.
If the Padres get through the Wild Card round, they would face the Dodgers in the NLDS entering Tuesday’s games. That makes the Dodgers’ decision on Díaz even more relevant for San Diego fans hoping Los Angeles is forced to carry him on the postseason roster.
There’s also the money factor. Díaz is still owed $60 million by the Dodgers over the next three seasons, which makes him a tough player to simply walk away from. But if the struggles continue, that contract may not be enough to guarantee him a spot when the games matter most.
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For Rodriguez, the rise has not come easily. He has worked through early career setbacks and injuries before climbing through multiple minor league levels and making his way into the big league bullpen in 2026. With October still within reach, the Padres have a young pitcher who could go from promising depth piece to a very real postseason weapon in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Padres May Finally Have An Answer For Their Biggest Lineup Problem
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One possible fix is starting to take shape in a platoon that would pair Dustin Harris against right-handed pitching and Austin Hays against left-handers. Both have shown better splits in those matchups, and the idea is simple enough: give the Padres a steadier presence near the top of the lineup while extracting more value from two hitters whose strengths fit different looks. Whether it sticks is the next question, but it at least gives San Diego a more deliberate answer than the revolving door it has used so far. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Fans Need To Watch This Manny Machado Winter Decision
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The complication, of course, is that nothing about a Machado move would be simple. He holds a no-trade clause and would have to waive it for any deal to happen, and the Padres would also have to weigh the optics of moving one of the faces of the franchise under new ownership. For now, it is less about a finished conclusion than the possibility itself, which is enough to make this one of the more important storylines to monitor as the winter unfolds. [Read more 🡒]