SEATTLE -- The Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin & Yandel was holding its “Como Antes” tour in San Juan in December 2018, and Edwin Díaz was not going to miss it.

Díaz and his wife, Nashaly Mercado, were preparing to attend one of the shows when a Mariners executive called him as a courtesy. The team was working on a blockbuster trade to send Díaz and star second baseman Robinson Canó to the Mets. Nothing was done, but the executive wanted Díaz to be ready. If anything happened, he would be in touch.

“So I went to the concert with my wife,” Díaz said. “And after the concert, they called me back and said, ‘You’re going to the Mets.’”

Nearly six years later, as Díaz stood in the visitors' clubhouse at T-Mobile Park retelling that story, he twice called the ballpark by its old moniker of Safeco Field. Díaz hadn’t been back since the name change, among other notable events in Mariners history. It wasn’t until the hours before a 6-0 Mets loss to the Mariners that Díaz had a chance to reacquaint himself with his old home, greet the few friends who remained and reflect on the trade that transformed his career.

Before all the drama that’s since occurred in New York -- a nightmare inaugural season, a subsequent renaissance, a national spotlight on his trumpet-fueled entrance music, a record $102 million contract, a torn knee tendon during the World Baseball Classic and, finally a return to health this year -- there was Seattle. The Mariners were the organization that nurtured Díaz, drafting him as an 18-year-old out of Puerto Rico in the third round in 2012. They were the ones that converted him to relief work after a few slow-developing seasons as a starting pitcher, convincing him the bullpen would be his quickest path to the Majors.

Sure enough, later that season, the Mariners promoted Díaz straight from Double-A to the Majors. Within weeks of his call-up, he was the closer in Seattle.

“They made that decision,” Díaz said, “and I think it’s the best decision they ever made for me.”

It was a switch that allowed Díaz to blossom into one of the game’s top closers, highlighted by a 2018 campaign that saw him save 57 games with a 1.96 ERA -- numbers sharp enough to entice then-Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen to include New York’s top prospect, Jarred Kelenic, in the December trade for Díaz and Canó.

At the time, the consensus around baseball was that the Mets had just completed one of the most ill-fated, short-sighted swaps in Major League history. The perspective of years has altered that narrative.

The two players the Mets received from the Mariners -- Díaz and Canó -- have combined for 6.2 WAR in Flushing, with Díaz still adding to that number on a weekly basis. The five players the Mets traded away -- Kelenic, Justin Dunn, Jay Bruce, Gerson Bautista and Anthony Swarzak -- have combined for 2.4 WAR since leaving. At this point, only Kelenic seems a realistic threat to push that figure significantly higher, but he’s been a below-average hitter over more than 1,300 big league plate appearances and has since been traded to the Braves.

Five years after the fact, it’s still too early to say definitively that the Mets won the Díaz trade. Yet it’s clear now that they probably didn’t lose it.

“My time with the Mets didn’t start the way I wanted to,” Díaz said. “But after that year, I went home and realized I had to work harder. After that season, everything went well. I’ve been able to perform the way I want to in New York.”

“He cares so much about winning, about the team, about his teammates, the organization,” added Díaz’s new manager, Carlos Mendoza. “He’s a competitor. He wants the ball. He’s everything that you expect out of your closer.”

Funny how time changes things. Díaz has now spent more of his life in New York than Seattle. He’s pitched in more games with the Mets than he did with the Mariners, thrown more innings in Flushing than in SoDo. His only postseason experience has occurred in Queens.

But Díaz still has a lengthier history in the Mariners organization, which is what made this trip special for him. This weekend, he brought his old concert partner Nashaly and his children to Seattle, so that they could also experience the place he once called home.

“I’ve got really good memories here,” Díaz said. “I made my debut here and pitched my last game [with Seattle] here, too, in Seattle. So I think that’s the biggest thing that I have.”