When the New York Yankees traded for Devin Williams over the winter, they thought they were locking down the closer spot with one of MLB’s best relievers. After yet another disastrous outing last night, it’s clear that they have to reconfigure their plans.
The Yankees plated a run in the bottom of the eighth yesterday to take a 2-1 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays. This is the exact scenario they envisioned when they acquired Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers for Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin. The closer took the ball to start the top of the ninth, but allowed a single, a hit-by-pitch, and a two-run double before getting pulled out of the game. The next pitcher, Mark Leiter Jr., gave up a single that scored another run, which was charged to Williams, and the Yankees lost 4-2.
Yesterday’s game was Williams’s first appearance in six days. His previous outing on April 19 was an even bigger disaster. The Yankees entrusted him with an 8-4 lead in the ninth inning, but he let the Tampa Bay Rays tie the game on a walk and three hits (another batter reached on an error). That blow-up sent the game to extra innings, where they lost 10-8.
Williams hardly resembles the dominant reliever he was in Milwaukee. In six seasons with the Brewers, he posted a 1.83 ERA over 241 games and averaged 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He won the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year Award and made All-Star appearances in 2022 and 2023. In his first 10 outings with the Yankees, he has allowed 21 baserunners in eight innings with 12 runs (10 earned). He has never given up more than 15 earned runs in a season, but he’s already two thirds of the way to that total.
It’s clear that the Yankees have to make a change. Manager Aaron Boone was noncommittal on Williams remaining the closer in his postgame comments. The team has enjoyed stellar relief pitching this season from nearly everyone else in the bullpen besides Williams. His most likely replacement as the closer would be Luke Weaver, who held that role down the stretch last year and into the playoffs, and has a perfect 0.00 ERA through 11 games and 13 innings with only three hits and five walks allowed.
Williams’s collapse could be costly to him in more ways than one. He will reach free agency for the first time in his career following this season. The 30-year-old was on track to potentially set a record for the largest contract ever for a relief pitcher, a distinction currently held by Edwin Díaz of the New York Mets, who is in the middle of a five-year, $102 million deal.
A typical Devin Williams season would’ve almost certainly had him surpassing that figure. Given his catastrophic April, it’s impossible to tell what awaits him in free agency. If he turns his season around quickly, a massive contract is still possible. If not, he could have to settle for a much smaller salary on a one-year deal. For the time being, the more urgent need is for him to figure out how to get batters out again and become the pitcher the Yankees thought they were getting when they traded for him.
