The Rebel Alliance? Yankees' Devin Williams trade foiled Dodgers' plans for total domination

OK, fine, so maybe the New York Yankees haven't done quite enough to shake the Evil Empire label just yet. This is still a fan base that nearly tore Mookie Betts' arm off during the World Series and burned Juan Soto's jersey in the streets after the outfielder opted to take the highest available offer and join the crosstown rival Mets. They've still got a long, long, long way to go before anyone starts looking at them like plucky underdogs.

But right now, everyone is a plucky under dog compared to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the last 12 months, L.A. has dropped a billion dollars in one offseason, including $700 million for Shohei Ohtani; romped to the franchise's first full-season title since 1988; and followed up that title by signing Blake Snell to a $182 million deal. And they nearly pulled off another blockbuster over the weekend, one that would've had every other fan base already giving up hope for 2025. That is, until the Yankees stepped in.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work onThe Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Devin Williams 'thought I'd be going to L.A.' before Yankees trade

The Yankees' trade for Milwaukee Brewers All-Star closer Devin Williams seemed to come more or less out of nowhere. Last we'd heard, Milwaukee seemed set to hold on to the pending free agent, at least until the 2025 trade deadline. But apparently, the team had been hard at work hammering out a deal behind the scenes — so hard at work, in fact, that they had nearly reached an agreement with the Dodgers.

"I kinda thought I'd be going to L.A.," Williams told MLB.com's Bryan Hoch on Tuesday afternoon. "That's what I was being told. The Yankees snuck in there under the table and got the deal done."

We knew that L.A. was in the market for a reliever. Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and the re-signed Blake Treinen are a formidable trio, but you can never have enough bullpen depth come October, and there are also plenty of injury concerns among that group. And Andrew Friedman had shown interest in Williams at previous trade deadlines. Still, knowing that Los Angeles was this close to adding yet another All-Star to its roster only to be turned away at the last moment should have every other team breathing a sigh of relief.

Of course, until they turn around and sign Tanner Scott anyway.