The Yankees' prized offseason acquisition may have lost his job already

Despite losing Juan Soto in free agency and two key pitchers (plus DH Giancarlo Stanton) to injury in spring training, the New York Yankees still find themselves atop the AL East at 13-7 after a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. Aaron Judge has somehow managed to find yet another level to his game, Paul Goldschmidt looks like one of the best bargain signings of the winter and Ben Rice might be turning into a star in real time.

But despite all of the good vibes at the moment, things aren't all sunshine and roses in the Bronx. (These are still the Yankees, after all; angst is their middle name.) Cody Bellinger, while boosting the team's athleticism and defense considerably, has been downright dreadful at the plate so far this season. And he's not the only one of New York's marquee offseason acquisitions who's having a hard time getting on track.

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Luke Weaver, not Devin Williams, deserves to be the Yankees' closer

This hasn't been the start that Williams or the Yankees envisioned when they acquired the All-Star reliever from the Milwaukee Brewers back in December. While he's yet to actually blow a save, he's given up runs in three of his eight appearances, flirting with disaster multiple times so far this season. Things have stabilized a bit recently — he's nailed down three consecutive save opportunities, including on Thursday night against Tampa — but he still doesn't look quite like himself, with diminished fastball velocity allowing hitters to key in on his devastating changeup.

The good news for the Yankees is that Williams isn't the only option at the back of Aaron Boone's bullpen who can handle the ends of games and the highest-leverage spots. Luke Weaver has picked up right where he left off during his breakout 2024 season, yet to give up a single run while allowing only two hits and seven total baserunners in 10 innings of work. With Williams unavailable after heavy usage earlier in the week, he got the chance close things out and made the most of it, striking out two while preserving a 1-0 Yankees win.

The bad news, though, is that Weaver appears no closer to supplanting Williams for the top spot in Boone's bullpen hierarchy. He's consistently been the bridge to Williams, rather than New York's most trusted reliever, only getting his first save chance on Friday because his teammate was down.

That could just be because Williams isn't comfortable in the sort of fireman role at which Weaver's already proven to excel. Relievers can be fickle, and plenty of the best ones aren't thrilled about pitching in an inning that's not the ninth or coming into the middle of a frame or pitching in non-save situations. Weaver can do all of those things, so it would make sense for Boone to make use of that flexibility if it keeps Williams on the straight and narrow.

Then again, it's not hard to see this blowing up in the Yankees' face eventually. Say New York is trying to hold on to a late lead, and the heart of the opponent's batting order is due up in the ninth rather than the eighth. Will Boone keep on trusting Williams in that spot, even though Weaver sure looks like the better pitcher right now? If he does, it could start costing his team some games.