When the New York Yankees acquired Devin Williams, they envisioned the closer role being solidified for at least the 2025 season.
After 2025, there are no promises as Williams is scheduled to become a free agent. But they saw what Williams did in Milwaukee – establish himself as arguably the most dominant right-handed reliever in baseball – and believed that would immediately translate to the Bronx. And for a Yankees team that had World Series aspirations after falling short a year ago, they hoped that would be part of what made this season different.
Instead, Williams has floundered in New York. In 10 games, he’s posted a 11.25 ERA and a mediocre 8/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was removed from the closer and replaced with Luke Weaver, who emerged as a dependable right-handed option out of the bullpen last season with New York.
The decision to remove Williams is temporary. But it was a move that has been coming for some time, and didn’t even catch Williams off guard.
“With the way things have gone, it’s not a shock to me,” Williams said. “Being a closer is a position you have to earn and you have to keep earning it to continue to be in that role. I haven’t been doing that. It’s disappointing. You work for years to get to that point and you have it taken away from you. It’s not a fun feeling at all. I can’t say it’s undeserved.”
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.Â
So where do the Yankees go now at closer?
For now, I would not expect the Yankees to look to the trade or free-agent markets. For starters, teams rarely make trades of significance this early into the regular season. It just almost never happens. The Yankees also did not have the money to make a significant move late into free agency, Jon Heyman of the New York Post said on The Baseball Insiders.
There’s also the investment that the Yankees made with Williams. To acquire the right-hander, New York parted with left-hander Nestor Cortes and infielder Caleb Durbin. While Cortes was on an expiring contract, Durbin has drawn many Dustin Pedroia comparisons, and figures to be a useful piece moving forward for Milwaukee.
The Yankees will give Williams every opportunity to earn the closer role back, and his track record underscores it’s deserved. From 2022-2024, he never posted an ERA above 1.95. He recorded a 221/69 strikeout-to-walk ratio and had his famous pitch the “Airbender” take over Major League Baseball.
Brian Cashman under the microscope with Devin Williams
If Williams comes back to the closer role and struggles, that’s when Brian Cashman will be forced to look outside the organization for pitching reinforcements. One option that would make sense is Ryan Helsley, the St. Louis Cardinals’ closer who is already drawing trade interest and is “likely” to be dealt before the July 31 trade deadline, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
There will be many other relievers made available before the deadline, of course. But Helsley figures to be the big fish that’s available.
But the Yankees will give Williams every opportunity to earn the closer role back. His track record suggests that he’ll bounce back and be fine. If he doesn’t, however, Cashman needs to be aggressive in addressing the closer role. Their season may ultimately depend on it.