Yankees trade for Brewers closer Devin Williams

The Yankees, in their pivot from losing Juan Soto to the Mets, so far have impressively addressed who will be throwing the ball for them next season.

Who will be hitting it?

Still plenty of work to be done there.

Regardless, the club, several days after signing stud lefthander Max Fried to strengthen an already strong rotation, swung a trade with the Brewers on Friday for stud righty reliever Devin Williams.

The move cost the Yankees lefthander Nestor Cortes, second base prospect Caleb Durbin and cash considerations.

The Williams acquisition gives the Yankees another potent back-end-of-the-bullpen reliever to go with Luke Weaver. The latter, terrific pretty much all of 2024 for the Yankees, took over closer duties from the struggling Clay Holmes in early September and thrived in that role the rest of the regular season and throughout the team’s postseason run to the World Series. It is assumed Williams, who saved 36 games in 2023, will close for the Yankees, though given Weaver’s performance, that can’t yet be guaranteed.

The 30-year-old Williams’ performance in the majors has been headline worthy pretty much from the start. He won National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2020 and is a two-time NL Reliever of the Year award winner (2021 and 2023). Overall in his six big-league seasons, Williams has a 1.83 ERA with 68 saves, walking 112 and striking out 375 in 235 2/3 innings.

Williams’ 2024 season was delayed until July 28, the result of a pair of stress fractures in his back, but he was lights-out after finally being cleared to play, posting a 1.25 ERA with 14 saves in 22 games. Williams, who walked 11 and struck out 38 in 21 2/3 innings, did suffer a high-profile meltdown in the postseason, coughing up a 2-0 lead in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card series against the Mets, allowing four runs in the top of the ninth. The Brewers had a $10.5 million option for Williams for next season, an option they declined in November.

The Yankees entered the winter with bullpen arms among their many roster needs for 2025 and they will still be looking the rest of the offseason to add more as Holmes, whom they did not pursue, has already left via free agency (to the Mets), and Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle are free agents and not certain to return. Late last week the Yankees brought back Jonathan Loaisiga, recovering from Tommy John surgery and not due back until early summer, assuming no setbacks, on a one-year deal. But the righthander’s extensive injury history makes him far from a pitcher who can be counted on.

Still, there are higher priorities, meaning position players, preferably those excelling both on offense and defense. A big target came off the board on Friday as the Cubs reportedly had reached a deal with the Astros to acquire the lefty-hitting outfielder Kyle Tucker. The Yankees had also been in trade discussions with Houston regarding Tucker.

That leaves the Yankees, whose desire with Soto gone is to shift Aaron Judge from centerfield back to right, still in need of a leftfielder, as well as a first baseman and third baseman. It had been speculated that Durbin would get a shot this spring to win the second base job. But the organization’s plan coming into the offseason was to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. from third – a position he had never played professionally before doing so for the Yankees after they traded for him last July – to his more natural position of second and acquire, either via trade or free agency, a third baseman. The Astros' Alex Bregman is a free agent, and the Cardinals' Nolan Arenado is available on the trade market, to name two of many options.

The Yankees have spoken to the Cubs about first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger, who possesses a good glove and provides plenty of potential from the left side of the plate. Free agent outfielder Anthony Santander, coming off a 44-homer season with the Orioles, with whom he spent the last eight seasons,  is also of interest to the Yankees.