Devin Williams won’t have to travel far to get to his new home ballpark.
The former Yankees reliever is signing with the Mets, as first reported by Will Sammon of the Athletic.
The deal is for three years and guarantees more than $50 million, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who added that the deal does not include opt-outs or options.
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For the Mets, signing Williams does not take them out of the market for closer Edwin Diaz, according to SNY’s MLB Insider Andy Martino.
But with Diaz still being a free agent, adding the 31-year-old gives New York a versatile reliever who can be used either as a setup man if Diaz returns or as a closer, as he has 86 career saves to his name.
A seven-year major league veteran, Williams broke onto the scene with the Milwaukee Brewers, using his “airbender” changeup to lead the way to two All-Star appearances, two Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year Awards (2020 and 2023), and the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year Award. In six seasons with the Brewers, Williams pitched to a 1.83 ERA.
Williams was traded to the Yankees ahead of the 2025 season, and his lone campaign in the Bronx did not live up to expectations. Williams lost the closer’s role and ended up pitching to a 4.79 ERA over 62.0 innings of work.
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But given Williams’ impressive resume, there’s plenty of reason to believe he can bounce back to the dominant, sub-2.00 ERA reliever he was with Milwaukee, where Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was able to watch first-hand as the right-hander developed into one of the best relievers in baseball.
