The Yankees are acquiring closer Devin Williams from the Brewers, according to reports.
Williams is expected to become New York's closer after Clay Holmes signed with the Mets in free agency.
BREAKING: The New York Yankees are finalizing a trade to acquire closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 13, 2024
Williams is one of the best closers in baseball when healthy due to his "Airbender" pitch. It closely resembles a screwball but with the arm action of throwing a change-up.
The righty reliever only pitched in 22 games in 2024 but finished with a 1-0 record, converted 14 saves and had a 1.25 ERA.
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Devin Williams trade details
Yankees get:
- RP Devin Williams
Brewers get:
- SP Nestor Cortes
- 2B Caleb Durbin
The Brewers will receive Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin in return for Williams, per The Athletic's Will Sammon
Williams is heading to the Yankees to become the team's new closer. New York had an excess of starting pitching with the signing of Max Fried. The loss of Holmes hurt New York, but the Mets signed him to become a starting pitcher, which the Yankees didn't need.
Durbin wasn't considered a top-30 prospect for New York, so Milwaukee will likely look to develop him.
Devin Williams stats
Williams was a second-round pick by Milwaukee in the 2013 MLB Draft. He finally made it to the bigs in 2019.
Williams spent the start of his career as a setup man but took over as the closer in 2023. He finished that season with 36 saves and eight wins in 58.2 innings.
Last year, Williams played in only 22 games due to two stress fractures in his back. He was named the NL Rookie of the Year in 2020 and made the NL All-Star Team in both 2022 and 2023.
| Year | Games | Innings | Wins | Losses | Saves | ERA |
| 2019 | 13 | 13.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.95 |
| 2020 | 22 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.33 |
| 2021 | 58 | 54 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2.50 |
| 2022 | 65 | 60.2 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 1.93 |
| 2023 | 61 | 58.2 | 8 | 3 | 36 | 1.53 |
| 2024 | 22 | 21.2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1.25 |
| Career | 241 | 235.2 | 27 | 10 | 68 | 1.83 |
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Projected Yankees bullpen
- Closer: Devin Williams
- Setup: Luke Weaver
- Setup: Mark Leiter Jr.
- Ian Hamilton
- Jonathan Loaisiga
- Scott Effross
- Jake Cousins
Holmes leaving in free agency made it seem like Weaver would have to move into the starter role. Williams should be the closer, but the Yankees bullpen suddenly has at least three players who could be the closer. The 2025 bullpen looks like it could be pretty fluid and they can really look to exploit matchups.
Winter meetings also wrapped up the week of the Williams acquisition, so there is still plenty of time before next season for more bullpen improvements or changes to be made.
Projected Brewers rotation
- Freddy Peralta
- Aaron Civale
- Nestor Cortes
- Brandon Woodruff
- Tobias Myers
Notable free agents who were 2024 Brewers:
- Colin Rea
- Bryse Wilson
- Joe Ross
All of a sudden, the Brewers have depth in the rotation. They may need it since their All-Star closer will wear pinstripes next year.
Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill will likely anchor the backend of the bullpen. Peralta led the team with 173.2 innings last season and figures to be Milwaukee's ace come Opening Day. Myers was a bright spot for the 2024 squad as he pitched in 27 games and finished with a 9-6 record and 3.00 ERA.
Civale was acquired by Milwaukee ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. He made 14 starts with a 6-3 record and 3.53 ERA. Civale will spend the offseason with the Brewers' pitching coaches and should cement himself as the team's No. 2 starter, if not the ace.
Cortes figures to be in the middle or back end of the rotation. It will be interesting to see how manager Pat Murphy pencils in the combination of Cortes, Woodruff and Myers. It likely depends on who is healthy at the time.
