Devin Williams, one of the premier relief pitchers in all of baseball, was introduced on Tuesday afternoon as the newest member of the Yankees.
Speaking with reporters via a video conference, Williams explained that he expected the Milwaukee Brewers to trade him this offseason, given the way the club has typically operated, but the destination was a bit of a surprise.
“I had actually just gotten to the gym. It was a bit of a shock, but it’s a tremendous honor to be able to play for this organization,” Williams said. “There’s no bigger team in baseball, so I’m very happy to be here.”
“To be honest, I didn’t really think [the Yankees were a possibility],” he added. “I kind of thought I’d be going to LA. That was what I was being told. The Yankees snuck in there under the table and got the deal done.”
And they did so with good reasoning. Williams is as decorated as any reliever in the game, winning NL Rookie of the Year in 2020, and earning two All-Star appearances (2022-23) and two Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of the Year awards (2020, 2023) while pitching to a career 1.83 ERA over his six big league seasons. In fact, he’s had a sub-2.00 ERA in four of those six years, while also striking out 14.3 batters per nine innings, thanks in part to his devastating “airbender” changeup.
But one of the reasons why Williams had a feeling he’d be dealt is the fact that he’s set to hit free agency after the upcoming season, and will undoubtedly have a huge market.
So would he be open to an extension with the Yankees before seeing what the market holds?
“I think if it’s right for both sides, that’s definitely always an option,” Williams said. “Nothing has been discussed up until now, so I can’t really comment too much on that.”
Interestingly enough, Williams landing in New York this offseason may have been foreshadowed by… Williams landing in New York this offseason.
The closer explained that he typically leaves the country for a week or so to decompress after each season, but this year he decided to visit New York City for 10 days, taking in “good restaurants, shopping,” as well as some of the museums the five boroughs have to offer.
Now, the man who hopes to be the next great Yankees closer in the vein of Mariano Rivera and Aroldis Chapman (both of whom he mentioned by name), will have plenty of chances to get to know his new home city.
“Ten days isn’t really enough to do all the things in New York City,” Williams said, “so, I’m looking forward to spending some more time there.”