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The New York Yankees still have multiple needs during this stage of the offseason, but the bullpen might be the biggest of them all. Pitching wins championships, and while the Yankees bullpen isn’t bad by any means, it could use another arm or two.
The Yankees made Luke Weaver their closer at the end of last season, so it remains uncertain if they’d want a closer or just a high-leverage reliever or two.
With Devin Williams on the market, he’d be the ideal player to target. Williams only has a year before he hits free agency, so this could be a rental, but he’s good enough to trade multiple assets for. The Yankees could also extend him or re-sign him when the time comes.
Getting him to New York is priority No. 1, and Mark DeRosa of MLB Network predicted that to happen.
“Devin Williams, pack your stuff,” DeRosa said. “We’re not staying in Milwaukee. Yourself, and I think Luke Weaver, are going to be in that Yankee bullpen throwing absolute bullets. Devin Williams to the Yankees makes a ton of sense for me,” DeRosa said on December 11.
Yankees Interested in Williams
The New York Yankees trading for Williams seems to be a possible outcome this winter. The team has shown interest in the two-time Trevor Hoffman Reliever of the Year Award, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
“According to league sources, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are among the teams expressing interest in Williams, a two-time winner of the Trevor Hoffman Award as the National League’s top reliever,” Rosenthal wrote on December 9.
Rosenthal added that it’s possible the Milwaukee Brewers won’t trade him until next summer. If they struggle before the deadline, moving Williams would be easy, with teams always looking for relievers in the middle of the season.
“It’s possible the Brewers could keep Williams until at least the summer. Trading him midseason, however, might invoke the complications they encountered in 2022, when they dealt Josh Hader in the heat of a playoff push and ended up missing out on the postseason. For the Brewers to comfortably trade Willliams at the deadline, they probably would need to be out of contention,” Rosenthal wrote.
Williams’ Price Could Be Expensive
Trade packages around Major League Baseball have been hefty over the past year. Many top prospects are being traded for average Big League players, and star players are getting traded for multiple top prospects.
It’s tough to get a feel for Williams’ price, but considering he’d be on a new team for a full year, Max Goodman of NJ.com believes it could be expensive.
“The deciding factor, if Milwaukee is truly ready to part with Williams this winter, will be whether the Yankees are willing to offer up enough to get the closer. Remember what the Padres gave up to get Scott at the trade deadline this past summer?
“That was for only a few months of his services. This would be for a full season. The market for elite relievers has never been higher, meaning the Brewers will want an attractive package back from the Yankees,” Goodman wrote on December 10. “What would they be comfortable parting with for one guaranteed season, like the Soto move with San Diego last winter?”
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