New York Mets and pitcher Devin Williams have agreed to a three-year contract worth $51 million, league sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Monday night, confirming the report by providing the club with a replacement Edwin Diaz if the All-Star signs elsewhere.
The contract is a straightforward three-year pact with no waivers or options. It includes a $6 million signing bonus spread over three seasons.
Williams will bolster the back end of a bullpen that the Mets are determined to significantly improve this winter. The question is whether it will be as a setter or in the ninth inning.
Williams' role ultimately depends on whether the Mets sign Diaz, who opted out of his contract last month and is considered the top player on the free agent market this offseason. While it's a huge deal for a manager, acquiring the right-hander doesn't rule out the possibility of a reunion with Diaz, and the Mets remain interested in bringing him back, sources told Passan.
Williams, 31, is a free agent after a rough rookie season with the team. New York Yankees. Purchased last December from Milwaukee Brewers for jug Nestor Cortez and National League Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb DurbinWilliams struggled with a career-worst 4.79 ERA in 67 appearances for New York. But the fundamentals – including a 2.68 FIP, .195 expected batting average, and elite strikeout, whiff and chase rates – suggest the inflated ERA is misleading.
He pitched 18 games in 22 chances for the Yankees, but entering the season as the designated closer, he shared that role for most of the season after a rough start. Williams recorded four scoreless outings during the Yankees' playoff run, but David Bednar earned both saves in New York's playoffs.
Before joining the Yankees, Williams established himself as a top pitcher in the back of the bullpen over six seasons in Milwaukee, first as a designated hitter for star players. Josh Hader and then as Hader's replacement in that role.
After winning the National League Rookie of the Year in 2020, when he posted a 0.33 ERA over 22 appearances, Williams was named to two NL All-Star teams. In the three seasons before joining the Yankees, Williams went 15–7 with 65 saves and a paltry 1.66 ERA.
Williams was an unconventional player in terms of style. Even though his fastball velocity was below the major league average, he thrived with one of the best changeups in the game, a proposition so unique that it earned him a nickname – “The Airbender.”
Williams will now head to the field in Queens, where he will reunite with Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who held that position with the Brewers during Williams' first four seasons in Milwaukee.
News of Williams' agreement was first reported by The Athletic.
ESPN MLB writer Bradford Doolittle contributed to this report.
