Devin Williams may have been a more in-depth, and he nonetheless might be with the Mets, however the alternative he noticed in Queens wasn’t essentially depending on whether or not he pitches within the eighth or ninth innings. For Williams, it’s about profitable.
“They’re a team that wants to win,” the Mets’ new right-handed reliever stated Friday on a Zoom name. “Steve [Cohen] is doing all he can to put a winning product on the field, and I’d love to be a part of that.”
The proprietor’s need to win a World Collection is not any secret. Since Steve and Alex Cohen took over possession of the Mets in 2021, the membership has steadily gained a fame as a vacation spot at no cost brokers, together with free brokers who performed within the Bronx. Williams, who signed a three-year $51 million contract with the Mets earlier this week, is third pitcher and fourth participant within the final three years to go from the Yankees to the Mets as a free agent, following a pattern set by Luis Severino, Clay Holmes and Juan Soto. Supervisor Carlos Mendoza additionally got here from the Yankees.
From the skin, his determination to signal with one other New York Metropolis group was shocking. An elite setup man and nearer in Milwaukee, Williams posted a career-worst 4.79 ERA with the Yankees final yr. Traded from the Brewers to the Yankees final December, he was faraway from the nearer twice throughout his one-season tenure with the Yankees.
It was a perplexing season, particularly for the reason that underlying analytics didn’t level to any form of decline. The numbers below the hood have been largely on-par together with his profession numbers, and his fastball and changeup have been nonetheless deadly pitches.
“I feel like there was kind of a lot of factors really,” Williams stated of his struggles in 2025. “Some mechanical pitch-selection type stuff, looking back on it just kind of reflecting on that.”
Williams, who will probably be 31 subsequent season, began calling his personal pitches on PitchCom after the Yankees moved him right into a lower-leverage function in late April. Calling his personal pitches labored; Williams went 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA and a 2.11 FIP over his subsequent 24 appearances, holding 20 leads and saving seven video games.
Luke Weaver was injured, permitting a gap for Williams to return to the ninth-inning function.
Then the calendar turned to July and once more, Williams all of a sudden misplaced the power to carry leads. He gave up 5 earned runs in his first three video games of the month (2 2/3 innings), blowing a save in Texas in opposition to the Rangers and taking a loss the next day, earlier than taking a second loss within the subsequent sequence in opposition to the Houston Astros.
Williams was booed mercilessly by the Yankee Stadium devoted. It grew to become an everyday prevalence. The membership acquired David Bednar on the commerce deadline, transferring him into the nearer function.
Nonetheless, Williams grew to get pleasure from New York Metropolis. A St. Louis native who had performed his complete profession in Milwaukee till final yr, he was in a position to block out the hostility and adapt to baseball life within the metropolis. He thinks the expertise will assist him with the Mets over the subsequent three years, particularly given his familiarity with president of baseball operations David Stearns.
“It’s familiar now,” he stated. “I know what I’m going to need to do in order to get to the field, things like that, you know? Like getting home — just life stuff. So I’ve got all that figured out already and I’m comfortable there now.”
Williams is engaged on including a cutter and slider to his two-pitch combine. Identified for his “airbender” changeup, Williams has thrown a cutter prior to now, nevertheless it’s been a uncommon prevalence. This winter, he’s working with the pitch with the objective of increasing its utilization. A gyro slider may give him one other swing-and-miss pitch.
Now, the query is whether or not or not he’ll shut or arrange for Edwin Diaz. Williams talked to a number of groups that had curiosity in signing him as a more in-depth, however he nonetheless selected the Mets understanding his function will probably be depending on what occurs with Diaz. The Mets are nonetheless pursuing the free-agent nearer in free company, and Williams sees it as a “good situation” if Diaz returns to Queens.
“More arms is always a good thing,” he stated.
Extra arms will probably be coming quickly with the winter conferences beginning Monday in Orlando. If Diaz finally ends up elsewhere, the Mets have a more in-depth able to step in to assist win.
