The Mets are in agreement with free agent closer Devin Williams on a three-year contract, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. It guarantees more than $50MM, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Jon Heyman of The New York Post suggests the deal pays $15MM salaries plus a $6MM signing bonus that includes $5MM in annual deferrals.
Williams stays in New York after a frustrating lone season with the Yankees. The two-time All-Star is coming off a career-high 4.79 earned run average over 67 appearances. The Mets are betting on that ERA being a fluke, trusting Williams’ still excellent stuff and swing-and-miss rates to get back to the elite form he showed with the Brewers.
A second-round pick by the Brew Crew in 2013, Williams took a while to climb through the minor leagues as a starting pitcher. He took off after being moved to the bullpen in 2019, climbing from Double-A to the big leagues by the end of that season. Williams emerged as one of the sport’s best late-game weapons by his first full big league season. He turned in a 0.33 ERA across 27 innings during the shortened 2020 schedule and claimed the National League Rookie and Reliever of the Year Awards.
The righty continued to dominate over the next few seasons, forming a lethal back-end bullpen duo with Josh Hader. New York president of baseball operations David Stearns had a front row seat as Milwaukee’s front office leader for most of that tenure. Williams stepped into the ninth inning when Milwaukee sent Hader to San Diego at the 2022 deadline. He reeled off 36 saves in 40 tries with a 1.53 ERA to win his second career Reliever of the Year honors.
Over his first four full seasons, Williams pitched to a 1.75 ERA while striking out 40.5% of opposing hitters across 200 1/3 innings. Heading into 2024, there was a decent argument for him as the best reliever in MLB. He hit his first real setback that Spring Training, as testing revealed two stress fractures in his back. He didn’t make his season debut until shortly before the trade deadline. Williams looked every bit as dominant during the regular season, reeling off 21 2/3 frames of three-run ball with 38 strikeouts to finish the year. His season ended in heartbreak fashion, as he surrendered a go-ahead homer to Pete Alonso in the final game of the Wild Card Series against his now current team.
More to come.
