If you haven’t heard about Devin Williams’ signature pitch, the “Airbender,” a wondrous changeup that seems to mock physics as it flummoxes hitters, you soon will. It’s an awesome weapon for the new Yankees’ closer, one of the best finishing pitches in baseball.
The brand-name pitch adds some sizzle to Williams’ acquisition on Friday in a trade with the Brewers, but the real value for the Yanks goes way beyond marketing. It cuts right to how they are emerging from their post-Juan Soto world. By adding Williams and Max Fried, the elite starter who agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract last week, run prevention is now king in The Bronx, at least so far this winter.
We’ll find out how that works later and there’s presumably much more to think about as GM Brian Cashman addresses the lineup during the rest of the off-season. But the Williams’ deal is easy to love for this reason: An elite reliever can have an outsized impact on a team’s run through October, thanks to all those built-in off-days.
The Yankees have been pretty adept at making it to October – seven playoff appearances in the last eight years, 59 in their 122-year history (48.4 percent, by far the best in the major leagues). But they haven’t won it all since 2009, doubtless something loudly bemoaned by the Yankee fans in your life.
Maybe Williams can help them navigate the postseason cauldron, perhaps all the way to that elusive parade. That’s the idea, anyway.
Williams, 30, has a career ERA of 1.83 in 241 games over six seasons in Milwaukee. Since 2020, opponents are batting a miniscule .145 against Williams. Over the past two seasons, 171 at-bats have ended on his “Airbender” changeup; opponents have 13 hits, a .111 average. In those 171 at-bats, Williams had 73 strikeouts, a rate of 42.7 percent. Clearly, the pitch is a gorgeous complement to his mid-90s fastball.
In recent years, the Yankees have thrived in turning unheralded pitchers into key bullpen cogs – Clay Holmes (5.57 ERA pre-Yankees, 2.69 ERA with them) comes to mind. That has helped the Yanks finish sixth, first and third in the majors in bullpen ERA over the past three seasons. Adding one of the best relievers in baseball to their development think-tank could lead to an overwhelming 2025 bullpen.
Luke Weaver, who finished the season as the Yanks’ closer, figures to set up Williams, though Cashman told reporters Friday that the closer’s job will be up to manager Aaron Boone. But Weaver is a tempting multi-inning man – 31 of his 62 appearances during his breakout 2024 were for more than three outs and he worked at least four outs in eight of his 12 postseason games.
Other relief options include Mark Leiter Jr., Ian Hamilton and Jake Cousins. Tommy Kahnle and Tim Hill are free agents. Jonathan Loáisiga, an attractive arm, was re-signed but still has some injury-recovery time looming before he returns to the majors.
The Yankees still need a lefty – maybe they should sign Tanner Scott, the premier reliever on the free-agent market, as part of a three-pronged super pen. Scott had a 1.75 ERA in 72 games between the Marlins and Padres last season.
To get Williams, the Yankees parted with lefty starter Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin, who might have had a big-league role this upcoming season. The Yankees had talked up Durbin recently, but getting one of the best relievers in baseball is worth any prospect risk, plus Cortes, who might have been a depth starter.
The Yankees have rotation surplus, so “Nasty Nestor” was expendable. But he had an impressive run with the Yanks. While fans gravitated to his fun nickname, windup funk and backstory – he was a former 36th round pick – he was much more than just those nuggets. Cortes was a gutsy hurler who was a master of arm angles and motion speed, which he used to wreck hitters’ timing.
Yes, Cortes gave up that Freddie Freeman grand slam in the World Series, but he also gave the Yanks a key Game 5 gem in the 2022 AL Division Series victory over Cleveland.
Even if Williams is one of the game’s best relievers, there are risks in the deal, too. He missed four months with a back injury last year, though he was back to being elite when he returned. The Yanks only have control for one season, which is what they had with Cortes, too, but if this works, they’ll clearly have motivation to try to work out an extension.
Williams also gave up a significant home run to Pete Alonso in the deciding game of Milwaukee’s NL Wild Card Series with the Mets last October. Called in to protect a 2-0 lead, Williams allowed a three-run blast to Alonso in the top of the ninth in a game the Mets won, 4-2.
Those kinds of moments happen to closers and they have to prove they can move past it. Mariano Rivera gave up that notorious homer to Sandy Alomar Jr. in the 1997 playoffs and it probably made him a better pitcher. No one is comparing Rivera to Williams – no one should be comped to Rivera, ever – just illustrating the point that there are paths through October trauma. Clearly, the Yanks believe Williams has his own.
The Yankees were never going to find the same kind of one-player offensive impact for their lineup after Soto split for Queens – there’s a reason, duh, that Soto got $765 million from the Mets. So pitching has been their early winter focus.
Maybe that’s not as flashy as slotting today’s Ted Williams next to Aaron Judge in the batting order.
But if the Yanks have played this right and keep working on the offense, it might get them right back to October. If Williams and his “Airbender” can flourish there, who knows what might happen.