Mets signing ex-Yankee closer Devin Williams to three-year, $45 million contract, per report
The Mets will look for Williams to rebound from a disappointing 2025 season in the Bronx
By
Mike Axisa
•
2 min read
Devin Williams is changing boroughs. Williams and the New York Mets have agreed to a three-year contract, reports The Athletic. The deal includes $45 million in salary plus a $6 million signing bonus and deferrals, according to the New York Post. The team has not yet announced the move.
The signing reunites Williams with David Stearns. Williams was a minor leaguer with the Milwaukee Brewers when the club named Stearns their general manager in September 2015, and the two overlapped in the organization until Stearns left to take over the Mets two years ago. Surely that relationship played a role in the signing.
Williams, 31, spent this past season across town with the Yankees and had a turbulent season, throwing 62 innings with a 4.79 ERA. He allowed 37 runs in 2025 after allowing 33 runs combined from 2022-24. Williams was dominant at times, however, and he finished the season with 90 strikeouts in those 62 innings. He was a trusted late-inning reliever in the postseason.
"At first it was a challenge, but I've grown to love being here," Williams said after the Yankees were eliminated from the postseason. "I love this city. I love taking the train to the field every day."
We ranked Williams as the 19th-best free agent available this offseason, and the second best reliever behind erstwhile Mets closer Edwin Díaz. Here's the write-up:
"High-Lev Dev" is a strong rebound candidate based on, if nothing else, the incongruity between his ERA and his underlying data. There were 21 pitchers who made 30 or more appearances in 2025 without any starts and who possessed a strikeout rate above 30% and a walk rate below 10%. Williams' 4.79 ERA was the worst of the group, which as a whole put up a 2.76 mark -- to the extent that the next worst ERA was just over 4.00. Williams somehow managed that while sporting the fourth-best hard-hit percentage of the bunch, behind names like Josh Hader and Abner Uribe. Things happen in this game sometimes, particularly with individual relief seasons. There's no compelling reason to think Williams has lost his touch just yet.
We explained further why Williams, despite his disappointing season with the Yankees, was a highly coveted free agent with a chance to bounce back to his All-Star form.
The Williams signing does not necessarily preclude Díaz returning to the Mets, though it does make it less likely. New York's bullpen was in rough shape most of the 2025 season and it could be that they hope to pair Williams with Díaz rather than have Williams replace Díaz. Either way, Williams figures to be the first reliever the Mets acquire this winter, not the only one.
Lefties Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter are the only other locks for New York's bullpen at the moment. Minter missed most of this past season with season-ending lat surgery. Righty Huascar Brazoban is a candidate for another bullpen spot.
The Yankees did not make Williams the $22.025 million qualifying offer, so they will not receive a compensation draft pick for losing him nor will the Mets surrender draft picks to sign him.
