The New York Yankees acquired closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for left-hander Nestor Cortes, prospect Caleb Durbin and cash considerations, the teams announced Friday.
A two-time All-Star, Williams has established himself as one of the premier relievers in baseball over the past five seasons behind an elite changeup known as “The Airbender,” posting a 1.83 ERA in 97 career relief appearances.
Williams is the second reliever the Yankees have acquired this week — they agreed to terms to re-sign Jonathan Loaisiga, pending a physical, on Wednesday. Williams will slide into the back end of a Yankees bullpen that lost Clay Holmes to free agency, could lose free agent Tommy Kahnle and will feature Luke Weaver, a revelation in 2024.
It could, however, be for just one season because Williams is slated to become a free agent next winter.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said a contract extension for Williams has not yet been discussed internally or with Williams’ agent.
“Just wanted to secure the opportunity, and then we’ll see where it takes us,” Cashman said.
Cashman said he has discussed trading for Williams with the Brewers “for years” — at trade deadlines and spring trainings. He added that whether Williams will become the Yankees’ closer — Weaver is the other obvious option — will be up to manager Aaron Boone.
“Certainly doesn’t seem to be afraid,” Cashman said. “You can’t do that job if you’re afraid of the big stage. So we’re looking forward to adding him into the mix, and the job isn’t finished here.”
On other fronts, Cashman acknowledged he had “many discussions” with Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown about acquiring All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker. The sides couldn’t come to an agreement and the Astros sent Tucker to the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Money motivated Milwaukee to move Williams. The cost-conscious Brewers avoided arbitration with Williams a year ago by signing him to a one-year, $7.5 million contract with a club option to potentially avoid arbitration in 2025. Milwaukee declined the $10.5 million option in November, knowing Williams’ injury-truncated 2024 season would net him a smaller salary in arbitration.
But they chose not to wait until arbitration to move Williams, extracting value in the offseason and avoiding any in-season complications before inevitably being outbid for his services in free agency next winter.
After making his major league debut in 2019, Williams won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2020 as the Brewers’ setup man after allowing one earned run in 22 games in the COVID-shortened season.
Williams, 30, remained a setup man for closer Josh Hader until Hader was traded to the San Diego Padres in July 2022. In his first full season as closer in 2023, Williams pitched to a 1.53 ERA with 36 saves across 61 games.
The right-hander missed the first four months of the 2024 season with a stress fracture in his back before returning in late July in his usual dominant form, posting a 1.25 ERA with 14 saves and a 43.2% strikeout rate in 22 games. But his season and, ultimately, his Brewers career ended on a low note when he surrendered four runs in two-thirds of an inning in the deciding Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets, including a go-ahead three-run home run to Pete Alonso in the ninth inning.
Like Williams, Cortes’ tenure with his former club ended on a low. The veteran starter, who turned 30 on Tuesday, was at the center of trade rumors in July, and he landed on the injured list in September with an elbow flexor strain and finished the regular season on the IL. He chose to risk further injury by returning for the World Series and gave up a walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman on his first pitch in Game 1.
In Cortes, the Brewers received an established starting pitcher also one year from free agency that didn’t fit in the Yankees’ rotation plans for 2025 after they signed Max Fried this week. Cortes, who was drafted in the 36th round in 2013, emerged as a reliable starter in 2021 and an All-Star in 2022. Injuries sabotaged his 2023 season. He was healthy in 2024, pitching to a 3.77 ERA and finishing second on the Yankees in innings pitched despite his injury in September.
“We did rob Peter to pay Paul,” Cashman said. “But we felt that risk was worth doing, given who Williams is.”
Durbin, 24, is a prospect on the doorstep of his major league debut with an unusual profile. He’s a 5-foot-6 former Division III player at Washington University. He can play multiple positions — second base, shortstop, third base and center field — and is a threat on the basepaths, stealing 110 bases in his four-year minor league career.
A 14th-round draft pick in 2021, Durbin set the Arizona Fall League record with 29 stolen bases and was named the league’s breakout prospect of the year in November. The Yankees placed him on their 40-man roster shortly thereafter. Boone and Cashman said they expected Durbin to play a role on the big league club next year. He’ll have a chance with the Brewers instead.
