The Yankees Pull Off a Stunner Of a Trade And Bring in All-Star Closer Devin Williams To Nail Down Their 9th Innings In 2025

Patrick McDermott. Getty Images.

The Yankees Plan B kickstarted with the signing of starting pitcher Max Fried. By doing so they brough in a legit number 2 behind Cole to strengthen their rotation and give themselves legitimate depth. But what was next? Attack the lineup? Nope, here's all star closer Devin Williams to lock down the 9th inning for ya. 

Stunning. The whole baseball world is currently talking about a potential Kyle Tucker trade and where Cody Bellinger ends up, meanwhile Cashman swings a trade for Devin Williams to be the new closer. Completely out of left field. Here's the haul for Williams, who enters 2025 with one year of team control remaining. 

Let me tell ya, that package for Williams is legit nothing. With the addition of Fried, Nestor Cortes was on the outside looking in with the starting rotation. For all intents and purposes he was a long man and a depth piece, aka super expendable. Caleb Durbin is an interesting cat. He's only 5'6" but can play all over the field. He does not strike out. During the most recent Arizona Fall League he jumped off the page and became a name. He's the kind of guy who can project as a nice lead off hitter if his game translates to the big leagues. That being said, a year ago he was a no name. The Yankees are using his recent momentum and flipping him for an impact player. That's something they've rarely done with prospects. Can Durbin turn into a nice player? No question, but you cannot afford to gamble on that when you consider the stage of career that both Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole are in. You have to be aggressive and acquire legit MLB players. So much for Cashman and Boone telling everyone that Durbin was their starting second baseman for 2025. 

I love this move. Why? Because it allows Luke Weaver to slide back to his "weapon x" role in the pen as a multi-inning monster who can hunt down the best parts of your lineup at any point in the late innings. Yesterday the team announced Johnny Loaisga was coming back. Imagine he could get into May without his elbow exploding? Williams get the 9th and possibly becomes the best closer the Yankees have had since Mariano Rivera hung em' up. 

Concerns with Williams are he missed a good chunk of last year with a back problem. Those don't necessarily go away, but he was his usual dominant self in the second half. In 22 regular season appearances he only allowed an earned run in two of them. His changeup falls off the planet and he doesn't walk guys. Going from last year's opening day closer in Clay Holmes to Devin Williams is like reading a blog from Mush to then going to Francis. This is a tremendous move for the Yankees, especially considering what they gave up. 

Now that they have the pitching squared away for 2025, it's time to address the lineup. You need a 1B, 3B/2B, and a LF. Considering Durbin was ticketed to play 2nd for the team and Gleyber is gone, I see Jazz moving back over to 2nd and adding a 3rd baseman. Possible options there are a Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger trade, Christian Walker, Alex Bregman, Ha-Seong Kim, or other out of the box ideas like what you saw with this Williams trade. There's plenty more to come, but Plan B is off to a really nice start. Nestor and Clay Holmes just became Max Fried and Devin Williams. This is a good response, but need more. 

P.S. Let's make sure no tip pitching with the Yankees please