If you’ve never heard of it Devin Williams‘ signature pitch, the “Airbender,” a miraculous change that seems to mock physics while confusing hitters, you’ll soon do. It’s a great weapon for the new Yankees’ closer, one of the best finishing pitches in baseball.
The brand talk adds some spice to Friday’s acquisition of Williams in a trade with the Brewers, but the real value for the Yanks goes far beyond marketing. It touches exactly on the way they emerge from their post-Juan Soto world. By Williams and add Max Friedthe 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 probably a lot more to think about as a GM Brian Cashman handles the lineup through the remainder of the offseason. But Williams’ deal is easy to like for this reason: An elite reliever can have a big impact on a team’s performance through October, thanks to all those built-in days off.
The Yankees are quite adept at making it to October – seven playoff appearances in the last eight years, 59 in their 122-year history (48.4 percent, easily the best in the major leagues). But they haven’t won it all since 2009, no doubt something the Yankee fans in your life complain loudly about.
Perhaps 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 hitting a minuscule .145 against Williams. Over the past two seasons, 171 plate appearances have ended during his ‘Airbender’ change; opponents have 13 hits, an average of .111. In those 171 at bats, Williams struckout 73, a rate of 42.7 percent. Clearly, the pitch is a wonderful complement to his mid-90s fastball.
In recent years, the Yankees have been successful in turning unknown 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 a jaw-dropping bullpen in 2025.
Lucas Weaverwho finished the season as the Yanks’ closer, wants to draft Williams, although Cashman told reporters Friday that the closer’s job is up to the manager. Aaron Boone. But Weaver is a tantalizing multi-inning guy – 31 of his 62 appearances during his 2024 breakout were for more than three outs and he worked at least four outs in eight of his 12 postseason games.
Other lighting options include Mark Leiter Jr., Ian Hamilton And Jake Cousins. Tommy Kahnle And Tim Hill are free agents. Jonathan Loisigaan attractive arm, was re-signed but still has some injury recovery time before returning to the majors.
The Yankees still need a lefty – maybe they should sign Tanner Scottthe premier reliever on the free-agent market, as part of a three-pronged superpen. Scott had a 1.75 ERA in 72 games between the Marlins and Padres last season.
To get Williams, the Yankees parted ways with a lefty starter Nestor Cortes and infield perspective Caleb Durbinwho might have played a role in the big league this coming season. The Yankees had recently talked to Durbin, 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 were drawn to his fun nickname, exciting funk and backstory (he was a former 36th round pick), he was much more than just those nuggets. Cortes was a courageous pitcher who was a master of arm angles and movement speed, which he used to wreak havoc on hitters’ timing.
Yes, Cortes has given up on that Freddie Vrijman 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 to the deal. He missed four months last year due to a back injury, although he was back among the elite upon his return. The Yanks only have one season of control, and they had that with Cortes, but if this works they will clearly have the motivation to try to work out an extension.
Williams also gave up a significant home run Pete Alonso in the deciding game of Milwaukee’s NL Wild Card Series with the Mets last October. Williams was brought in to protect a 2–0 lead and allowed a three-run explosion to Alonso in the top of the ninth inning in a game the Mets won 4–2.
Moments like that happen to closers and they have to prove they can move past them. Mariano Rivera gave up that infamous homer Sandy Alomar Jr. in the 1997 playoffs and it probably made him a better pitcher. No one compares Rivera to Williams — no one should ever be compared to Rivera — just illustrating the point that there are paths through the October trauma. It’s clear the Yanks believe Williams has his own country.
The Yankees would never again find the same kind of single-player offensive impact in their lineup after Soto split for Queens. There’s a reason, duh, that Soto got $765 million from the Mets. So pitching was their focus in the early winter.
Maybe that’s not as flashy as today’s gambling Ted Williams alongside Aaron Judge in the batting order.
But if the Yanks play this well and continue to work on offense, they might be able to go straight back to October. If Williams and his “Airbender” can flourish there, who knows what will happen.
