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The New York Mets are hoping to succeed where the crosstown Yankees failed in 2025.
As first reported by The Athletic's Will Sammon, the Mets and former Yankees reliever Devin Williams have agreed to a three-year, $45 million deal with a potential $6 million in bonuses. The deal has $15 million in deferred payments, according to multiple reports.
Williams was a major off-season acquisition for the Yankees, who got the two-time All-Star and former National League Rookie of the Year from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for starting pitcher Nestor Cortes.
But unlike Williams' dazzling performance in Milwaukee, where he posted an impressive 1.83 earned-run average over his first six Major League seasons, the St. Louis native struggled mightily in 2025.
Not only did Williams lose the closer's role in the Bronx, but his 4.79 earned-run average was easily the worst of his career.
Williams was one of the most electric pitchers in the National League, where he frustrated hitters with a circle changeup that behaved more like the long-forgotten screwball.
Williams lost the closer's role in the Bronx after being acquired by from Milwaukee
Along the way Williams was twice named the NL Reliever of the Year.
It remains unclear how Williams' arrival at Citi Field will impact the team's current closer, Edwin Diaz, whose future in Queens remains up in the air. He previously stated there is a 50-50 chance he returns to the Mets after opting out of his contract.
Diaz is coming off a strong 2025, in which he posted an impressive 1.63 ERA.
Williams may have become expendable in the Bronx after the Yankees acquired hard-throwing Camilo Doval in a deadline deal with the San Francisco Giants.
The Williams agreement marks the second time in as many years the Mets brought in a major star who'd been acquired by the Yankees in a trade less than a year earlier. Last offseason it was slugger Juan Soto who defected from the Bronx to Queens for a 15-year deal worth $765 million.
