MLB insider has insane Yankees trade take involving Devin Williams

Has Devin Williams been great for the New York Yankees? No. Far from it. But he's certainly needed when you consider how shoddy the Bombers' bullpen is. Plus, how much better can they really do at this point? Most of their internal options are considerably worse than Williams.

That's why MLB insider Mark Feinsand's take that Williams could be a trade deadline "change of scenery" candidate is certifiably deranged — no matter how you look at it.

Let's say Williams continues to tread water and continue forth with his rollercoaster performances to date. Who in the world is going to take him in a trade? By late July, he'll still be owed somewhere around $3 million. Hard to believe any team will pay that for a reliever with a 6.08 ERA and 1.39 WHIP.

On the contrary, let's say Williams starts to turn it around a bit. Why would the Yankees and Brian Cashman, given their current disastrous situation, even think about parting with him? They traded Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin for Williams, and it's hard to believe they'd get anything close to that in return for a couple months of the right-hander.

But more importantly, the Yankees need any semblance of high-leverage capability in their bullpen. Jonathan Loaisiga, Brent Headrick, Ian Hamilton, Tim Hill and Mark Leiter Jr. all have either been bad or wildly inconsistent. There is no room to remove an All-Star option with the capability of logging saves from the equation here.

Yankees have no reason to make Devin Williams a 'change of scenery' trade candidate

What's even crazier is that this was written after Luke Weaver suffered his hamstring injury that will keep him out up to two months.

"He’s been better during the past month (2.45 ERA in 12 appearances), but Williams will be a free agent after the season and seems unlikely to return to the Yankees in 2026. With Luke Weaver firmly entrenched as the closer (at least once he returns from the IL in a month or so), New York could look to move Williams later in July to get a return for him rather than watching him walk as a free agent."

At no point were the Yankees ever concerned about Williams leaving in the offseason for nothing. And if they were, then they quite possibly made the dumbest trade of all time. At this point, they actually might have some negotiating leverage because of how inconsistent he has been. It's actually never been more realistic that the two sides work out a deal should his output start to normalize. Had he been performing to his peak abilities, there'd be an incredibly low chance of him returning, given the price he would command as one of the best closers in the game.

If the Yankees were to consider trading Williams, they would merely be rearranging the bullpen deck unnecessarily. The trade market isn't expected to be flush with relief help — and definitely not at the price point Cashman prefers.

Williams, barring a wildly unlikely scenario in which another contender opts to take a chance on Williams and give the Yankees exactly what they want, will be remaining in New York until the curtains close on 2025.