Yankees giving Mets a major discount on Devin Williams is just sickening

Well, now, the New York Mets certainly seem obsessed with adding former New York Yankees pitchers, but this time they aimed their sights a little higher than the likes of Anderson Severino and Nick Burdi, coming to terms with the much-maligned Devin Williams.

What they can expect from Williams in 2026 is an open question. From 2020-2024, Williams was one of the most dominant forces coming out of the bullpen in all of baseball. During that span, his 1.70 ERA ranked second only to the disgraced Emmanuel Clase. That's nearly a full run better than Edwin Diaz, who comes in at 2.60 and is seeking a five-year $100 million deal this winter.

Of course, we know that in 2025 we got anything but the dominance that Williams had become known for. As a Yankee, he melted down time and time again, en route to a 4.79 ERA. Still, Williams' strikeout numbers remained elite, his walk numbers were manageable, and his home run suppression was every bit as good as it had been in the past.

That all added up to a 2.68 FIP, indicating that perhaps there's a bounce-back on the horizon.

Devin Williams' contract with the Mets is a huge discount after stinking up the joint with the Yankees

There's an argument to be made that the Yankees would have been better off without Devin Williams. His acquisition cost the club Caleb Durbin, who finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. That led to third base being unsettled for the first half of the season, followed by the panic trade for Ryan McMahon at the deadline.

Durbin outperformed McMahon, whose $16 million salary in 2026 will be an obstacle in Brian Cashman's pursuits of upgrades this winter, and his acquisition came at the cost of promising young lefty Griffin Herring.

Meanwhile, there's a decent chance that if Williams had stayed in Milwaukee, he would have continued on his elite trajectory and been commanding his own $100 million deal this offseason instead of settling for the $51 million the Mets gave him.

Thanks to that discount, the Mets are now trying to double down and bring back Edwin Diaz, with Williams potentially working as his setup man.

If it weren't for the Yankees causing Williams' combustion, there'd be no way the Mets would be eyeing both standout closers to anchor their 'pen, but due to the erratic nature of his performance in the Bronx, they might have an elite bounce-back candidate on their hands.

It's worth noting that the Mets front office is led by David Stearns, who knows Williams intimately from his time in Milwaukee, so there's a very good chance that whatever was wrong with Williams in 2025 didn't have to do with pitching in New York, but rather pitching for the Yankees.

It's sickening to think about Williams reverting to his dominant form and the Mets landing Diaz as well, but if there's a silver lining, it's that relievers are the most volatile position in the sport, and if the Mets really commit $150 million to two of them, it could backfire in a spectacular way.