Yankees' newest addition comes with brutal Devin Williams reminder nobody asked for

Over two years ago, the New York Yankees took Jorbit Vivas off the Dodgers' hands in order to accommodate a roster spot for Shohei Ohtani's arrival. Very generous of them. Vivas didn't work out - and, on the way out when it had become abundantly clear he wouldn't be heading north with the team, the Yankees attached a Devin Williams reminder to his exit. No notes, very cool!

With Vivas firmly off the roster bubble and out of options — quick quiz, did anyone remember that before the deal went down? — the Yankees found a gracious trade partner in the Washington Nationals.

Not only were they able to work out a deal, but they obtained Washington's 11th-ranked pitching prospect, a top-30 name in Sean Paul Liñan, who'd reached Triple-A as a young reliever the year before and comes from the wealthy Dodgers system.

What could be bad about tha -- oh.

Yankees' latest trade addition is even more Jekyll and Hyde than Devin Williams was

If you struggled to enjoy Devin Williams, you're not alone. But you can get help. There are people you can call. We're all in this together.

If that describes you, though — knowing the changeup was coming, watching the first fastball miss tremendously, guessing correctly along with the batter as he bashed one — then Sean Paul Liñan definitely won't be your speed.

According to MLB Pipeline, Liñan has the changeup down. Unfortunately, that's about all he's got.

"Liñan has a legitimate claim for the best changeup in Minor League Baseball. The 6-foot right-hander throws the 79-82 mph offering like a screwball with significant drop and armside run, and oddly, it’s also his highest-spin pitch. Batters whiffed on 60 percent of their swings against the cambio that earns Devin Williams comps from virtually all that witness it. But how far can Liñan can go on that one pitch alone? He throws a 90-93 mph four-seamer and sinker with ordinary movement that got crushed in ’25."

The Yankees have added velocity plenty of times in the recent past — just look at Cam Schlittler, who took it and ran with it. If Liñan has any chance of success, it's going to come after an extensive overhaul that fuels his other offerings to make the changeup sing.

Of course ... if everything works out ... then the Yankees will have a Frankenstein's Monster on their hands who looks a lot like Devin Williams. Yup. Even the best-case scenario is kind of a shivery nightmare.