The Yankees acquire RP Devin Williams from Brewers for Nestor Cortes Jr. and Caleb Durbin

The New York Yankees have acquired reliever Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers, it was announced Friday. Pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr., infield prospect Caleb Durbin and some money are going to Milwaukee.

Williams, 30, made 14 saves in 22 appearances with the Brewers last season. He missed the first three months of the season due to a stress fracture in his back. After his return, Williams allowed just three earned runs over 21 2/3 innings in the regular season.

In the postseason, Williams appeared twice in Milwaukee’s series against the New York Mets. It was Williams who gave up Pete Alonso’s ninth-inning home run in Game 3, sparking the Mets’ decisive surge in the series.

The Brewers declined Williams’ $10.5 million option for the 2025 season and he will enter his final arbitration season in 2025.

Williams, a two-time NL All-Star and 2020 NL Rookie of the Year, spent all six of his MLB seasons with the Brewers and filled the role of closer, recording 68 saves in 235 2/3 innings and posting a 1 rating. 83 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.

The addition of Williams, as well as the return of Jonathan Loáisiga, who is undergoing Tommy John surgery, will bolster the Yankees’ bullpen. The question remains whether manager Aaron Boone will use Williams or Luke Weaver as the team’s closer in 2025.

Clay Holmes, who was the Yankees’ closer until he lost the job to Weaver, signed with the New York Mets last week.

Cortes has emerged as a reliable starter since seeing an increased workload in 2021. He made 84 starts for the Yankees over the last four seasons (173 1/3 innings in 2024), although with the addition of Max Fried to the Yankees it was clear that someone in the rotation needed to be moved.

For New York, this is a great follow-up to the massive signing of Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract. The Yankees bolstered their rotation with Fried, one of the league’s best southpaws, and now bolster their bullpen with Williams, one of the best closers in baseball. While there is still much work to be done to address the position player group, the Yankees correctly recognized that it would be difficult – if not impossible – to replace Soto’s impact on the offense given the options available and Soto’s unique skill set. Instead, they have so far sought top-tier talent on the mound in hopes of building an elite pitching staff that can serve as the backbone of the team’s success.

And Milwaukee has played this tactic before, trading away star closer Josh Hader before his contract expires and dealing top player Corbin Burnes, who still has one year left on his contract. While Williams was injured in 2024, the Brewers have proven they can field viable, high-leverage relievers as much as any organization in baseball, and there are several candidates to emerge as Milwaukee’s next great closer in 2025 could. Giant flamethrower Trevor Megill, who quietly racked up 21 saves in 2024, is the heir apparent as things stand, even if he has to prove he can keep up for an entire season. His 48 appearances and 46 1/3 innings in 2024 both marked career highs at the big league level.

Had Milwaukee been strictly focused on shedding Williams’ salary, this deal likely would have been targeted at prospects and/or players pre-arbitration. But MLB Trade Rumors projected that both Williams and Cortes would make about $7.7 million in the final year of arbitration, meaning Milwaukee’s payroll won’t change dramatically with this move. (The Yankees are reportedly sending $2 million to Milwaukee as part of the trade.) Acquiring Cortes signals the Brewers’ intent to reallocate resources to their thin rotation and serves as a reminder that despite the deal, they are still In win-now mode you are getting closer to your celebrated. With free agency looming next winter, Cortes may only be a short-term solution, but for a team in dire need of quality innings in bulk, the left-hander could prove extremely valuable as coach Pat Murphy’s squad looks to expand theirs Defend NL Central crown. Read more. — Schustermann