It felt like the world was ending when Juan Soto decided to leave the New York Yankees and sign with the New York Mets. It is extremely hard to fault that front office that put together a 16 year $760 million offer to retain his services. Losing Soto is a massive blow, as his bat was a huge boost and something that the Yankees needed. Instead of sulking, the Yankees pivoted and got aggressive.

If you can allocate $760 million to ONE player, you can go about and get multiple talents. The Yankees went out and signed one of the more coveted pitchers on the market with Max Fried. Slotting in behind ace Gerrit Cole is a massive boost to their staff. But that’s not all. The Yankees pulled off a massive trade to address their bullpen.

Yankees Taking Care of Business

While there was a need to address the rotation and boost it, the Yankees need to retool their bullpen. They just lost Clay Holmes (Mets) in free agency, which is a loss to their back end of the bullpen. Sure the 13 blown saves was a good reason he lost the closing role, but he also had 30 saves. Replacing Holmes was a need and they managed to do just that.

Per Jeff Passan, the Yankees are acquiring Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers for second baseman Caleb Durbin and pitcher Nestor Cortes. The Yankees dealt from a position of strength, as Cortes fell out of favor with the addition of Fried.

For the Yankees, they get one of the most elite arms in baseball from the reliever position and something they’ve got to be thrilled with.

Yankees Land an Elite Arm

Another’s man’s trash another man’s treasure. With the Brewers not wanting to pick up Williams’ option, a trade seemed inevitable. The Yankees got an elite arm and a player that’s been dominant inside this decade. I know the last outing Williams had as a Brewer did not go so well, but that’s not the pitcher he has always been.

From 2020-2024, Williams has the second best ERA (1.70) behind Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. Williams also has the lowest batting average against (1.44), second highest K/9 (14.64), and second highest K% (40.8%). Williams also locked down 68 saves in this time span. He was an elite arm and was a stable presence in the Brewers bullpen.

Truly elite talents do not grow on trees and do not come around often. For the Yankees to land him and have him help anchor the back of the bullpen is absolutely huge for them. During the 2024 season, the Yankees bullpen was one of the betters ones in the sport (6th best ERA) and now they have a new dynamic duo to help lock down games.

The New Sheriffs in the Bronx

When they took the closer role away from Holmes, it was shocking. However, the Yankees have an absolute DAWG in Luke Weaver that emerged onto the scene and thrived in the role. Weaver has a calming demeanor about himself while on the mound, but thrives in the closer role. Pairing Williams with Weaver gives the Yankees a very strong backend of the bullpen.

While Williams has been an elite reliever, Weaver turned himself into a strong one when taking over the role. To go from journeyman to closer is wonderful for Weaver.

Once he got the closer role, Weaver finished the season with a 2.89 ERA (lowest of his career), a .173 batting average against and a 0.93 WHIP. Also, he finished with the highest K/9 (11.04)

Whether Weaver closes games still or not is a conversation for a different day. All we know is that the Yankees got better in the bullpen.

Yankees Still Going for It

Expecting the Yankees to roll over and quit after losing Soto was not realistic. Instead, they’ve taken that same aggressive approach for Soto and channeled it into their pitching. The Yankees got better all around the pitching staff and are in better competitive position in 2025. The Yankees goal to win the World Series will never stop and this gets them a step closer to doing so. They do need more bats, so there’s still work to be done, but this is A+ work by the Yankees front office.