Devin Williams is staying in New York, just not with the Yankees after he reached a three-year, $51 million deal to join the Mets on Monday. It wasn't a smooth ride for the right-handed reliever in his lone season in the Bronx, with an up-and-down performance that sparked boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd when he wasn't pitching well.
Williams posted a message to Yankees fans on Instagram on Thursday, in which he appeared to be referencing how he viewed their response to his 2025 campaign and to his signing with the crosstown Mets. The post read:
"For a bunch of people that didn’t want me back on your team, y'all sure are mad in the DM’s."
Williams got off to a rough start in Yankees pinstripes, posting a 10.03 ERA through his first 14 appearances last season. He seemed to have righted the ship after that, pitching to a 0.93 ERA in June, much more reminiscent of the dominance he had displayed during his career prior to being traded to New York by the Brewers.
But things turned south for Williams again, and from July through his first outing in September, his ERA was 6.75. He did recover to finish the regular season with nine consecutive scoreless appearances before adding four more in the postseason.
While it was a trying year for Williams overall, his underlying metrics indicate that he may have encountered some bad luck and actually pitched better than what the surface numbers showed. His expected ERA, according to Statcast, was 3.09, nearly two runs better than his actual ERA of 4.79. And his FIP was 2.68.
Williams' deal with the Mets ensures that they will have a proven closer at the back end of the bullpen in 2026, though the club is still reportedly interested in re-signing closer Edwin Díaz.