New York Yankees Offseason Acquisition Named Second-Best Reliever in MLB

The New York Yankees went out and made a trade to add one of the best relievers in baseball this offseason.

Feb 14, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Devin Williams (38) participates in spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees only made a handful of acquisitions this offseason, but each one stands to play a major role this year.

Among those players is star closer Devin Williams, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers back in December. They shipped off Nester Cortes, Caleb Durbin and some cash in order to lander Williams for at least this one season.

It was a lot to give up, but worth it to bring in one of the best relievers in all of baseball.

ESPN+ writer Buster Olney (subscription required) recently released a ranking of the top relief pitchers in MLB and Williams was named the second-best in baseball. He was just behind Cleveland Guardians star Emmanuel Clase, which is fantastic company to be with.

Baseball fans left last season with a sour taste in their mouths with "The Airbender" as he fell apart against the New York Mets. He blew a save in the Wild Card round after giving up three hits, four runs, walking a batter and allowing a homer to Pete Alonso.

Williams also missed much of the season dealing with a back injury, pitching just 21.1 innings in the regular season.

The fact that he is still considered the second-best reliever in baseball after all of that shows just how good he is when he is on.

His last two healthy campaigns saw him named an All-Star. He has a career ERA of 1.83 with a 1.023 WHIP and 14.3 K/9.

He also had a Rookie of the Year award and two top-20 MVP finishes, which is about as good as it can get for a closer.

There is no doubting Williams' skill and he should thrive with the Yankees.

He has already made his impact in New York, acting as one of the leading forces in the recent repeal of the facial hair rule.

The Yankees will be banking on him to continue his dominant pitching after Clay Holmes had an up-and-down year.

Holmes did make an All-Star team, but also led all MLB pitchers with 13 blown saves. It was seemingly all or nothing with him. No other pitcher had more than eight blown saves a year ago.

For reference, Williams has blown just 11 saves in his entire career.

New York will relish the fact that they will be able to rely on a elite closer again and can feel safe in tight situations. The next order of business will be reaching an extension with him.