The New York Yankees have acquired closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for pitcher Nasty Nester Cortez and infield prospect Caleb Durbin and $4.5mil. As always, lets look at how this move affects the Yankees and what this means for future moves.
I love this move for multiple reasons. The biggest reason being that Devin Williams is really, really good. He is one of the top relievers in all of baseball and a well established closer. Last year he went 4-1 in save opportunities and had a 1.25 ERA with 38 Ks in only 21.2 innings. The season before he was 36-4 in save opportunities with a 1.53 ERA with 87 Ks in 58.2 innings. That is pretty damn good. It is going to be great having such a dependable guy to close out games this season.
I also love this move because it takes Luke Weaver out of the closer role. Luke was great last season when he took over for Clay Holmes late in the year. However, Luke is much more effective when he can pitch multiple innings out of the pen and come in at crucial times. This will allow him to move back to that role in the earlier innings. Hell, if the Yanks want to, they can go back to the Mariano Rivera/John Wetland plan and have Weaver pitch the 7th and 8th and Williams pitch the nineth and make it a 6-inning game. Either way, Weaver is going to be more of a weapon out of the pen now that he doesn’t have to close anymore.
As much as I loved Nasty Nester Cortez, his services were no longer needed now that the Yankees have established a rotation that does not include him. With this move the Yankees are down to 6 starters, not counting Poteet. It’s usually a good idea to trade something you have a surplus of for something you need. The Yankees can, and hopefully will, still move one more starter to try to improve the lineup.
You have to give to get and this time the Yankees gave up Caleb Durbin. If you read this blog at all, you know how much I like Durbin. This is the second time they have traded away my favorite prospect after moving Agustin Ramirez in the Jazz trade. I was really hoping Caleb would get his chance in the Bronx this season. However, I am always OK with trading prospects for established star players. I love the fact that they moved him now for a player like Williams rather than holding onto him until his trade value disintegrates and then move him for very little or just release him like they have done with prospects in the past. I think Durbin is going to be a very good player for the Brewers and I wish him well.
In moving Durbin, the Yankees seemingly have decided to go with a veteran to fill in the empty infield position left by Gleyber Torres. Durbin was their best infield prospect, at least as far as anyone near being MLB ready goes. Does this mean they have a 3rd baseman or a second baseman they are about to acquire? Do they do this move without knowing who will fill that role? They probably can, knowing they have a lot of options at this point in the offseason. Were they just pumping and dumping Durbin with all the praise they heaped upon him this offseason? I really, really hope that DJ LeMahieu isn’t the plan at first base and they think that they only have 2 more spots to fill.
This was also surprising as I figured with them needing to fill 4 holes in the lineup, they would want to go inexpensive at at least one of those positions. Did they decide against that? Or is there another prospect they are looking to give the opportunity to? Will Ben Rice be manning first base? Do they think it’s time to give Spencer Jones his shot in the outfield? I don’t believe there are any other infield prospects that were knocking on the door on the big leagues. It’s going to be interesting to see where they go form here.
Furball's Sports Page 