Mets Roll Dice Singing Ex-Yankee Closer Williams with Edwin Diaz Return Up in the Air

New York Mets General Manager and President David Stearns has rolled the dice signing former Yankees closer Devin Williams to a three-year, $50 million contract (with plenty of deferments more on that in a moment) to supposedly be the Mets set-up man to Edwin Diaz, should Diaz and the Mets come to terms on a new contract. 

If Diaz and the Mets do not come to terms on a deal, then Williams, who bombed as Yankees closer last season would be the Mets closer to start the season. 

Talk about a nightmare! 

Williams struggled with the Yankees in 2025. His ERA was 4.79 at the end of the year, but when he was in the closer's role he struggled to end games, and lost the job to David Bednar by mid-season. 

The Mets are taking the bet that in his second season in New York, Williams will flourish and start to figure it out much the same way Diaz did his first couple years in New York. Remember Diaz had a 5.59 ERA in his first season in Flushing in 2019. He was booed and ridiculed that first year. 

By 2021 Diaz lowered his season ERA to 3.45, and by 2022 he became a cultural fan favorite. Not only was he dominant (32 saves and a 1.31 ERA in 2022), his walkout song "Narco" became a cultural phenomenon. You can't go anywhere without hearing it now. 

The Mets are rubbing stones hoping for several things to fall into place. Namely that Diaz returns to Queens in 2026. He opted out of the final two years of his deal and is seeking a new five year contract. He was making $20 million a year previously. 

If Diaz returns, the Mets could have a deadly 1-2 punch at the back end with Williams setting up Diaz in the eighth inning. 

If Diaz leaves, then all the attention will be on Williams who didn't handle pressure well at all in the Bronx. The Mets would then have to hope that Williams has that Diaz like turnaround. 

Financially the deal makes some sense. YES, $51 million over three years comes to $17 million a year, that is a lot for a set-up reliever. 

But when you calculate the deferments, there are about $5 million a year in deferments over the lifespan of the deal, and if you include taxes, that contract trims down to a little less than $15 million a year. So financially the Mets did a good job here. AND if Diaz does leave they get a closer for about $ 7 million less than what Diaz might command on the market. 

That's great and all, but the facts are the Mets need Diaz more than Diaz needs the Mets.  Like I mentioned, he became a cultural figure since 2022, and has remained one of the best closer's in the game. He was named the reliever of the year for 2025 after posting a 1.63 ERA over 66.1 innings of work. The Mets need him in the ninth inning. 

 

As for Williams, he historically is one of the best swing and miss pitchers in the game, but when he was the Yankees closer he just hit a wall.

He couldn't get anyone out especially early in the season where his ERA sat at 11.25 by the end of April. Williams became a pinata of sorts to Yankees fans who called into talk radio daily to beat him up. 

After losing the closer role in May, he got it back by June and was pitching relativity well in the ninth, then he hit the wall again in July, and after back-to-back blown saves against the Rays and Rangers was replaced by Bednar come early August.  

 

 After getting demoted to set-up, Williams improved, in fact he pitched to a 3.72 ERA in September, and was spotless in October. He even said after the Yankees LDS loss to the Blue Jays that he really started to get comfortable in his new skin out of the Yankees pen. 

When Williams was at his best with the Brewers he had a 1.83 ERA with Milwaukee over six years. Granted there isn't as much pressure pitching in Milwaukee as there is in New York. Perhaps that can change for Williams this year, the Mets are betting it does. 

It's a risk, but if Diaz returns it could be a very fruitful one. If not, well, then we'll have to hold on to our seats come April.