Brewers' trade win over Yankees just got much sweeter after Devin Williams decision

Former Milwaukee Brewers closer, Devin Williams, is staying in New York, but not with the team that Matt Arnold and company traded him to last offseason. As initially reported by Will Sammon of The Athletic, Williams has agreed to a three-year contract with the New York Mets, the last team he pitched against in a Brewers uniform.

Many expected Williams to sign a one-year, prove-it deal, knowing that one season resembling the ones he put together in Milwaukee would net him a huge free agent contract a year from now. However, rather than accept a deal that would return him to the free agent market next offseason or one that keeps him away from it until the final years of his playing career, Williams took a medium-length, three-year deal that guarantees him $51 million.

It's a double-whammy for Brewers fans; not only is their former closer joining the team that he surrendered a crushing ninth-inning home run to in the postseason during his final year in Milwaukee, but he's doing so after being signed by David Stearns, the Brewers’ former President of Baseball Operations. Williams and Stearns' reunion in New York is enough to make any Brewers fan uncomfortable, but at least the Mets’ prying away of Williams from their cross-town rivals puts a bow on yet another successful trade from Matt Arnold and the Brewers' front office.

Brewers officially win Devin Williams trade after Yankees lose closer to cross-town rivals

Regardless of where Williams signed this offseason, the Brewers only traded one year of his services when they acquired Caleb Durbin and Nestor Cortes for him last December. Therefore, Milwaukee's win of the trade was solidified the second Williams' lackluster 2025 campaign came to an end while Durbin was named a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

However, had Williams re-signed with the Yankees this offseason and turned into the second-coming of Mariano Rivera, many fans would be quick to forget that the Brewers traded just one season of Williams. Instead, blame would be placed on Milwaukee for connecting Williams and the Yankees in the first place, and the lopsided nature of the trade would feel less so.

Thankfully, looking at the bright side of Williams joining the bullpen of an NL contender, Brewers fans and their team's front office don't have to worry about that reality as Williams' time in pinstripes has officially come to an end. After posting the worst season of his career in New York this past year, one that saw his ERA jump from a dazzling 1.25 mark in 2024 to a shocking 4.79 in 2025, it's fair to say that the Brewers traded Williams at the perfect time, and now have the pleasure of watching Durbin impact their big league squad for the next six seasons.

Therefore, regardless of how Williams performs for the Mets and regardless of the fact that Nestor Cortes made just two starts in a Brewers uniform, Arnold and his team unequivocally won the Devin Williams trade last offseason, and his decision to leave the Yankees for the Mets makes the win even sweeter. Sure, it's going to be weird to see Williams in a Mets uniform just two seasons after he was watching their orange and blue jerseys celebrate on his home field, but at least Brewers fans can take pride in the fact that they were the winners of the trade that initially sent him out of Milwaukee.