New York Mets Sign Devin Williams Reaction

New York Mets Sign Devin Williams Reaction

Mets just signed Devin Williams to a three-year $50 million contract. The first thing that comes to everybody’s mind is what does this mean for Edwin Diaz? We will tell you everything along with our opinions, thoughts about the Devin Williams signing. Before we do, make sure you are subscribed to the Metsup podcast. Also, shout out all the members. We got a live stream coming to you guys soon. Don’t worry, we got a live stream coming. I promise you it’s coming soon. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. And also check out the merch link in description if you want to get something for Christmas. Devin Williams James signed with the Mets three years 50. What are you thinking? Instant reaction. In terms of the player, I think I definitely like the player more than maybe what his public perception is right now. The RA was high as a Yankee. It was kind of a disaster season. He allowed an earn run. I have it here. I wrote it down here. Allowed run in five of his first 14 appearances with the Yankees last year. I think that put him kind of on a downward slope from the beginning, but still a really good pitcher. Still striking guys out. Then the years and the money caught me very off guard here. Yeah, the years were shocking. I was truly surprised that Devin Williams one took a three-year deal, but then when you see the money, you’re like, “Oh, okay. I mean, I guess he kind of had to.” Like Devin Williams coming off the season that he had, while I think under the hood looked a lot better than what the RA numbers, like you said, were three years 50 million. You can’t say no to that if you’re Deon Williams. No matter who’s coming for you, he would have played for the Colorado Rockies at three for 50. Definitely not. And that’s what does make me feel weird about this trade, despite again liking the players. Yeah. Well, my bad. We want to talk more about the player as we get through here, but the contract seems like a big commitment to a guy that at at worst is not a good closer and at best, you know, there’s going to be some erraticness in in production just based on the the player archetype here. I mean, shout out Diana, the queen of Mets Twitter. She put out a funny tweet that I bookmarked already. She was like, “Deon Williams in a David Sterns run organization 1.89 RA. David Sterns and non-David Deon Williams and nonDavid Sterns run organization 3.48.” the let’s let’s address real quick the Edwin Diaz stuff. Everyone around the league, all the reporters, all the people that are in the know are saying this has no impact, does not change anything with the Mets still being very interested in Edwin Diaz. And I think we have to say that quickly because I think the immediate reaction that anybody and I will say it makes sense would have is what does this mean for Edwin Diaz? But I like the idea that if we don’t get Edwin, which of course is a possibility, I still don’t think we’ll miss out on him. We do still have what was a dynamite closer his entire career except for when he was with the Yankees. Yes, exactly. But I do feel better about Devin Williams as a two with Edund as the one. Oh yeah. No, I I I I can’t tell you I’ll be happy going Edwin Diaz to Devin Williams like that. It’s it’s very much of what’s been seems like all the Davis Cerns moves so far this off seasonason where it’s like well if this is the only move I don’t feel great. I want to see what happens next because if Devin Williams is our closer going into opening day, I’m I’m not gonna lie to you guys and say I feel good about it. Like while I think the under the hood stuff is great and he still strikes out a ton of guys and it seems like last year was just a weird season with the Yankees and I’m going to try and find the Petriel stat about how when Devin Williams left the game basically the Yankees relievers couldn’t stop anybody from scoring and he killed all the inherited runners when he came into the game. But I I won’t feel good about it if Devin Williams is closer on uh April 1st. No, there’s also last year Devin Williams went from the Brewers to the Yankees. The Brewers always the best infield defense in baseball, one of the best. The Yankees usually either in the middle or closer to the bottom. But you also hope that we have the infield defense to help him next year. It’s just it was such a weird season for him. The way it started, it did make it look so ugly at the end. But I think he’s he’s good. Like the strikeout rate was 35%. That’s good. Like the whiff rate was still up at the league best. That’s good. The ground ball rate was still good. The quality of contact against him was still pretty good. Not as good, but still quite good. Like it seems like no matter what there is a there’s a better floor in Deon Williams than the guy that we saw last year. I got the numbers. So Williams inherited six runners when he entered the game this season. He allowed zero to score. I like hearing that. I think that’s a good stat. Williams left 10 runners on when departing. The next relievers allowed seven of them to score. So 70% of the time when he left the game, the Yankees relievers allowed him to score. 100% of the time when he came into the game with inherited runners, none of them scored. Okay, that’s great. So again, It was a big deal. But I just It is weird. This is now only one of like 12 three-year reliever contracts in baseball. And a handful of those were signed to guys who were pre- arbitration. Like in terms of AAV, I know the deferrals will kick in to bring this down from 15 million, probably a little bit lower, but Josh Ather makes 19 a year. Tanner Scott 18, I saw Glacia 16. It’d be Deon Williams right after that. Yeah. Uh the deferrals, it’s empty to add the Edward Diaz contract on top of this. What I’m saying is that it would still I know it’s being reported like that. I would still be surprised if you put this much money into the back of a bullpen. Yes and no. And the reason I say this is because we know that one of the issues right now was for the Mets. And I’m I’m going to bring up the 20145 Kansas City Royals cuz I love doing it. That’s like that’s modern baseball. Like love it. Chef’s kiss where it’s like our starters are going to be at their best if we can get them to go six innings and then if we can lock down seven, eight, and nine, which is a lot to say. A lot to say. That’s a lot to say, but it works. It has worked in the past. And I think with the options that are available realistically pitching wise for the Mets on the starting rotation market, both free agency and trade-wise, I think this is the plan. I really do. I think that they’re still going to get Edwin Diaz, and they’re going to be like, eighth and ninth inning, interchangeable. Those guys can pitch at either moment. It’s going to be shut down, and then we just kind of got to get to the seventh. If we can get to the seventh, we’re feeling good. Obviously, that’s easier said than done, but over a season, like you still love the idea that the final six outs of the game are pretty locked up. I came on here so ready to be so excited about the signing and like kind of wax poetic poetic and pontificate about all the reasons that Deon Williams left better luck next year. But seeing that deal and seeing the where that is relative to the rest relievers in baseball, does that not But the deferrals the deferrals are big though. Okay, so deferrals still bring it down to 12 million against the luxury tax a year maybe. Best case scenario. I don’t know exactly how those are going to work. Yeah, I don’t know how those numbers work. But like in terms of AAV, I’m just we’re just going to talk about AAV because we can’t talk about luxury tax right now. Taking 15 million off over those three years because of the deferrals, that’s how much it’s going to be. 5 million a year. That puts him right around $10 million a year. Like that’s what less than Tanner Scott got. It is less than better than Tanner Scott. That’s like less than Kirby’s got. It’s scary when you look at, you know, Robert Stevenson, too. Also, the fact that Robert Stevenson also never had the same success Deon Williams had either. That’s I think that’s it’s it’s hard when you see Devin Williams really stink it up like he did with the Yankees. Like there’s no doubt that having not going to spin you that a four RA was ever good for him by any means, but he had the sustained success and was dominant before that. Like disgustingly dominant. Similar way where Edwin Diaz when he came to the Mets had the one horrendous season and then has been quite literally the best reliever in baseball since. I am only talking about it in the context of I’m I’m still assuming my Edmond Diaz is not back. Honestly, that’s how I feel. I’m taking he’s back. That’s how I feel after is if if I were to tell you a world maybe you can get in my head space here. You know Edwin Diaz is not back. What do you think of this? Don’t love it. That’s I kind of said that at the beginning is I said that’s been Sterns’s off seasonason is he’s made moves where I’m like well there’s got to be more to this, right? Like this this can’t be the move just like Simeon trade couldn’t be the move. Like you’re you’re worse off trading Simeon for NMO if that’s the only thing that you do. Simeon does not make this team better than Brandon Nmo does. If you go from Edwin Diaz to Devin Williams, the Mets are a worse team. I I just I want to be more excited about this. I’m sad I’m not letting myself get more excited about this. I Well, listen, I’m not excited. I’m not pretending like I’m excited. Oh, you seem like you’re excited. I think it’s just a different vibe right now of where we’re at in the night where, you know, I might I just might have a little more energy. Maybe that, but man, like if he’s the closer, I just you pay them kind of closerish money. This is the closest thing to closer money that especially with that third year. Maybe because Uncle Stevie got that casino today. Maybe he’s like, “We got all it big brain.” Uncle Steve goes, “I’m gonna own a casino next to City Field, all the hotels, the casino property. I’m going to be making such boatloads of money.” And we saw the reports that came out about his net worth now being close to $30 billion, which is double basically where it was when he bought the Mets, which is absolutely insane because the Mets still haven’t done and his net worth has doubled in terms of billions. Maybe he was just like, “Go get Devin Williams. It’s our eighth inning guy. We’re going to pay Edwin Diaz, too.” Maybe he goes nuclear and he pulls kind of a dodger and said, “We want our guys. We’re just going to pay them. We’re going to pay the guys that we want here.” How many years do you think Edwin Diaz going to get in his contract now? Five. You think he’s going to get five? Five for He the record was what? Five for 100, right? That’s what he originally signed and that was the record. Five for like 102. Okay. So, he’ll probably he’ll probably go five for 103. Like just whatever whatever is the minimum to break it. I think that’s what’s going to happen. My my brain went there too when this happened. If like Deon Williams getting three like Edwin has to get five and Ryan Ellsw just got two like I mean I think also with an opt out. The surprising thing about the Deon Williams is the no opt out because there is a world where like you’re saying like it’s definitely possible here. Like Deon Williams reverts to being an easy top five closer in baseball this you would be 100% very possible. Probably better than 50% chance of that happening. Now you’re locking yourself into everything I’m saying against. Now you’re locking yourself into like 8 million lower AV than you actually could get if you got right back on the market. That’s what makes this very weird to me. It feels like both teams made a really honest concession. Like usually deals like this teams seem to avoid more risk and like just throw the opt out but give you more money. This is kind of like this is a huge bet on Deon Williams this year. Huge bet. Massive bet Deon Williams and kind of a lack of a lack of bet at Deon Williams on itself a little bit. KP the website is chubbieshorts.com. The brand is Chubbies, but it’s not just shorts. Yeah, don’t be fooled by the website’s name. This is a one-stop shop for all things that I love. Swimming trunks, golf polos, and even flannels. It fits me perfectly. One-stop shop is the place to go. Yes, sir. KP, I’ve been wearing their flannel over shirt. It’s like my favorite flannel and your softest sweater. Having a little baby. It’s the best of both worlds. Classic flannel look with the warmth of a fleece. And we know it’s that time of year to pull that off. The Chubbies flannel over shirt. It feels like your favorite flannel but with the warmth of a cozy sweater. And for a limited time, Chubbies is giving our listeners 20% off your purchase at Chubbies with the promo code fall at checkout. But if it’s Black Friday, skip the code. Take advantage of an even bigger markdown during their exclusive Black Friday sale. Just head to chubbieshorts.com and make sure to support the show by telling them that Foul Territory sent you. This is also like a big plant your flag moment for David Sterns possibly as well. Kind of. Yeah, this is one that if the two ways this could go could say a lot about what happens the next few years maybe with just the public perception of David Sterns wherever it is right now. I mean we’ve been two of the biggest Sterns guys and this is the first time we’ve truthfully been like what’s going on here. It’s a funny ad though cuz again like before coming on just seeing an instant reaction see the update I’m like yes happy excited can’t wait to talk about Deon Williams then seeing the money it totally shifted my entire perspective on the whole thing. I mean couldn’t Deon Williams is in the money like be like I need the three years cuz it takes you through the lockout too like you just don’t want to think about it and then you have a clean year after the lockout maybe I guess have we already get to the lockout though we can’t I I think these guys are thinking all the finalers are thinking about that and front officers too we’re all seeing like a bit reversal on that because we’ve seen more guys take the qualifying offer than years past and possibly Deon Williams taking away some AAV that gives himself some extra years. This also seemed to me like the Luis Everino deal of I don’t want to move out of New York but I don’t have an offer out there I want good enough yet which is why I was like nice one year two-year opt out no risk let’s have some fun it’s this is strange this is not a risk averse move no this is this is risk move this is another guy that Sterns taken back from his Milwaukee days as well the first one did not work out well it seemed weird because that’s the way Deon Williams left Milwaukee I know David Sterns wasn’t there at the time it was kind of like bye-bye see you later let the door hit you on the way We could figure out a new version of you. I mean, there’s also going to be that narrative. People are going to be like, “He can’t pitch in New York. We kept him in New York.” Again, I don’t think fair. He is a bit of a head case. Deon Williams is he he barked at some umpires, but he also he got that from his manager last year. That was kind of part of the Yankee way. I’ I’ve heard things he’s a head case off the field. So, for sure he might he might be. Definitely could be. I guess Sterns knows him kind of well. So, that’s definitely knows him better than us. That’s a photo of confidence right there. The other big thing with Devon Williams that was very weird is that just for some reason last year he gave up a lot more singles on pitches outside the strike zone. Strange anomaly that happened, hitters swung on pitches outside the strike zone a good bit more than they did the previous year. The whiff rate in those went down. The batting average went up, but the slugging percentage, the quality of contact and those didn’t go up. So that’s kind of something that we were alluding to before. Just hitter throwing the bat out there trying to get it through the Yankee infield. It’s just he I I can’t get over how weird of a season it was and I can’t get over the fact that we guaranteed in three seasons. Yeah, maybe it just maybe it doesn’t matter that much. Maybe this is maybe this is us being a little PTSD too of like old Mets where it’s like three years like we’re we’re never gonna sign another reliever, but maybe it doesn’t matter. I mean, you you see how important these guys can be in the back end of the games. Maybe Edwin Diaz is asking for crazy. Maybe he wants 120 million. Like, we don’t we don’t know where he’s actually going with all this. Maybe this is just the insurance if for some reason Edwin Diaz gets absolutely insane in his asking price. I guess that’s true. We So, we just became the third team in baseball to have two relievers in our bullpen, even without Edwin Diaz, signed to at least two two each of them signed a $10 million AAV contract. Try and name the other teams. Dodgers. Dodgers are one of them. And again, one of these teams shows up here in the contracts, but one of the guys originally was signed as a starting pitcher, so I’m not counting him in this. Okay, so Dodgers, how many teams are there? There’s one more. Is it going to be the Boston Red Sox? They were the team that was the the technicality because they have Hicks, but I’m not counting Hams really for these. Fair. What? And then So, there’s still one more team. One more team. Atlanta Braves. No. Toronto Blue Jays? No. Is it Is it the Orioles? It’s the Baltimore Orioles. Just Just got them both. Ryan Helysey and Andrew Kitridge. So, it’s a it’s this is this is strange. If we have three of them, we’ll be the only team to have that. We’re We’re the only team that’s worth got an owner who’s got 30 billion dollars. Hopefully that’s the case. Maybe just spend just absolutely spend out of our assets. Maybe this if this is the sign for that, that’s great. If this is going to be the only big bullpen acquisition, I’ll feel a little bit uneasy despite liking Deon Williams. Okay, now to just really give you some crazy hypotheticals here. Edwin Diaz 100 million for five, right? We’re just going to give that a round number just so for easy math. Ed Devin Williams 50 million for the three. Theoretically 50 million more dollars to play with. Can you put those 50 million more dollars now towards Pete Allonzo, Cody Bellinger? Do you feel better if that money saved by going to Williams goes towards getting better players overall or maybe even a starting pitcher? Possibly. That’s also the opposite of what you’re saying. We’re saying this deal should I just I just want to know. This deal should mean that money’s limitless. But I I’m going to throw you would you rather right back cuz it just hit me in the head. So you’re not going to answer mine. You’re just going to throw it right back. I think I think yes, but I also still assume those guys aren’t affected. I think the most direct correlation here has to be Edwin. So I’ll give you one for the for five for 100. pretends even the exact same contract. Or maybe we’ll give a five for 100 versus a five for 120. Would you rather Edwin or Kobe Bellinger? Oh wow. Ed, now knowing that Deon Williams is on the team. Yes, Bellinger a little bit more expensive. Same length of a deal for two kind of interesting risk differently risk players. God, I love Edwin. Give me Edwin. Bring it back. Bring back the boys. I thought that too, but is that stupid? Are we stupid for thinking that? Are we too attached? Are we too attached to Edwin Diaz for this conversation right now? Pro probably. It’s probably not really a fair conversation, but also at the same time, we know we we know how important it is to just lock down the last three outs of the game or the last four sometimes with how Edwin’s been. And when you look around the league, it’s almost impossible to find someone that’s had the consistency that Edwin Diaz has had since the Juice Ball era. Like besides blowing out his knee in the World Baseball Classic, he’s basically been unhitable since what, 2021? Yeah, definitely. But even when all those things were happening, there was never actually I mean again you actually had a lot of doubt about it but everything you looked at for Edund Diaz looked like it was totally fine. Like everything velocity, everything movement wise, everything swing and miss. And that is the same thing that just happened with Deon Williams. Deon Williams velocity did go down, but also during 2024 just went up for some reason. He was always like a 94 95 guy. Then he went to 96 and this year went back to 94. So that’s also in line with where he was when he was elite. Like it’s this is kind of one of those things where if we saw another team make a deal, we’d be like, “Wow, what a fun risk to take.” Good for them. Of course. And now we’re making a steal. We’re like, “Oh, we’re taking the risk.” Kind of like the Dylan C’s pitcher contract. Le pitcher contract. It’s one of those where uh again, I’ll say it one more time. Got to see what the next move is for David Sterns. Like again, this this can’t be the only one because then I don’t like it. If it is the only one, if this is in addition to Edwin Diaz or in addition to maybe now we’re more involved in some other players that we haven’t even been thinking about that could be good. Okay, great. But if Devin Williams is the the closer and that’s kind of like that’s our best arm in the bullpen going into the 2026 season. Don’t don’t love it. Don’t love it. No, do not do not love it that much. That being said, and David Sterns we trust. I trust him. I trust him. He’s going to get the job done. And still like Deon Williams. Like Deon Williams. Yeah, like Deon Williams. Love Deon Williams. like the contract scare. It’s just it’s scary. It’s scary when you you think the guy that was never going to leave is going to possibly leave. When you push some chips into the table like this, it’s like, “All right, now you you got to start paying attention.” Like, you tighten up a little bit. This is like This is like uh for gamblers out there, like playing blackjack, you get the you get the split and then it gives you another eight on top of your eight. You have to split. Like, this is why we gamble. This is why we play the game. You don’t play to just have to stick around the zero. You try and make a big move here. It’s kind of also like Texas Holdem. If you’re bluffing and you put a big bet, everyone folds, one person stays in and they like hit you back. You’re like, “All right, let’s let’s play ball a little over here. Let’s play some ball.” This is a play This is a This is a playball move. This is a play ball move. We’d love to know what you guys have to think about it down in the comments section below. Don’t forget to subscribe to me, not only just on YouTube, but also on the audio side. Google audio Google audio. No, we’re not promoting them first. Apple podcast, Spotify, Google. If you listen on there, wherever you listen to your podcast, subscribe to us, download, leave us a rating, leave us a review. We do appreciate. You can follow James on social media at James. I’m DraftK Neck Mark with the C. Thank you guys for listening and watching. We will all catch you later this week. James said it. It’s going to be a crazy week and it’s already off to a ridiculous start. Let’s go mess baby.

Mets just signed Devin Williams to a 3 year $50m contract with no opt outs. Does this mean Edwin Diaz is gone?

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