Yankees Off to a Great Start With Their Offseason Re-Load

I purposely waited a few days following the Max Fried signing because it sure seemed like there would be more news to come and sure enough, there was on Friday with the trade to acquire outstanding reliever Devin Williams from the Brewers. So, here’s my take on what has happened since Juan Soto took the money and ran. Lets get to it.

The moment Juan Soto agreed to sign with the Mets, as I told you the other day, I was relieved, but only if the Yankees were going to use the money they saved and put it toward improving a roster that - despite winning the AL pennant - needed a whole lot of help.

It still does, but this week was quite a start in the right direction.

First, let me share my thoughts on signing ace-level lefty starter Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract. That’s more than a half billion less than Soto, but it’s also an awful lot of money to commit to a pitcher who has had some health problems and who will be 31 years old when the 2025 season starts.

That said, this was a good move for the Yankees because not only did they bring in someone who they think can slot behind Gerrit Cole at the top of the rotation - something Carlos Rodon has thus far failed to do - but to me, he was the best pitcher available in the free agent class for the Yankees.

Corbin Burnes will likely get more money from someone, and he’s deserving because he’s been one of the best pitchers in MLB as well as one of the most durable with at least 28 starts in each of the last four years with the Brewers and Orioles. The 30-year-old is a stud who has pitched to a 2.45 ERA and 1.020 WHIP the last four years with a 4.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

But over those same four seasons, Fried has been nearly as good with a 2.87 ERA, a 1.093 WHIP and a 3.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The only difference is that he made 24 fewer starts because he was limited to 14 in 2023 due to an elbow/forearm injury, but in the other three he made 28, 30 and 29 starts. And, here’s the kicker: He’s a lefty which is always a plus at Yankee Stadium.

Signing free agent pitchers always comes with some agita because of the injury risk. Cole has been an exception for the Yankees, but even he was finally derailed when he missed the first half of 2024. Hitters are almost always the better use of huge money. Not always, but usually.

Still, the Yankees needed to infuse their rotation because now that they have lost Soto, there’s no way they can replace his offense and they need to be better at run prevention this season, and Fried should help in that regard.

➤ And the other thing signing Fried did was enable Brian Cashman to deal from a position of strength to make the other big move of the week: Trading for righty reliever Devin Williams.

Signing Fried made lefty Nestor Cortes expendable and look, we all loved Nasty Nestor, an easy guy to root for and a pitcher who gave the Yankees some surprisingly good seasons after he returned to the franchise in 2021. But he just turned 30, and side by side with Fried, there is no comparison based on sheer talent, so this swap is a big upgrade.

With Clay Holmes mercifully gone, the Yankees needed a closer. Luke Weaver filled that role nicely in September and October when he took over for Cardiac Clay, but he was not the long-term answer. He is much better suited to being a setup man, especially since he can give the Yankees multiple innings if need be in that role.

Williams is pretty much as good as it gets, a dominant righty who has battled some injury problems, but when healthy is virtually unhittable.

Now, the last time anyone saw Williams, it was a disastrous night for him and the Brewers. They were three outs away from winning their wild-card series against the Mets when Williams was called on in the ninth to protect a 2-0 lead and the unthinkable happened: He walked Francisco Lindor, struck out Mark Vientos, gave up a single to Brandon Nimmo, and then Pete Alonso hit what many have called the biggest home run in Mets history, a game-winning three-run blast.

Williams then gave up another run before he was finally taken out, and the Mets moved on to the divisional round while the NL Central champion Brewers packed up for the offseason, a stunning end to their season given how great Williams has been.

So, how great? Since his debut with Milwaukee in 2019, he has pitched to a 1.83 ERA and 1.023 WHIP and has averaged 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Since 2020, for relievers with a minimum of 200 innings pitched, Williams ranks second in MLB in ERA (1.70), first in batting average against (.145), first in slugging percentage against (.277), second in strikeout percentage (40.8%), fifth in home runs allowed per nine innings (0.53), and second in accumulated wins above replacement at 9.0.

It would be blasphemy to invoke Mariano Rivera’s name, but if Williams pitches the way he has in his career for the Yankees in 2025, he would be the best closer this team has had since Rivera retired a decade ago. Williams was the 2020 NL rookie of the year, he’s a two-time All-Star, and he’s scheduled to make essentially the same $8 million as Cortes, so it’s an even swap on the payroll and allows the Yankees further flexibility because they still have positions to fill.

In addition to sending Cortes to Milwaukee, also heading there is infielder Caleb Durbin. Hey, you gotta give to get and Durbin could end up being the key to this trade for the Brewers. Cortes and Williams are free agents after 2025, but Durbin - if he makes the Brewers roster - is a rookie with at least six years of club control.

I was hoping he could come into spring training and win the Yankees’ second base job now that Gleyber Torres is gone. At the very least, he could be someone the Yankees would eventually call up during the season, but I also knew that if they are serious about turning center field over to Jasson Dominguez, it was unlikely they’d start the year with two rookies in their starting lineup.

Durbin is the kind of player the Yankees needed, an on-base machine who walks more than he strikes out, is a great baserunner and a good fielder. He might have worked well in New York. Then again, he’s a prospect, so do we really know for sure whether his fine numbers in the minors and his great 2024 Arizona Fall League performance would have translated at the major league level?

➤ An under-the-radar move was made when the Yankees re-signed reliever Jonathan Loaisiga to a one-year deal. Again, I can’t fault them for this because when he’s healthy, Loaisiga can be very good, a power arm who can strike people out, something the Yankees sorely lacked in their bullpen last season after he got hurt. Again.

There’s the rub with Loaisiga, right? He’s hurt all the time and he has pitched in just 20 games since the end of 2022. If he can stay on the mound, he can be an upgrade over someone like Ian Hamilton, or Ron Marinaccio, or even Tommy Kahnle if the Yankees decide not to re-sign him.

➤ As I write this Friday night, the Yankees are still rumored to be in the mix for acquiring Cody Bellinger from the Cubs, someone who can play all three outfield positions plus first base, and play them well. While his hitting has slumped big-time since his 2019 NL MVP season with the Dodgers, he would be a lefty with power which would definitely play at Yankee Stadium.

Alex Bregman is still out there as a free agent and while we might all hate the guy who killed the Yankees when he played for the despicable and cheating Astros, let’s all agree to forget that if they sign him because he would be another big addition who would fill a position of need at third base. If they sign Bregman, then they can move Jazz Chisholm back to his natural position, second base.

We’ll see where it all goes in the days and weeks to come, but so far, there’s a whole lot to like about what the Yankees are doing to re-tool this roster, and we have Soto’s greed to thank for this opportunity to fix so many problems.