Coming off a season where they made a surprise push towards contention and ultimately finished just four games out of a playoff spot with a 79-83 record, the Marlins look poised to try and take a step forward towards more serious contention this winter. That could mean looking to add, and reporting has already indicated that Miami will be active in the bullpen and position player markets as they seek upgrades. When it comes to the search for relief help, Kevin Barral of Fish On First reports that one name that Miami plans to target is two-time All-Star Devin Williams.
Williams, 31, has been one of the most successful relievers in the game ever since he won the NL Rookie of the Year award with the Brewers back in 2020. In parts of six seasons with Milwaukee, Williams made a case for himself as baseball’s best reliever with a 1.83 ERA and a 39.4% strikeout rate in 235 2/3 innings of work. He converted 87.2% of his save opportunities and his 2.66 SIERA with Milwaukee was the fourth-best figure in baseball among relievers with at least 200 innings of work between 2019 and 2024, trailing only Liam Hendriks, Edwin Diaz, and Josh Hader.
Ahead of his final season of team control, the Brewers made the decision last offseason to deal Williams to the Yankees in exchange for southpaw Nestor Cortes Jr. and infielder Caleb Durbin. Williams’s year in the Bronx did not go how anyone was expecting it to, however, as he struggled significantly for the first time in his career. Williams posted a lackluster 4.79 ERA in 62 innings for the Yankees. While the right-hander was in line to potentially land one of the largest free agent deals for a reliever in history this time last year, his tough stint in New York has significantly changed the expectations surrounding Williams’s expected contract.
That drop in market value for Williams could create an opportunity for the Marlins, who have never been among the league’s biggest spenders and surely view the situation as an opportunity to potentially bring in an elite reliever on a relative bargain. Despite his poor results with the Yankees, Williams posted strong peripherals that should offer Miami some confidence in investing in the right-hander. Among qualified relievers this year, Williams’s 2.68 FIP ranks 18th, his 2.67 SIERA ranks 15th, and his 34.7% strikeout rate was still the 8th-best figure in baseball.
All of those peripherals indicate Williams still has the ability of a star closer, and after a season where the Marlins spread save opportunities between nine different players they should certainly be able to offer Williams the ninth inning. That could make Miami a more attractive destination than some other teams that might have interested in Williams but can’t offer a clear path to the ninth inning. Williams recently gave a vague answer when asked about whether or not the ability to serve as a club’s closer would impact his decision-making in free agency, saying that it “depends on the scenario.”
Given Williams’s stature in the game and likely deflated price tag, the Marlins surely won’t be the only team interested in his services. He’s indicated a willingness to stick with the Yankees even after a tough year this season, and virtually every team in baseball tends to be in the market for relief help every winter. Looking at closer jobs around the game, the Braves are set to lose Raisel Iglesias to free agency, the Dodgers could be looking for a new long-term solution in the ninth inning after Tanner Scott’s struggles led them to turn to starter Roki Sasaki when closing out postseason games, and the Tigers were known to be looking for a veteran with closing experience last winter despite ultimately coming up short.
Sure they are.
Yeah, good move by his agent, but any “interest” is lukewarm at best.
Nick Deeds quoting a blog. What could go wrong?
Hey Stevie ….any relation to Longfellow Deeds?
Points for that!
For the team and the player mentioned, why?
2025 definitley feels like a one-off season for Williams. Picking up Williams would be a serious move for the Marlins, and captalizing on his down year heading into FA would be smart for them.
Bet on him early to return to peak and trade him mid-season.
Some guys just don’t play well in pinstripes. Randy Johnson was the scariest pitcher I’ve ever seen and he was a bad fit there. I think Williams will do better next season.
Johnson was pretty solid in ’05. I suspect the back issue that ended his ’07 season was a factor in his disappointing ’06.
I agree some guys don’t play well here.
I don’t particularly agree on Johnson. His era was 5 in year two, which is not good. But he won 34 games and threw over 400 innings in 2 seasons here and struck out nearly 400 batters. He was not good in the playoffs. If I recall correctly he had a back thing in 206 and played through it. He was also 41 and 42.
With that I’m torn on Williams between its new York or he’s a reliever and had a bad year. Edwin diaz did this in his first year with the metros and followed up with a great year. With that, I’m inclined to let him walk
What I meant about Randy was that when he struggled on the field he didn’t always respond well to the NY media it seemed to get to him at times.
Makes sense, remember when he attacked the reporter , maybe a day after he was acquired lol
That stood out as a moment I was thinking of
If you’re going to spend a lot of money in free agency, there’s one position that’s always returned a lot of bang for your buck, and that’s aging relievers.
He probably belongs back in the NL. Good luck, Devin. Bye bye
People still think there’s a difference in talent level in the two leagues?
Everyone’s doing the fish. Yeah yeah yeah
I can see the Giants looking for his services. Might find his form again back in the big ballpark.
Seems like a match made in heaven. Save a bunch of games for the Marlins up to the trade deadline and trade him for more pieces.
I imagine every team is interested in him. Must be a slow day.
except the Yankees
I dont think the brewers have any interest in him. Ruining one post season by punching a wall drunk, Alonso Homer 2 years ago. Not that we could afford him but even if we could I can’t imagine there would be any interest in a reunion.
He was a tough watch this last season. Maybe the peripherals better indicated the “real him” but the on the field results…
Even with a down year, he’s still going to cost way more than the Marlins are willing to spend. Alcantara is the only player who made more than a few million dollars last year. I can’t see them spending $10+ million per year on a reliever. If they’re trying to raise payroll to some minimum level that’s acceptable to the other owners, and everyday player or maybe a SP seems much more likely.
I would argue that it is more like $5M since there is a pretty good chance he doesn’t stay there past the trade deadline.
Good point, but even $5 million would make him the second highest paid Marlin.
That’s the argument every high spending team will be making with regards to Williams. I think every contender will check in on him.
Prepare to be traded at the deadline.
If he returns to anywhere close to his 2024 form, he’d bring back good prospects at a trade chip at the deadline. Plus he’s probably not going to break the bank for his 2026 salary since he’s coming off a down year. I wish Getz got this done for the White Sox.
2 years at 10 million per year with an opt out I think gets it done
Entice him with cheaper money, but with an opt-out after the first year. I’m guessing that re-establishing his bona fides is his priority.
Definitely the worst time to have a down year, but I still don’t see him accepting anything less than 3 years at a healthy AAV. Even with a pedestrian fastball velocity, he’s still elite at getting chases and whiffs.
I think he’s going to do fine and have a lot of interest.
He can probably either go the route of a 1/15-17 pillow contract to rebuild value, Or if he wants some security, there are absolutely teams that will jump at getting him for 3/36.
Id have the Dodgers as the betting favorite to sign Devin. Williams said he was told by the Brewers that he was likely going to LA, then the Yankees swooped in late.
Dodgers FO is alot smarter than me, but just looking at his peripherals, I dont see anything that should drastically change their opinion of him.
What a coincidence, I’m interested in a tropical island.
The case for Devin Williams is interesting. He doesn’t have any weird home and road splits. He’s slightly better at home than on the road with a homem opponent OPS of .548 vs. a 0road opponent. ops of .666. His monthly opponent .OPS are all mild at a horrible start in March/April of .820 to much better May/.583, June/.371, July/.619, August/.695 and Sept/Oct .475. I think the issue might be in how he is being used? His LOB% cratered down to 55%, which is way down from the 3 year period from 2022-2024 which was 82.5%. I think the Yanks should try and bring him back on a 1 and 1 option deal and use him to start fresh innings. The Yanks need a lot of help, and he was amazing before last year.
Welcome to the Dodgers, Devin.
Away from the Yankees, he should return to form.
Not a chance
Should have kept Cortez. Williams was a bust.
time to retire if the non competetive minor league marlins want you to come play and not win anything.
Good job at showing how much you pay attention to MLB. You may want to take a glance at this year’s standings and see how the Marlins did.
But I’m guessing you’re going by the antiquated ESPN narrative of all Miami teams.
Heck, did you not even read the first sentence of this article?
So, the Marlins are interested in Devin Williams?
You mean to tell me that we’re not going after the next Anthony Bass? We’re not looking at Yimi Garcia, Dylan Floro, Tanner Scott, Calvin Faucher, etc. to close out games for us next year?
Shouldn’t we save some money for signing the next Avi Garcia and Jorge Soler so we can move our corner outfielder to CF, while sending the guy who can play CF to AAA despite showing he should start everyday?
Come on, let’s save some money with the next Anthony Bass so we can have enough money for the next Avi and Soler so we can move Stowers to CF with Conine, then send Marsee to AAA on Opening Day!