The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees off-season trade involving Nestor Cortes, Caleb Durbin, and Devin Williams has been quite the ride so far. From Durbin not making the Brewers roster out of spring training, to Williams roller coaster ninth inning’s, including an Opening Day save against Milwaukee, and to Cortes allowing a record amount of home runs to begin a game, there has been plenty of drama involving this trio of players.
Buzz around these players has continued throughout the first month of the season as Cortes was eventually placed on the 60-day injured list with an elbow issue, Durbin was recently benched mid-game by manager Pat Murphy after getting picked off, and now Williams has been relieved of his ninth inning duties.
Ex-Brewers closer Devin Williams relieved of 9th inning duties by Yankees
Williams, in his first season with the Yankees, has stumbled out of the gate in 2025. While he’s no stranger to high pitch counts from his days in Milwaukee, the difference now is that runs are starting to pile up. In just eight innings of work, he’s already thrown 191 pitches and allowed 10 earned runs.
While Williams has only blown one save attempt this season, this troubling trend was enough for Yankees manager Aaron Boone to move Williams out of the closers role. Boone told The Athletic regarding Williams “For right now, I’m going to take him out of that role.”
The plan is for Williams to see time in low leverage situations and earn his way back.
If Williams is unable to return to form and reclaim the closers role, it would make for an interesting off-season as he will be a free agent for the first time in his career.
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