Yankees predicted to get $100 million payback on Mets for Devin Williams signing

Matt Sullivan

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Yankees predicted to get $100 million payback on Mets for Devin Williams signing image

The New York Yankees, after losing Devin Williams to the New York Mets, are in clear need of a new closer. While they have a few bullpen arms, a top closer is still a must this winter.

Fortunately for the Yankees, there's a clear top option available on the market, and one who would be a familiar face in New York. Just not with the Yankees.

The Athletic's Jim Bowden predicts that the Yankees could get payback on the Mets for signing Williams by signing Edwin Diaz, beloved Mets closer, to a $100 million deal.

Yankees predicted to get major payback on Mets with $100 million Edwin Diaz deal

"Edwin Diaz leaves the Mets but stays in New York," Bowden predicts, "joining the Yankees on a 5-year, $88 million pact with escalators that take the deal to $100 million."

Acquiring Diaz in free agency won't come cheap, and while the Yankees have expressed an intention to be conservative this winter, with Williams on the Mets, Diaz is a clear free agent target for the Yankees.

While a five-year deal for a reliever is a risky move, Diaz, the 31-year-old nine-year veteran, is one worth taking that risk on.

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He's coming off a dominant 2025 season, where he had a 1.63 ERA in 62 appearances with 28 saves and 98 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched.

Diaz earned his third All-Star nod and proved he's one of the best closers in baseball. He's had some good seasons, and some mediocre ones, like his 3.52 ERA 2024 campaign.

But when Diaz is at his best, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball. If the Yankees want to avoid their bullpen woes, which plagued them in 2025, then Diaz would be a great solution.

This prediction from Bowden is not just payback for the Mets taking Williams from the Yankees, but it gives Aaron Boone a weapon out of the bullpen to shut down teams at the end of games after struggling with such a situation in 2025.

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