The New York Yankees are in a bit of a tailspin down the American League standings right now.
While the Yankees have struggled over the last few weeks, a lot of the blame has been placed on closer Devin Williams. Williams has seen his ERA balloon up near 6.00 after surrendering runs in seven of his last nine appearances entering Sunday.
Stephen Parello of Yanks Go Yard recently urged the Yankees to cut ties with Williams this season rather than waiting until the offseason to do so.
“As an impending free agent, there is simply no way that Devin Williams is anything but one-and-done in the Bronx. After a run as one of the most dominant closers in baseball, Williams hasn’t looked the same since surrendering a season-ending three-run homer to Pete Alonso in last year’s playoffs,” Parello wrote. “Outside of a 0.93 ERA in June, Williams has been an unmitigated disaster and might be pitching worse now than he did at the height of his early-season struggles.
“Over 8 2/3 second-half innings, he’s posted an eye-popping 10.38 ERA and allowed a terrifying .703 slugging percentage. This might be a long shot given his pedigree, but there’s a chance the Yankees decided they can take no more and put the former All-Star on waivers.”
It’s very unlikely the Yankees will cut ties with Williams in this manner. While it remains entirely possible that the Bronx Bombers could part ways with the struggling righty in the offseason, doing so now doesn’t make sense.
Williams is still incredibly talented. He would be scooped up by a different contending team, which would likely allow him to get back to his former self. A move like this would almost certainly come back to haunt the Yankees.
It’s much more likely that the Yankees begin using him in lower-leverage situations rather than cutting ties with him.
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