NEW YORK – The Mets made their second significant move this offseason, signing reliever Devin Williams to a three-year, $51 million contract. The transaction occurred almost two weeks after they acquired second baseman Marcus Semien in a trade that sent outfielder Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers.

In Williams, the Mets are getting a right-hander who is a two-time winner of the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award (2020, 2023).

Williams, 31, is not sure what his role will be out of the bullpen, but he will pitch in the late innings as a closer or setup man. The Mets are trying to re-sign free agent Edwin Díaz, who has been the team’s ninth-inning guy the six seasons. If Díaz returns, Williams will likely pitch in the seventh and eighth innings, a role he had for two-plus seasons when Josh Hader was the closer for the Brewers.

“If [Díaz] comes back, I think we are really going to have a good back end of the ‘pen,” Williams said during a Zoom call with the local media on Friday. “More good arms is a good thing.”

In 2025, Williams struggled in his only season with the Yankees. He was in and out of the closer’s role and had a 4.79 ERA, a career high, in 67 games. Williams blamed his problems on pitch selection and mechanical issues.

However, the high ERA doesn’t tell the entire story. Williams’ season wasn’t a total disaster. Opposing hitters had a slash line of .197/.287/.320 against him, while his FIP number was at 2.68, more than two runs lower than his ERA.

Williams ranked seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (13.06) and ninth in strikeout rate (34.7 percent) among Major League relievers. Williams was second in the majors in strikeout rate (39.3 percent) after the All-Star break (min. 25 innings pitched) in ‘25.

Williams has been a two-pitch pitcher (fastball, airbender changeup) since he entered the league in 2019, but expected him to add a couple of pitches to his arsenal. He has been tinkering with the cutter, a pitch that he used infrequently the last two years, and adding a “gyro slider.”

“I’m just playing with those two [this offseason] and see if I could add those to what I do and give myself a little more breathing room with the fastball and changeup,” he said. “It’s something I felt I needed to do for a while, but I haven’t put it into play yet. [The gyro slider] is something I have been working on for years. It can be really good pitches for me. I need to use it.”

Williams is reunited with Mets general manager David Stearns. The two worked together when both were with the Brewers from 2019-2023.

“As far as Stearns goes, I’m familiar with the way he wants the organization to run, the way [he wants] to do things. It’s another familiarity for me. It’s all comfortable,” Williams said.