Cashman on Williams and Yankees’ Pitching Decisions

In Orlando, Brian Cashman revealed that Devin Williams never received a formal offer from the Yankees before securing a deal with the Mets. He noted that Williams didn’t get back to him with any kind of proposal.

After a challenging first season with the Yankees, Williams signed a three-year, $51 million contract with the Mets last week. Cashman mentioned during a recent press conference that he did speak with Williams’ agent at some point this offseason, advising him to keep the Yankees in mind as a potential option for the pitcher.

“But there were no calls from him. I’m not suggesting that he had to reach out to me,” Cashman said during the winter meetings. He pointed out that he acquired Williams from the Brewers last December, hoping the skilled closer could enhance the Yankees’ bullpen.

Williams had a tough transition to New York, struggling initially and even losing the closer’s role on a couple of occasions; however, he did finish the season on a better note. In a conference call after his signing with the Mets, Williams expressed that his performance was better than what his overall stats (4.79 ERA) showed, a sentiment Cashman agrees with.

“I believe his season was indeed better than the numbers suggest. He had some outings that really hurt his overall stats,” Cashman mentioned. “If re-signing him was on the table, I wouldn’t have hesitated to reach out, but I have to clarify: I didn’t make an offer.”

Turning to another topic, the Yankees thought they had closed the book on Sonny Gray, but recent events involving the veteran right-hander being traded to the Red Sox have brought him back into the conversation. Gray expressed that he appreciates being in a place where “it’s easy to hate the Yankees,” but insisted he never really wanted to be there to begin with.

Cashman added that when the Yankees acquired Gray back in 2017, the pitcher had indicated to various people, including a minor league video coordinator and his former roommate at Vanderbilt, that joining the Yankees was a desire of his.

It was only after the 2018 trade deadline that Gray requested a meeting with Cashman to express his actual feelings about New York. Cashman recounted Gray saying, “I thought you were going to trade me.” In response, Cashman reflected, “Publicly, we needed pitching, so trading a starting pitcher seemed unlikely at that time.” Gray, during this conversation, candidly shared his dislike for New York and the situation in general.

Finally, Cashman confirmed there are no immediate plans to have Anthony Volpe undergo surgery on his left shoulder before May. Meanwhile, free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker visited the Blue Jays’ spring training facility, but Cashman noted that he hadn’t made a similar visit to the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field.