MLB insider names Dodgers as offseason savior for awful Yankees trade bust

Despite their winning record, the Yankees are having a truly embarrassing season, and New York fans would probably be the first to tell you that. It all really got out of control when they melted down against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 World Series. They lost Gerrit Cole at the beginning of the year, Max Fried is on a downward spiral, Aaron Judge is injured enough to prevent him from playing defense, Aaron Boone refuses to bench Anthony Volpe despite his AL-leading 16 errors, and they still clearly don't really know how to play fundamental baseball.

Their issues are basically nonstop, so the downfall of Devin Williams has become an afterthought as of late even though it was all the New York media could talk about toward the beginning of the season. A guy who registered a 1.66 ERA over 141 innings between 2022 and 2024 with the Brewers has a 5.21 ERA in 48 1/3 innings in New York. He's been moved out of the closer role and back in multiple times, and appeared as early as the fifth inning in his last appearance against the Cardinals.

Williams is a free agent for the first time in his career at the end of this season, and there's basically no way that the Yankees keep him. He hasn't made a very convincing argument to be signed anywhere, really, but FanSided insider Robert Murray named the Dodgers, who previously showed interest in Williams, as one team that could "embarrass the Yankees by saving Devin Williams' career in free agency."

FanSided insider Robert Murray names Dodgers as offseason landing spot for Devin Williams

The Yankees infamously prevented a deal between the Dodgers and Brewers for Williams this offseason, when New York swooped in at the last minute and sent Nestor Cortes (now a Padre) and prospect Caleb Durbin to Milwaukee before the Dodgers could close. Of course, that ended up working out in the Dodgers' favor; they pivoted to Tanner Scott, who hasn't been great this year either but was at least better than Williams before his injury.

If the Dodgers were to sign Williams, they could probably get him at an extraordinarily low rate, and it would coincide with Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates hitting free agency at the end of this season. It would be a risk, but the Dodgers have fixed up more hopeless cases.

Ex-Yankees have the habit of leaving New York and suddenly becoming great again, so maybe the same could end up being true for Williams. His numbers this year suggest the Dodgers should stay far away, but with all of the injuries this season, they should be expected to hoard arms again next year.