The Los Angeles Dodgers showed enough interest in right-handed reliever Devin Williams last offseason that the multi-time All-Star thought he was going to wind up in LA.
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“I kinda thought I’d be going to LA,” Williams said at his introductory press conference with the New York Yankees after being traded from the Milwaukee Brewers. “That was what I was being told. And the Yankees snuck in there under the table and got the deal done.”
Maybe he was just a year ahead of schedule.
Williams, coming off a down year with the Yankees, is now a free agent for the first time in his career. He has some of the best stuff in baseball, and at 31 years old, the two-time All-Star is still drawing significant interest across the league.
The Dodgers are among the many teams interested in Williams. According to The Athletic, approximately 12 teams — including the Dodgers — have shown interest in the right-hander. Others include the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox.
According to Fabian Ardaya, there “appears to be mutual interest between the two sides early in Williams’ first foray into free agency.”
Williams had the worst year of his career in 2025, sporting a 4.79 ERA across 67 appearances. However, his strikeouts numbers (90 strikeouts across 62 innings) remained exceptional, and his expected stuff was much better, indicating some bad luck.
Williams had an expected ERA of 3.09 and an expected opponents’ batting average of .195. He was in the upper echelon of pitchers in terms of chase percentage, whiff percentage and strikeout percentage.
Williams had a sub-2.00 ERA in each of the last three years before 2025, and didn’t have an ERA above 2.50 since his rookie year. Despite the down season in 2025, he had a strong end to the year, and should command a solid deal in free agency because of it.
Expect the Dodgers to be in the thick of it all as they look to bolster a bullpen that was the team’s main weak spot in 2025.
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Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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