5 NY Mets players who could land the closer's gig if Devin Williams is truly broken

The Devin Williams era in Queens is already on life support, and the New York Mets cannot afford to keep looking the other way. In his first three weeks with New York, Williams has blown saves, surrendered a grand slam to a backup catcher, and failed to retire a single batter in what became the gut punch of a 12-game losing streak. The $51 million closer the front office bet on this offseason is not just struggling — the underlying data suggests his arm has been breaking down for five consecutive years, with his signature Airbender changeup losing virtually all of its vertical drop. This is no longer a slump. This is a problem with a timeline.

The good news for the Mets is that solutions exist — both on the active roster and in the pipeline. Carlos Mendoza does not have to watch the ninth inning burn while waiting for Williams to figure it out. Whether the answer is a proven veteran already on staff, an electric arm knocking on the door from Triple-A, or a legend who has seen it all before, there are real options on this roster right now. Here are five players who could step into the closer's role if the Mets finally make the call.

5 NY Mets players who could land the closer role

The heir apparent - Luke Weaver

This is not a hypothetical scenario — it already happened. When Williams imploded with the Yankees in 2025 after just 10 games as closer, it was Luke Weaver who stepped in and did the job without flinching. He went on to post a 1.90 ERA over a dominant stretch of 23.2 innings and converted 9 of 9 save opportunities before a hamstring injury ended his run. The Mets signed both of them this offseason for a reason, and the hierarchy was always clear — but the data is now making the decision for Mendoza. Weaver owns a competitive ERA in 2026 and has the mentality, the experience, and the trust of a coaching staff that has watched him thrive in exactly this role before. If Williams is truly broken, Weaver is not a Plan B. He is the obvious Plan A hiding in plain sight, and every day the Mets delay is a day they are choosing sentiment over results.

The Ghost Fork closer nobody's talking about - Kodai Senga

Nobody is connecting these dots yet, but they should be. Kodai Senga is throwing the hardest he has since his All-Star 2023 season, averaging 96.9 mph on his fastball — a jump of more than two miles per hour from last year's injury-plagued version of himself. Pair that velocity with a ghost forkball that makes hitters look completely helpless, and you have a weapon that is almost unfair in a one-inning, high-leverage setting. Senga has a high strikeout rate through his first starts that screams dominance beneath the surface-level results. A full season of 30 starts has historically worn him down to nothing. One inning per night, with the best forkball in baseball and a fastball sitting at 97 mph, is a completely different conversation. It is an unconventional move, but the Mets are running out of conventional options.

The quiet monster - Huascar Brazoban

While the Mets' closer situation has dominated every headline, Huascar Brazobán has been doing something remarkable in the background: being highly effective in his first appearances in 2026. His sinker is generating some of the most lateral movement of any pitch in the entire MLB this season, and he currently holds the second-best wOBA among all Mets pitchers — trailing only Nolan McLean. The Mets already mismanaged him once in 2025, demoting him and stretching him out as a long reliever in Triple-A in a move that made no sense for a pitcher whose entire value comes from one electric inning at a time. They cannot make that mistake again. Less is more with Brazobán, and everything about his early 2026 profile — the movement, the results, the role — is screaming that this is a closer-caliber arm being wasted in middle relief.

The experience option who needs to earn it - Craig Kimbrel

He signed a minor league deal, started the season in Single-A, and worked his way back onto the Mets' active roster in 2026. That sentence alone tells you everything you need to know about Craig Kimbrel's competitive drive. The 37-year-old has 440 career saves, nine All-Star selections, and a résumé that makes him the most decorated closer in this bullpen by a historic margin. Nobody in that room knows what it takes to close out a ninth inning under pressure better than Dirty Craig. The caveat is real — his velocity has ticked down, his walk rate has been a concern for years, and he is not the same force he was in his prime. But in a moment of crisis, with a bullpen that is struggling to find an identity, the institutional knowledge and psychological makeup that Kimbrel brings to a closing role is not something you can teach. He needs to earn it, and the early signs suggest he still has enough in the tank to make a legitimate case.

The prospect with the right stuff - Dylan Ross

While everyone in Queens is debating the big names, Dylan Ross has been quietly doing exactly what you want from a future high-leverage arm. The 25-year-old pure reliever posted a 2.17 ERA across three minor league levels in 2025, striking out 80 batters in just 54 innings while working his way from High-A Brooklyn all the way to a late-season call-up with the Mets. He is not a starter being converted, not a reclamation project, and not a multi-inning long man — he is a purpose-built, short-inning reliever with the stuff and the profile to handle the ninth. The Mets already know what they have in him, which is why they brought him to the big league roster at the end of last season. With Williams in freefall and the bullpen needing answers, Ross may be the most logical internal option the organization has not yet fully committed to. Sometimes the solution is not the name you recognize — it is the arm that has been earning it all along.

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