Similar NY Mets players have been in Devin Williams’ spot, is this any different?

It’s amazing to watch a toddler connect the world together. My son goes around the house using tile letters matching them up to an object that begins with the letter. A is for his airplane toy. B is for his bulldozer. C is for the callus on my foot from stepping on so many vehicles. In baseball, we can make some of those same connections. With Devin Williams sitting out there as a free agent, determining whether he was a good match for the New York Mets or not involving a game of connecting dots.

Last week, I wrote about how his age similarity scores were uncomfortably familiar. His career has compared closely to Ryan Helsley and Dellin Betances. Two relievers we’d like to forget ever played for the Mets, now that he’s here I got a reminder of someone else this feels like.

After the 2018 season, the Mets made a bold trade for Edwin Diaz. Apparently the signing of Williams hasn’t eliminated them from chasing after Diaz. And then it got me thinking. Where have I seen this before?

No way Devin Williams is going to be Jeurys Familia 2.0 for the Mets, right?

Jeurys Familia had a short time on top of the mountain for the Mets. He set the franchise record for saves. In 2015 and 2016, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better closer in baseball. He was traded in mid-2018 to the Oakland Athletics only to return the following offseason on a three-year deal that paid him $30 million over three years to become a setup man for the newly acquired Diaz.

Because Diaz had such a miserable 2019, it’s easy to forget how bad Familia was. In a setup role, he pitched to a 5.70 ERA. His walk rate jumped to 6.3 BB/9. He bounced back with consecutive seasons of an ERA below 4.00 in 2020 and 2021. By the end, he was more of an innings eater reliever rather than a setup guy.

The similarities between Familia’s career and Williams’ have no value on actual performance. Familia was a setup man in front of Jenrry Mejia before sliding into the ninth inning much like Williams was with Josh Hader. A briefly dominant career as a ninth inning guy, the switch to becoming a setup man for the Mets didn’t work out so well.

A big connection between the pair that we can’t ignore either is how our biggest memory of each is giving up big home runs in the postseason. Familia came up small in big moments during the 2015 World Series. Williams, against the Mets, was the one on the mound when Pete Alonso hit one of the most important home runs in franchise history. Prior to that series vs. the Mets, Williams had only one game of playoff experience. He gave up 2 earned runs in 0.2 innings while walking a pair and throwing a wild pitch. To his credit, he was pretty good for the Yankees this past year.

The Mets haven’t had a true super bullpen built the way David Stearns seems to desire. The closest they came was in 2023 when Adam Ottavino and David Robertson were meant to be in front of Diaz. Plans fell apart with Diaz going down with an injury in the World Baseball Classic. It does appear this strategy of putting a heavy focus on relievers remains a part of the goal for the Mets with Williams being an improvement on the vacancy left by Helsley. Hopefully, with his turnaround last year and strong metrics, it’s not familiarly Familia-like.