Devin Williams contract predictions don't bode well for a super NY Mets pairing

The offseason rumor mill has decided subtlety is overrated, and suddenly the New York Mets are the team everyone wants to send on a luxury-shopping spree. The conversation keeps ballooning from modest bullpen tweaks to a world where the Mets stack Devin Williams beside Edwin Diaz, as if bullpen money grows on the Shea Bridge and the price for two elite closers is something the payroll can magically shrug off.

There is ambition, and then there is whatever this price tag performance is supposed to be. Imagining the Airbender teaming with Diaz is fun, yet fun is not the same as roster logic. Even Steve Cohen’s resources come with priorities. The Mets have too many holes to treat the bullpen like a luxury boutique, and committing two massive contracts to late innings feels far less feasible than fans want to admit.

Devin Williams contract predictions turn it into an either/or for the Mets with Edwin Diaz

The Mets front office does not need a calculator to understand where their money is tied up. With the payroll already hugging the first luxury tax threshold of $244 million, David Stearns has a long shopping list that stretches across the roster. First base needs a real answer. DH needs more than a rotating audition. Second base needs clarity. The rotation needs an anchor. None of those screams “save room for two premium relievers.”

Diaz’s market only sharpens that reality. His camp is seeking the same deal he landed with the Mets last time, and that contract carried an AAV of $20 million. It is a reasonable expectation for him to match it, especially in a winter where contenders are tripping over each other for bullpen help. Paying that rate alone is a serious investment for a team with this many roster priorities, which is why adding a second top-tier closer at nearly the same cost feels more aspirational than realistic.

Devin Williams is projected to land in the $15 to $18 million range, a number his underlying metrics still justify. His down season with the Yankees did not erase the effectiveness of the Airbender. Opponents still hit under .200 against it, and his chase, whiff, strikeout, and xBA rates lived in the top 4 percent of MLB. He remains a premium reliever, the kind teams talk themselves into because the stuff still wins.

Williams could fit the Mets in a vacuum. Diaz could fit the Mets in a vacuum. The problem is that the Mets do not live in a vacuum. They live in an offseason where more than $35 million for two relievers is a luxury they simply cannot justify. Stearns has to prioritize lineup holes and rotation stability before he even entertains the idea of stacking elite bullpen salaries. This winter feels like an either-or situation, not a fantasy-baseball spree where both closers stroll in and everything magically works.