“I heard that the Cubs offered three years for Devin Williams, but it wasn’t the $51M he signed for with the Mets.”
That was what Bruce Levine reported on the Mully & Haugh show this morning from the Winter Meetings. And while that, alone, carries some interest to those of us who like to know what the Cubs are thinking about doing throughout the offseason, it’s not quite as sexy as Levine’s follow-up on 670 The Score earlier tonight.
On Spiegel and Holmes, Levine reiterated his report of the Cubs’ three-year offer to Devin Williams, but added this about the free agent closer who used to play for Craig Counsell: “His preference, according to some agent sources, is that he wanted to go to the Cubs.”
Well, how about that!
To be sure, this doesn’t strike me as too much of a surprise. If you’ll allow me the pleasure of being a (graceful) big-shot reporter for one moment (and to peel back the curtain just a bit for those who love this sort of thing), I had heard the same. And you kind of did, too. You just didn’t know it at the time, because I was being withholding. Here’s what happened.
If you remember back to the days following the Cubs’ signing of Phil Maton, you might recall that I had reported the Cubs’ continued interest in signing a free agent reliever at or above the Maton tier.
Specifically, I said this:
According to a source, the Cubs remain engaged in the impact free-agent relief market even after signing Phil Maton last night. Nothing is thought to be close, but Maton won’t likely be their only established relief signing this offseason. In fact, it sounds like they’re aiming even higher than Maton for their next target….
… I do think you can keep open the possibility of a Craig Counsell reunion with Devin Williams, or perhaps a Cubs reunion with Brad Keller. Other pitchers in this tier include Pete Fairbanks, who’s already been connected to the Cubs this offseason, and Ryan Helsley, who’s saved 70 games over the past two seasons (3rd most in MLB), though most of those came in 2024.
Let’s just say, I listed Devin Williams’ name first for a reason.
At the time, I had heard of mutual interest between the Cubs and Devin Williams. In fact, according to my source, they were actively negotiating a deal. Still in its infancy, that level of detail wasn’t quite reportable at the time. I just didn’t have enough to go on, hence my crypticism. And, of course, nothing came of it. But clearly that mutual interest did at least materialize into an offer, underscoring the Cubs’ continued presence in that tier of the market.
Likewise, I can tell you, as other insiders have since reported, that the Cubs were interested in Ryan Helsley before his deal, too. That, however, was less about his interest in the Cubs as was reportedly the case with Williams (according to Bruce Levine).
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesSo what does all of this mean? Eh, not too much. The Cubs, of course, get no credit for making an offer that was not acceptable to the free agent, especially when it’s for a player who apparently wanted to play for your team. Presumably, under those circumstances, you could still come up a little light on money and land him, which indicates to me that this was probably for a lot less than he ultimately received.
Does that tick me off? No, not really. Sometimes, it does, if the player in question is someone I desperately want the Cubs to sign. But Devin Williams wasn’t a guy I desperately wanted the Cubs to sign. So knowing that, and knowing that he wanted the Cubs, I don’t begrudge them an offer below his value to the rest of the market.
With that said, this is subject to change rather dramatically if the Cubs don’t wind up adding another similarly talented closer, as we generally suspect (hope) they will.
So what’s the status there? Sadly, this time, I don’t have any inside info to offer. We can speculate, however, noting the market factors in each direction.
For example …
Working in their favor is a universally reported belief that the Cubs will spend more on pitching (and into the higher tiers) than they have in the past. Also, this is yet another example (Tanner Scott, Phil Maton being two others) of them offering multiple years to a free agent reliever, which is decidedly not something they’ve done in the past.
Working against them is … supply.
It’s still early in the offseason by modern standards, but Edwin Diaz (Dodgers), Raisel Iglesias (Braves), Ryan Helsely (Orioles), Kyle Finnegan (Tigers), and now Devin Williams are all off the board. Eventually, you have to pick someone and jump.
Still, there are two guys (Robert Suarez and Pete Fairbanks), to whom they’ve been connected all offseason, as well as a couple others (Luke Weaver, Tyler Rogers), whom we haven’t heard about, but are attractive nonetheless. There’s also their own outgoing free agent reliever, Brad Keller, who found success in Chicago (and probably a dozen other trade candidates we don’t know about).
So one way or another, I do think the Cubs will end up with a legitimate closer from outside the organization. And if they don’t, we can look back at this Devin Williams’ fumble with new eyes. Until then, we’ll just have to be patient and hope they get a little more serious about someone else.
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