ORLANDO — Before heading across town, Devin Williams never got a formal offer from the Yankees — and never went back to ask for one, according to Brian Cashman.
After a rough first and only season in pinstripes, Williams was signed to a three-year, $51 million contract by the Mets last week.
Cashman said Sunday that he had at least one conversation with the reliever’s agent this offseason and told him to keep the Yankees apprised of Williams’ market.
“But he never called me back – I’m not saying he had to,” Cashman said during the Winter Meetings.
Cashman had acquired Williams from the Brewers last December, hoping the high-end closer would take the Yankees’ bullpen to the next level.
But Williams, who admittedly took some time to get comfortable in New York, got off to a rough start, losing the closer’s job twice before finishing the season strong.
In his introductory conference call after signing with the Mets, Williams indicated he was pitching better than his surface numbers (a 4.79 ERA) suggested, a sentiment Cashman echoed.
“I agree that his season was better than what the normal numbers look like. I agree that he had a handful of games that detracted from the overall numbers,” Cashman said. “To bring him back, I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t possible, but we didn’t make an offer.”
The Yankees thought they were done with the Sonny Gray saga, but were dragged back into it last week after the veteran right-hander was traded to the Red Sox.
Gray said he appreciated being in “a place where it’s easy to hate the Yankees” and claimed he “never wanted to go there in the first place.”
Leading up to being acquired by the Yankees at the 2017 deadline, Cashman said Gray told a number of different people — including their minor league video coordinator, Gray’s former roommate at Vanderbilt — that he wanted to be a Yankee.
According to Cashman, it wasn’t until after the 2018 trade deadline that Gray requested a meeting with the GM and made his true feelings about New York clear.
“He said, ‘I thought you were going to trade places with me,’” Cashman said. “I was like, ‘Publicly I’m trying to start pitching and bullpen. Why would I trade a starter when we desperately need pitching?’ …Then he told me he never wanted to be here. He hates New York. This is the worst place. He’s just sitting in his hotel room. … I said, ‘Well, it’s a little late now.’ So then I said, “But you said you wanted to be traded here.” He said, “My agent, Bo McKinnis, told me to do that. He told me to lie. It wouldn’t be good if my free will said there are certain places I don’t want to go, so just go out there and make sure you say…
“He told me that after he had been with us for a very long time.”
Cashman said he doesn’t expect Anthony Volpe (left shoulder surgery) to happen before May. … Free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker recently visited the Blue Jays spring training facility, but Cashman said he did not do the same with the Yankees facility at Steinbrenner Field.
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