Yankees don’t waste time doing the right thing: Taking Devin Williams out of the closer role

NEW YORK — It shouldn't be surprising, but it is. 

The New York Yankees are moving Devin Williams out of the closer role, manager Aaron Boone said on Sunday morning. Williams, one of the club's biggest offseason acquisitions, has an 11.25 ERA in 10 relief appearances since he was traded to the Yankees. To say he has struggled is an understatement. From his confidence to his signature pitch, nothing about Williams' performance has been as advertised. 

"For right now," Boone said, "I'm going to take him out of that role."

The Yankees were left with no choice but to demote Williams after the right-hander blew the save against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. He entered Sunday having surrendered 10 earned runs. Last year for the Milwaukee Brewers, he only permitted three earned runs in 22 appearances. But it was still surprising how quickly the Yankees reacted, because it took them much longer to do the right thing last year when they faced a similar situation.

Former Yankees closer Clay Holmes blew his 13th save of the year before the Yankees finally, begrudgingly, decided to let reliever Luke Weaver take over closing duties last September. The team was widely criticized for waiting until the final month of the regular season to demote Holmes, particularly after Weaver had shown he could get the job done when he was placed in high-leverage situations. 

Lesson learned. This time around, the Yankees didn't want to take any chances. Weaver is, once again, expected to receive the majority of save opportunities while Williams goes back to the drawing board. 

"This is a guy who's in the prime of his career," Boone said. "He's just going through it and it happens. I tell our players all the time, you make a career at this