Yankees will play closer role ‘night by night’ after Devin Williams’ latest meltdown

When the Yankees acquired two closers at the deadline, they recommitted to Devin Williams as their ninth-inning guy.

Less than a week later, that job is more up for grabs.

A night after Williams blew a save and gave up a run for the fifth time in his last seven outings, Aaron Boone indicated he would be more fluid with who his closer is on a given night.

“A little more open to using some other guys,” Boone said Tuesday at Globe Life Field.

New York Yankees relief pitcher Devin Williams (38) pitches against the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field.

Boone was more clear-cut with his words when he temporarily removed Williams from the closer’s role back in April, but Tuesday’s explanation had shades of when the manager said last September that he would get “creative” with the ninth inning — which soon meant Luke Weaver replacing Clay Holmes as the Yankees’ closer.

This time around, Boone has more options in Weaver, plus David Bednar and Camilo Doval, who have both been closers in the past.

“I look at it as, we got a bunch of closers down there,” Boone said. “So I’m going to play it night by night and try to get these guys in the best position to be successful. That could be Devin closing, that could be one of the other guys that has a lot of experience. Just depending on the night, depending on where we are in the order and how we want to line them up. So it could be anyone.”

Weaver, Doval and Bednar each threw a perfect inning Monday before Williams pitched the ninth and gave up a game-tying homer to Joc Pederson. It left him with a 5.10 ERA through 46 games this season.

David Bednar of the New York Yankees pitches during the game between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on Friday, August 1, 2025 in Miami, Florida.

Jake Bird, who gave up the game-winning three-run homer to Josh Jung in the bottom of the 10th, did not just find himself in a different role by Tuesday, he was out of the big leagues altogether. The Yankees optioned Bird to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, hoping to use it as a reset for the reliever who had struggled mightily for most of July with the Rockies before he was traded at the deadline.

“He got quite a bit of work there in the first half and a lot of success and then he’s had some struggles lately,” Boone said. “We still think really highly of him and think he’s not only going to help us this year in the short-term, but certainly in the long-term too. Hopefully this is something that does give him a little bit of a reset, get him more structured outings and things like that. And hopefully it’s something that serves him well and he gets back here and gets right back in the mix.”

The Yankees also designated JT Brubaker for assignment while adding a pair of fresh arms in Mark Leiter Jr., who was activated off the injured list, and Yerry de los Santos.

New York Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver reacts on the mound during the 10th inning in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx on July 30, 2025.

Leiter, who had been out since early July with a left fibular head stress fracture, should give Boone another high-leverage option for a unit that has been battered for over a month.

“Obviously we’ve had a couple rough games down there here and there,” Boone said, “but I do feel like we got a lot of really, really talented pitchers down there, Mark Leiter Jr. included in that.”