Yankees Pitcher Suggests He’d Welcome Contract Extension: Report

When the New York Yankees recently relaxed their facial hair policy, which had been in place since 1976, it marked the end of an era. The Yankees were the last MLB team to ban players from growing beards.

The most vocal opponent of the longstanding ban was closer Devin Williams. The two-time All-Star closer was acquired by the Yankees from the Milwaukee Brewers in a December trade.

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In a new interview with GQ, Williams openly discussed the impact of the beard policy.

“I just prefer to have facial hair,” the Missouri native told Matthew Roberson. “I like the way I look that way. I was rocking that little scraggly struggle beard for a while. But it got there eventually.

“I don’t know if [the beard] necessarily gave me more confidence,” he continued. “But I absolutely believe that feeling good about the way you look bleeds into other aspects of your life, for sure.”

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In February, Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner said he didn’t want the no-beard policy to prevent the team from acquiring a player who was uncomfortable with the idea of shaving.

“If I ever found out that a player we wanted to acquire, to make us better, to get us a championship, did not want to be here, and if he had the ability to, would not come here because of that policy, as important as it is to that generation, that would be very, very concerning,” Steinbrenner said in February, as reported by the New York Post. “I am fairly convinced that’s a real concern.”

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Williams, a free agent at the end of this season, might have been open to signing a long-term contract extension with the Yankees with or without the ability to wear a beard. Now that he can, he sure sounds open to re-signing with the Yankees.

Reports Roberson:

As he looks around the Yankee clubhouse, taking in his new reality, the right-handed pitcher has a twinkle in his eye. “When I’m 65 years old, it’ll be cool to look back on that year I lived in New York,” he says. “Or maybe it’ll be more.”

Williams, 30, is 27-10 with a 1.86 ERA in 242 major league games. He’s struck out 377 batters across 236.2 innings and converted 69 saves in his career.

In his Yankee debut Thursday, Williams shut the door on a 4-2 win over his former team.

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