The New York Yankees are three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for a lead in the American League East, and with a Boston Red Sox team hot on their heels following a tie of their franchise-best 15-game winning streak, there’s not much room for error. If the Bombers want to make their path to a 28th World Series championship a little easier in October, the run is going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach, and that begins with the same look at the trade deadline on Monday, August 3rd.
As there are
every year, certain names will come up on the trade block for the Yankees to potentially make a move for. Some of them would fit areas of need more than others, but upgrading any key position is a huge help in their quest. And while the bullpen ranks as one of the best in certain statistics, it never hurts to upgrade late-game pitching before embarking on a postseason journey. As luck would have it, there’s a familiar face available across town who could be a viable option.
2026 Statistics (Thus Far): 40 games, 42.0 IP, 2-1 W-L, 1 save, 1.93 ERA (163 ERA+), 2.92 FIP, 3.60 xFIP, 26.4% K%, 6.7% BB%, 0.83 WHIP, 1.0 fWAR, 1.8 bWAR
2026 ZiPS Rest-of-Season Statistics: 18 games, 23.0 IP, 1-1 W-L, 3.90 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 26.3% K%, 7.8% BB%, 0.3 fWAR
When Luke Weaver chose to sign with the New York Mets last offseason, it felt like the correct choice for the Yankees front office to let him walk. After a fantastic 2024 season with the Yankees, where he pitched to an ERA of 2.89 across 84.0 innings, he was not the same. In 64.2 innings the following season, he finished with a 3.62 ERA, a fastball velocity that had dropped 0.7 MPH, and an xFIP over 4.00. He fell apart down the stretch in particular, allowing 10 runs in 9.1 innings to close out the regular season and collected just a single out in three appearances in the postseason, allowing five runs across the Wild Card Series and ALDS.
Suffice to say, it wasn’t in the Yankees’ best interest to bring him back, especially after their Trade Deadline last season had brought in a handful of new arms they were hoping would improve or stay the same as they had previously before acquiring them. And while some of them have done exactly that, it doesn’t hurt to look for upgrades wherever possible, and it’s likely Weaver could be a low-cost, low-risk, familiar face and lovable character that achieves that goal.
So far in 2026, Weaver has been one of the few bright spots on a Mets team that is down in the dumps and a Mets pitching staff that has faced myriad injuries. The 44-62 residents of Queens are looking for any value they can get from movable players, and with Weaver having another year on his two-year, $22 million contract, that may be a way for the Mets to nab an extra asset. Of course, the likelihood that anything in a deal for Weaver is revolutionary is low, but it is a chance for the Yankees to give up a smaller asset or two for a reliever who knows what to expect and is having an excellent season.
In 40 games pitched, Weaver has posted a 1.93 ERA in 42.0 innings. His strikeout numbers are down, and his walk numbers remain around where they were in previous seasons, but no one has been able to figure out how to get a hit off him. His 5.1 H/9 is the lowest of his career thus far, and an excellent mark for MLB relievers generally as well. Weaver uses a three-pitch arsenal of a four-seam fastball (49.8 percent), changeup (34.8 percent), and a cutter (15.2 percent). If you’ve done the math and noticed the missing 0.2 percent, it’s because he had a pitch register as a slider, but that was the only time he has thrown it this year. And since last season with the Yankees, his fastball usage has gone down almost 10 percent, while his changeup usage has moved up five percent, and his cutter usage has blown up almost seven percent.
The changes made in how he’s using his arsenal fall in line with his percentile rankings for this season. The fastball has been above average, as it was during his time with the Yankees (especially in 2024), but it’s his offspeed that continues to reign supreme. And the more he’s used it, the more Weaver has been able to control exit velocity and hard-hit rate, with his 80th percentile being the best of his career by a wide margin.
In addition to the help he could provide down the road for the Yankees this season, he would also be around for next season, giving the front office a bit more understanding of how to plan for next year. They know (and have known) the kind of pitcher Weaver can be and the arsenal he provides when running onto the diamond from the outfield. However, if things aren’t going well, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the Yankees to move on from him a second time and look to send him elsewhere.
But while Weaver likely won’t be a sub-2.00 ERA pitcher for a full season, he can still be more than serviceable in the right spots. He has succeeded in low- to medium-leverage situations this season with the Mets, and if that’s what he’s most comfortable with at 32 and 33-years-old, there are certainly ways to work with it. Of course, acquiring someone else at the deadline who has a proven track record of thriving in high-leverage situations would also be advantageous, but for a player who won’t cost much, is succeeding in the situations he’s been in, and is a familiar and lovable name to the Yankees fanbase, bringing Weaver back to The Bronx could be worth a move for Brian Cashman.
