When Luke Weaver joined the Yankees in September of 2023, it was with the lowest of expectations. The former first-rounder and top-50 prospect never fulfilled that pedigree with the Cardinals, who shipped him off to the Diamondbacks as part of a package to acquire Paul Goldschmidt after the 2018 campaign. In his first year with Arizona, Weaver looked like he might turn things around, posting a 2.94 ERA in 12 starts. But he flamed out in 2020, going 1-9 with a 6.58 ERA in the COVID-shortened season,
precipitating a nomadic journey familiar to many talented arms who never quite panned out.
In 2023 alone, he started the year in the Reds’ rotation, was released after allowing 76 runs in 97 innings, latched on with the Mariners for less than three weeks, and was designated for assignment before the Yankees came calling in September. Perhaps they saw something in the one-promising Weaver. Perhaps they simply needed a warm body to eat some innings down the stretch of what had been a Murphy’s law-laden campaign. Either way, after he pitched well in three starts post-waiver claim, New York curiosuly re-signed the right-hander to a one-year, $2 million deal with a club option for $2.5 million the following year.
It ended up as one of the best value plays GM Brian Cashman has made in recent years. Working exclusively out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, Weaver was a man reborn. While tossing 84 innings out of the ‘pen — third-most in baseball — the veteran pitched to a 2.89 ERA and allowed just 52 hits. By the end of the season, as incumbent closer Clay Holmes unraveled, the pitcher who was worth only a $2 million flier the prior offseason became the Yankees’ top ninth-inning option. That continued into the playoffs, where Weaver’s renaissance was capped off by five scoreless World Series innings in which he allowed just one hit.
While the 32-year-old’s 2025 was more uneven, he still stepped in at times to spell a struggling Devin Williams in the ninth and, when healthy, remained a viable late-inning option.
In the playoffs, however, Weaver had the type of showing that can signal the end to a player’s tenure with their team. In his first two appearances — one in the Wild Card round and one in the Division Series — the Yankees’ erstwhile closer was unable to register even one out, ending up charged with five earned runs between the two. While there are many reasons for the Yankees’ inability to advance beyond the ALDS this season, Weaver’s unmitigated implosion is among the most indelible symbols of their early ouster.
In wake of the ALDS carnage, Weaver and Williams were among the seven Yankees relievers to hit free agency. Despite the bitter taste left by his postseason meltdown, the team’s need to rebuild its bullpen and its familiarity with their former reclamation project keep Weaver a possibility to return. MLB Trade Rumors projected him to garner a two-year, $18 million contract, a price tag which, while not insignificant, should not be prohibitive, either. The reliever’s chase and whiff rates, which remained elite in 2025, and expected ERA, which slotted in nearly two-thirds of a run lower than his actual mark, suggest the factors that keyed his turnaround in 2024 have not fully abated.
The Yankees would not be the only suitors for Weaver, though. The Blue Jays, one of the teams that torched Weaver in the playoffs, are reportedly in on him. Perhaps in a bid to broaden his appeal, the former starter has expressed a willingness to return to that role à la Holmes the season prior, adding further dimension to his market. Given the breadth of bullpen arms available and Cashman’s track record of finding bullpen reclamation projects on the cheap, don’t expect them to overpay if several teams are bidding for Weaver. But, if the price is right, a reunion could help fortify a bullpen that’s currently in a state of flux.
