The Mets are working to finalize a two-year, $22MM free agent deal Luke Weaverreports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The two sides have an agreement in place, according to Will Samson of The Athletic. The agreement is still pending. Weaver is repped by Excel Sports Management. The Mets have a full 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to make this deal official.
The two-year, $22MM terms are identical to the deal recently agreed upon between the division rival Phillies and the righty. Brad Keller. Like Keller, Weaver is a returning starter who has had significant success pitching against a big-market contender.
Weaver, 32, has spent two-plus seasons as a key late-inning arm in the Bronx. A rough finish to the 2025 season raised his earned run average to 3.62 but since signing with the Yankees late in the 2023 campaign, Weaver sports a 3.22 ERA, a 29.4% strikeout rate and a 7.5% walk rate in 162 innings of relief. He saved a dozen games and picked up 43 along the way, blowing just four more chances in that span. It may just be a coincidence, but the Mets are now using Weaver, Devin Williams again Clay Holmes (who has moved into the rotation) – the Yankees’ top three arms in most of the 2024-25 seasons.
A first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2014, Weaver started the rotation at St. Louis in 2016 and showed promise as a starter there in 2017-18. The Cards traded him to the D-backs as part of a returning first baseman Paul Goldschmidtand Weaver looks to be on track for an absolute breakout in 2019. He started twelve games and had a 2.94 ERA with a plus strikeout and walk rates before an arm strain ended his season. Subsequent shoulder and elbow injuries killed all of Weaver’s D-backs; from 2020-23, he pitched to a 5.95 ERA while bouncing between five clubs.
However, the last of those five stops was in the Bronx. He got enough attention over the last three seasons that he signed a $2.5MM major league deal in the offseason – which included a 2025 club option. It turned out to be a tough job for the team and a career-saving deal for Weaver, who rebuilt a coveted arm and is now coming off the biggest payday of his 12-year professional career. Despite that strong run in the Bronx and some reported interest in a reunion, the Yanks weren’t in Weaver’s bid, according to Sherman.
Back in September, Weaver expressed some openness to returning to a starting role if the team gave him the opportunity, but that doesn’t seem to be in play here. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes that Weaver will be in the bullpen. It’s not clear if that’s an available report or a deduction but there has been nothing to suggest the Mets plan to give Weaver a rotation gig. The price of Weaver’s deal is about expectations. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted it would give him a guaranteed $18MM over two years, an estimate he has already slightly beaten.
New York had a middling bullpen in 2025. Their collective 3.93 ERA was 15th in the majors. It got worse towards the end of the year as the season slipped for the team. In August and September, the relievers had a collective 4.18 ERA. At the end of the season, Edwin Díaz, Tyler Rogers, Gregory Soto, Ryan Helsley and others hit free agency, further reducing the team. The four have already signed with other teams.
The Mets signed Williams and now Weaver to bolster the team. They will slot between the arms in the same position AJ Minter, Brooks Raley, Huascar Brazoban and others. Likely, there are still more bullpen moves to come.
RosterResource, assuming an even distribution of Weaver’s guarantee over two years, now projects the Mets at $305MM in salary and a competitive $307MM balance sheet tax value. Since they have paid tax for at least three consecutive years, they face consolidated tax rates. The highest tax bracket in 2026 is $304MM, so this deal is pushing them. That means they will pay 110% tax on any other way of spending money, although that is nothing new for them.
There are still a few items on the Mets’ to-do list this winter. Sammon wrote earlier this week that the club is still looking for a rotation starter and offensive upgrade. That could come in free agency but there have also been plenty of trade rumors swirling around Jeff McNeil, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio again Luisangel Acuña. For now, Weaver is improving the bullpen at a market rate.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry, Brad Penner, Imagn Images
