Why Yankees let Luke Weaver walk away to Mets | Klapisch

Luke Weaver’s defection to the Mets this week might’ve created the impression of a secret pipeline between Flushing and the Bronx, but please, let’s lighten up on the conspiracy theories.

OK, so Juan Soto, Clay Holmes and Devin Williams all joined the Mets. But in Weaver’s case, the crosstown traffic was just a coincidence. More importantly, it wasn’t a surprise.

Weaver’s relationship with the Yankees in 2025 cooled considerably from its peak in 2024. By the time the former closer hit free agency in November, he was already a goner in the Bronx.

The front office encouraged Weaver to gauge his value on the open market. But the Yankees never made an offer. They believed Weaver’s value had been diminished by a drop-off in performance in 2025.

Weaver took the hint. He never contacted the Yankees once the Mets offered a two-year, $22 million contract. The right-hander finalized the deal without giving the Bombers a chance to match, knowing there was zero chance of that.

The Yankees learned the hard way that the Mets are the bigger spenders in town. Mets owner Steve Cohen’s massive portfolio allowed him to out-bid Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner for Soto in 2024. Cohen is at it again.

Not only did he increase Weaver’s salary by nearly 400%, but he lured Williams away for $17 million a year through 2028. The Yankees feel both of their former players are being overpaid in Flushing, but ownership’s feeling about Cohen’s spending can be summed up like this:

It’s his money. It’s his business.

Whether Weaver can live up to the Mets’ expectations is a legitimate question. Last year, the Yankees paid the right-hander $2.5 million, which seemed like a steal after a hugely successful run during the 2024 postseason.

But Weaver was never quite the same for much of the ’25 season. Maybe the Mets can fix him. Maybe the problem is more mental than physical. Maybe all Weaver needs is a different uniform.

But the way he ended this past season remains a mystery. Weaver pitched so poorly in October that he finally told reporters, “I don’t feel like my mind is completely clear to go out there and attack.”

Weaver made two appearances in the Bombers’ abbreviated playoff run. Both were disasters.

He took the loss in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series against Boston, failing to retire any of the three batters he faced in the seventh inning.

The AL Division Series against Toronto was just as bad. Weaver again allowed all three batters he faced in Game 1 to reach base in the seventh inning. All three scored in the Yankees’ 10-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

Manager Aaron Boone chose not to use Weaver in a meaningful situation the rest of the series. The right-hander was relegated to mop-up work in a blowout loss in an ALDS Game 2 loss, and was then sidelined for Games 3 and 4.

The Yankees never got to the bottom of Weaver’s problems, although that’s not stopping the Mets. They’re betting they can turn Weaver into the 2024 version of himself.

Doing that, however, means fixing his No. 1 flaw: tipping pitches. One scout I spoke to last season said the tell in Weaver’s delivery was so obvious, “(hitters) were on everything. They knew exactly what was coming.”

It bothered the Yankees that Weaver failed to grasp the severity of the problem. He didn’t address it earlier in the season, not even after ace Gerrit Cole bluntly told Weaver that tipping is not the kind of flaw that goes away on its own.

Weaver finally got the message in October, but feared the time to make corrections had already passed.

“It’s pretty late in the adjustment period,” he said.

The comment irked Yankees officials. If only Weaver had listened to them sooner, they said privately.

The Mets’ hopes ride on Weaver being healthier in 2026. He suffered a hamstring injury last June that contributed to his collapse. Weaver’s ERA ballooned to 7.15 in July, improved to 1.23 in August and then cratered again in September (9.64).

With a full off-season to rest and recover, the Mets trust that Weaver’s fastball will again touch 96-97 mph as it did in the World Series in 2024.

The first few weeks of spring training will be telling. Last year, Weaver showed up in camp throwing 91-92 mph. The early observations of one American League scout stuck for the rest of the summer.

“(Weaver’s) ball just didn’t have the same finish it used to,” the scout said. “A guy like (Cam) Schlittler, his fastball has finish. It keeps carrying through the zone. Weaver just didn’t have it anymore after ’24.”

A FINAL THOUGHT ON DEVIN WILLIAMS:

For the shortest time, the Mets looked like they’d have a powerhouse bullpen in the eighth and ninth innings. Signing Williams and pairing him with closer Edwin Diaz would’ve lowered manager Carlos Mendoza’s blood pressure over the summer.

But that alignment didn’t last long. Diaz signed with the Dodgers only days after Williams became a Met. The former Yankee is the new closer – and perhaps that was the plan all along.

During a conference call with reporters the other day, Williams said, “Every team” he spoke to as a free agent expressed a desire to make Williams a closer. That included the Mets.

Is it possible that Cohen, for all his wealth, never intended to get in a bidding war with the Dodgers for Diaz?

Did he instruct Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns to stand down, let Diaz walk and hand the keys to Williams?

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