Luke Weaver was one of the pieces dealt by the Mets at this year’s trade deadline.
And while trading other players who were on expiring contracts, like Brooks Raley and Freddy Peralta, made sense, Weaver had another year under contract after signing a two-year, $22 million deal with the Mets this past offseason.
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The Mets sent Weaver to the Pirates for shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura, who is now the organization’s No. 3 prospect in Joe DeMayo’s latest rankings. But New York could have kept Weaver to anchor their bullpen to try and compete in 2027. And the 33-year-old reliever was hoping to stay and told the Mets he “strongly” wanted to remain with the club past the deadline.
“I was very upfront. I told them, ‘I hope you know I want to stay,'” Weaver told reporters, including The NY Post, before Friday’s series opener. “I made my commitment … but I understand how this goes. It’s not my first rodeo.”
In 42 appearances for the Mets, Weaver pitched to a 1.84 ERA and was arguably the top reliever available.
Before the Mets and Pirates started their three-game series, Weaver was asked about the Mets’ struggles this season.
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“There’s a lot of changes that were made, a lot of new people that were brought in, a lot of new faces,” he said. “I don’t think necessarily it was a bad thing, but I think people underestimate change and how much you have got to adapt in a short period of time.
“A lot of great teams we have seen in the past have a lot of chemistry, a lot of deep-rooted connection that has happened over time. It’s not always like that, but there’s a lot of those history book teams that have that, and I think it gets taken for granted how much that needed to happen, and it was happening. It has just got to link together on the field.”
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns explained his reasoning for dealing Weaver and Husacar Brazoban, who was also under team control in 2027.
“Ultimately the returns that we were able to get, we thought made sense and were in the best interest of the organization, recognizing that at this time of year you are able to get really good talent back for relief pitching,” he said.
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Weaver, despite being traded Monday, made his first appearance with Pittsburgh against his former team on Friday. With the Pirates down 6-2 in the eighth, the right-hander allowed a hit and a walk but pitched a scoreless inning.
