{"id":332766,"date":"2025-12-07T12:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T12:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/332766\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T12:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T12:41:08","slug":"poll-which-team-will-sign-luke-weaver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/332766\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll: Which Team Will Sign Luke Weaver?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke Weaver<\/a> entered free agency after pitching to a 3.62 ERA in 64 2\/3 innings this year as one of the Yankees\u2019 top relievers. He struck out 27.5% of hitters against a 7.6% walk rate and ranked 38th among qualified relievers by K-BB rate. That was a slight step down from his excellent 2024 campaign, when he posted a 2.89 ERA and a 23.3% K-BB rate, which ranked 19th among 169 qualified relievers. Still, he was generally productive during his two years in the Bronx and figures to do well in free agency.<\/p>\n

Weaver\u2019s performance noticeably declined following a stint on the injured list in June for a left hamstring strain. After posting a 2.31 ERA in 24 appearances through the end of May, that number jumped to 5.31 in 40 appearances post-injury. Meanwhile, his groundball rate declined from 36.4% in 2024 to just 27.5% this year, which put Weaver in the first percentile according to Statcast. His fly ball rate also jumped nearly ten points to a career-high 56.3%, well above the league average of 38.1% for relievers.<\/p>\n

Still, teams will be interested in his strikeout ability and recent pedigree as a high-leverage arm, as well as his openness to becoming a starter. We at MLBTR ranked Weaver at No. 41 on our Top 50 Free Agents list and projected him for a two-year, $18MM contract. Which team will take the plunge? Let\u2019s take a look at some of the options:<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks<\/p>\n

Arizona\u2019s relievers ranked 28th in the league with a combined -0.3 fWAR in 2025, and their 4.82 ERA ranked 27th. While Shelby Miller<\/a> and Andrew Saalfrank<\/a> posted ERAs under 2.00 in 36 1\/3 and 29 innings respectively, most of the other relievers ranged from unspectacular to below average. Jalen Beeks<\/a> was the only qualified reliever of the bunch, posting a 3.74 ERA in 55 1\/3 innings. The bullpen\u2019s 11.2% K-BB rate was higher than only the Nationals and Rockies. Weaver, who pitched for the Diamondbacks from 2019-22, would help immensely with the strikeouts, though the hitter-friendly environment of Chase Field may be a less-than-ideal fit given his now-extreme fly ball tendencies. On the other hand, the club is known to be in the market for starting pitching, so it\u2019s possible they could sign Weaver and give him a chance in the rotation.<\/p>\n

Mariners<\/p>\n

The Mariners\u2019 bullpen was middle-of-the-pack in 2025, with a 3.2 fWAR that tied for 17th in the league and a 3.72 ERA that ranked 9th-best (albeit with half their games in the pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park). Andr\u00e9s Mu\u00f1oz<\/a>, Gabe Speier<\/a>, and Matt Brash<\/a> all posted ERAs under 2.70 with strong peripheral stats, including strikeout rates above 29.0%. Beyond those three and Eduard Bazardo<\/a>, the unit could use some more depth. Carlos Vargas<\/a> pitched 77 innings in 2025 but was worth -0.6 fWAR thanks to a meager 16.3% strikeout rate and weak peripherals. Trent Thornton<\/a>, Collin Snider<\/a>, and Casey Legumina<\/a> covered 117 1\/3 innings in total, but all three had ERAs over 4.50. Reuniting with Weaver (he pitched 13 1\/3 innings for Seattle in 2023) would improve the bullpen\u2019s strikeout ability, while the spacious T-Mobile Park could provide cover for his fly ball tendencies.<\/p>\n

Orioles<\/p>\n

Baltimore\u2019s bullpen ranked 23rd with a collective 1.9 fWAR and 25th with a 4.57 ERA. Keegan Akin<\/a> and Yennier Cano<\/a> were the team\u2019s only qualified relievers, and Akin was worth -0.6 fWAR while Cano had an ERA of 5.11 (albeit with an xERA of 3.59). Seranthony Dominguez<\/a> had a 3.24 ERA and a 30.9% strikeout rate in 41 2\/3 innings, but he was traded to the Blue Jays at the deadline. Felix Bautista<\/a> had a 35.2% strikeout rate and a 50.7% groundball rate in 34 2\/3 innings before undergoing surgery in August to repair a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum. At best, he won\u2019t be back until September 2026. Baltimore is known to be looking for an experienced closer. A Weaver signing could make sense, given his track record of success in the AL East.<\/p>\n

Cubs<\/p>\n

Cubs\u2019 relievers were 19th in the league with a combined 3.1 fWAR and tied for 14th with a 22.7% strikeout rate. Brad Keller<\/a>, Caleb Thielbar<\/a>, Daniel Palencia<\/a>, and Drew Pomeranz<\/a> led the unit in innings pitched and all had ERAs under 3.00, but Keller, Thielbar, and Pomeranz are now free agents. Andrew Kittredge<\/a> posted a well-above-average 35.4% K-BB rate in 21 2\/3 innings after being acquired at the deadline, but he was traded back to the Orioles in November. Beyond those pitchers, the club saw Chris Flexen<\/a>, Ryan Pressly<\/a>, and Porter Hodge<\/a> combine for 114 innings. Flexen had a solid ERA but ugly peripheral numbers and is now a free agent. Pressly was underwhelming in his age-36 season and is also a free agent, while Hodge posted a 6.27 ERA and walked 12.2% of hitters faced. A Weaver signing would add an experienced high-leverage arm behind Palencia while still leaving room for additions elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Where do MLBTR readers think Weaver will land this offseason? Cast your vote in the poll below:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke Weaver entered free agency after pitching to a 3.62 ERA in 64 2\/3 innings this year as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,22725,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-332766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-luke-weaver","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}