The New York Mets have determined that the best way to move on from Edwin Diaz is to Yankee up their bullpen.
Luke Weaver and the Mets agreed to terms on a two-year, $22 million deal Wednesday, Dec. 17, as the right-hander joins Devin Williams and Clay Holmes as former Yankee closers who commuted from the Bronx to Queens the past two offseasons.
Weaver, 32, will surely be deployed in high-leverage spots ahead of Williams, who presumably will lock down the ninth inning. Williams was signed to a three-year, $51 million deal Dec. 1 after a rocky stint as Yankees closer, mixed in with bursts of the form that once made him the National League’s two-time Reliever of the Year for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Weaver, meanwhile, fell into the Yankees’ ninth-inning role by happenstance, taking over for Holmes in the second half of the 2024 season and recording countless huge outs as the Yankees won the American League pennant before succumbing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Holmes began the Yankee Stadium-Citi Field shuffle, signing with the Mets after that season, where he was converted into a starting pitcher, posting a 3.53 ERA in 31 starts.
Weaver found the going a little rougher in 2025, his ERA rising from 2.89 to 3.62 and his innings falling from 84 to 62 ⅔ after a June hamstring strain that sidelined him and impacted the remainder of his season. But other peripherals weren’t so glaring, such as a mild rise in WHIP (0.93 to 1.02) and fielding independent pitching (3.33 to 3.89).
Williams and Weaver will lead the effort to replace Diaz, who departed for a three-year, $69 million deal with the Dodgers after seven seasons with the Mets, the last two particularly dominant. Diaz struck out 14.8 batters per nine innings his last three full seasons.
Weaver is not that guy, though he did punch out a respectable 10.6 batters per nine in his three campaigns with the Yankees.