The Pittsburgh Pirates have added one of the best relievers in baseball to one of the game's worst bullpens. The Pirates have acquired right-hander Luke Weaver from the New York Mets, the teams announced Monday. The Mets will receive infield prospect Sammy Stafura in the deal. Weaver is under contract with an $11 million salary for next season.
New York will pay $2 million of the $3.6 million or so owed to Weaver the rest of this year, plus $6 million next year, according to the New York Post.
Weaver, 33 later this month, has recovered from a rough April and been simply dominant the last three months. He owns a 1.84 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 44 innings, plus he's big-market and postseason battle-tested. Two years ago, Weaver was the postseason closer for the New York Yankees en route to their American League pennant win.
Going into Monday, Pittsburgh's bullpen ranked 22nd in ERA and 17th in WAR. They've now added Weaver and Camilo Doval to the relief crew, giving manager Don Kelly right-handed complements to lefty stalwarts Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto. The Pirates are said to want a right-handed bat before Monday's 6 p.m. ET deadline.
Stafura, 21, is a native New Yorker who joined the Pirates in last year's Ke'Bryan Hayes trade with the Cincinnati Reds. He's hitting .276/.367/.593 with 20 home runs in Single-A this year, with 14 of those homers coming in July. MLB Pipeline ranked Stafura as the No. 9 prospect in Pittsburgh's system thanks to his defense.
As for the Mets, Weaver is the latest player to be shipped out as part of their deadline sell-off. In recent days, they've traded A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins, Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays, Huascar Brazobán to the Chicago White Sox, Brooks Raley to the Philadelphia Phillies, and now Weaver to the Pirates.
Rentals Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor are likely to move prior to the deadline, possibly Luis Robert Jr. as well. Here now are our grades for the Weaver for Stafura swap.
Pittsburgh Pirates: A
Controllable arm without a big return
Bullpen help was a must for the Pirates and not only did they land one of the best relievers in the game, he's under contract next season (plus the Mets are paying a big chunk of his salary). Weaver will help this year and next, and they didn't have to trade from the top of their farm system. That's an easy A. The Pirates got much better and they kept their best prospects.
New York Mets: B
Relievers just don't bring much back
I expected a larger return for Weaver, one of the game's top relievers and a player who is signed through next season, but unless we're talking Mason Miller, teams simply do not trade tippy top prospects for relievers these days. Stafura is a quality, arrow-up prospect who is maybe two or three years away from Queens.
