00:00Former Yankees reliever Luke Weaver is packing up out of the Bronx.
00:04Now he's headed to Queens.
00:05The Mets now have three former Yankee closers on their roster.
00:09That's Weaver, Devin Williams, and Clay Holmes.
00:11So let's talk about the Weaver signing and, of course, the Mets bullpen
00:14with Tyler Ward, your favorite Mets content creator.
00:18Ward, we just talked to you the other day.
00:20You know, people were wondering what, you know, David Stearns,
00:23what moves he was going to make with Edwin Diaz leaving,
00:26and, of course, Pete Alonzo.
00:27So let's get into this Weaver news.
00:30Our Joel Sherman reported that it's a two-year, $22 million contract.
00:35He's 32 years old, and he's coming off a strong season in the Bronx,
00:383.62 ERA with 72 strikeouts and 64 and two-thirds innings.
00:44So my question to you, man, is, is this a win for the Mets bullpen?
00:49Oh, yeah.
00:50I think it's a win when you bear in mind a couple obvious factors.
00:53It's, one, the Mets have been in desperate need for more quality arms
00:56in the back end of their bullpen.
00:58They've also been the market for specifically guys that can handle the New York market,
01:02a big market well in general.
01:03And the universal reaction that I've seen from Yankees fans and people in the media
01:07is how much they're going to miss Luke Weaver
01:09and how much he provided both on and off the field.
01:11A very charismatic, extrovert, always uplifting personality.
01:15That's been a trend of what the Mets have tried to do to a degree this offseason,
01:18bringing in good clubhouse characters that can hopefully handle the big market.
01:21You know, Devin Williams might not have the exact same personality as one in Luke Weaver,
01:25but what they do have in common is that they've had successes in the big market
01:29with the Yankees over the past year plus.
01:31And Weaver, again, provides so much for what the Mets are immediately looking for.
01:35Someone that can come in, eat innings at either a rate of 70 to 80 plus innings.
01:39He gave you 80 plus for the Yanks in 2024 to a three-sub ERA.
01:43We saw in 2025, 64 innings, but that's because he dealt with a hamstring injury
01:47that he might have rushed back from, had a really good first start to the season in 2025.
01:52Contrary to Williams, we're looking at it at just over one year rate in his first 25 innings.
01:57Went down with a hammy injury, came back three weeks later,
01:59didn't have the same level of success.
02:01So the Mets are banking on a healthy Luke Weaver in 2026
02:04with someone that's definitely going to help pair yet again with Devin Williams
02:08as he did with the Crosstown rival in the Bronx.
02:10All right. So as of right now, the Mets bullpen is as follows.
02:15You got Weaver, Devin Williams, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley.
02:20Brazel Bond could be in the mix as well as prospects Dylan Ross and Ryan Lambert.
02:25You think this is a strong enough bullpen for the Mets
02:27or do you think that David Stearns is still going to get active
02:30and look to add some other guys to it?
02:34Oh yeah, no.
02:35This bullpen is just one or two injuries away from looking catastrophic yet again.
02:39David Stearns needs to stay diligent in his continued pursuit of greatness,
02:42which is hopefully high quality, high upside arms in this bullpen.
02:46That's why we have seen the Mets reportedly be in trade talks
02:49that we've seen with teams like the San Diego Padres for this past week
02:52because they have an abundance of riches of relievers there.
02:55The Mets can say land of one or multiple of quality arms
02:58and Adrian Morajone, Jeremiah Estrada, the pipe dream of them all,
03:02Mason Miller, who was just brought to San Diego.
03:04The trade deadline this past year,
03:06the Mets can really flex their assets that they have
03:08from what is one of the best farms in baseball.
03:10I think that's going to bode them well
03:12to hopefully shrub the back end of this bullpen some more
03:15versus what we currently see configured with the guys you listed.
03:19All right, I want to talk to you about this
03:21because a lot of like Yankees fans, I'm going back and forth with via text
03:25and they're just absolutely just like saying these signings
03:29are really making the Mets look even more like little bro.
03:33So you got Clay Holmes, Juan Soto, Devin Williams, and now Luke Weaver.
03:38What's up with flushing Queens turning into the baby Bronx?
03:42Like why do you think David Stearns keeps going after former Yankees?
03:46Are these moves out of spite or are these actually good players to add to a roster?
03:52I think it's the latter there.
03:54I don't think it has anything to do with spite.
03:56And I think if there's anyone that's spiteful,
03:58it very well could just be Yankee fan reaction
04:00because even if they didn't necessarily want Devin Williams and Luke Weaver
04:03back at the prices that they signed with the Mets,
04:05they hate the idea of seeing guys that have had levels of success
04:08and brought them happiness now at a crosstown rival.
04:11And that's justified.
04:12And I don't blame them for feeling that way.
04:14Nor do I blame them for what their inevitable reaction will be
04:16should the Mets sign Cody Bellinger
04:18or former reliever turned starter Michael Cain,
04:20who the Mets are in the markets of both of as we know.
04:23But this really comes down to the simple fact
04:25that David Stearns has been adamant on bringing in talents
04:28that can handle big markets.
04:29And that's why Juan Soto, who we all knew had checked off
04:33every box you're looking for,
04:34the one box he had yet to check off
04:36was his ability to handle a big market.
04:39He was in D.C.
04:39He was in San Diego.
04:40But that pales in comparison to something like New York City.
04:44And to see him dominate with the Yankees
04:45was everything that the Mets needed to see
04:47to know that he was their guy.
04:49The same thing can be said with Clay Holmes
04:51on being creative with him as a starter.
04:53And now the same can be said with guys like Devin Williams,
04:56who David Stearns already knew plenty.
04:58He worked with him for years in Milwaukee.
05:00He's the reason why Williams became a star closer
05:02after he traded Hayter to the Padres a couple of years ago.
05:05So if it wasn't for Stearns,
05:08Devin Williams may never actually get trade to the Yankees
05:10because of how the timeline has been all this time.
05:12So when you just look at what these guys have done
05:15in the Yankees organization,
05:16there's been a lot of success.
05:18The Mets like that success,
05:19and they know that they don't have to worry
05:21about an adjustment period
05:22that would otherwise be the case for guys
05:24that they landed at the traded line.
05:26Cedric Mullins, Ryan Helsley,
05:28what did these players have in common?
05:29They were scared of their own shadow, Brandon.
05:31They were from small market organizations
05:33and did not know how to handle the pressure,
05:35handle the fandom, handle the media,
05:37and most certainly handle the heat.
05:39Really quick.
05:40I'm talking 20, 30 seconds quick.
05:43I know we're still early in the off season,
05:45but grade David Stearns is off season so far.
05:49Go.
05:51It's hard to give it a great grade right now.
05:53I would say we're at a C minus,
05:54and that might be generous, okay?
05:56Because there's no way to give them a solid grade
05:58when you've lost Pete Alonzo, Edwin Diaz,
06:00and still don't, I think, have the best replacements.
06:03The Mets have more work to do in the bullpen,
06:04and they have a lot more work to do on the offensive end.
06:08C minus is passing.
06:12I'm thinking of my transcripts in high school,
06:14so we can't grade on scale here when it comes to that.
06:18But, hey, Ward, appreciate you hopping on with us, man,
06:20in such short notice.
06:22Thank you, Brandon.
06:23Always a pleasure.
06:24Thank you, Brandon.
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