Mets Must Cash In On Luke Weaver's Career-Defining Season

Luke Weaver’s first half was nothing short of heroic, going from being borderline unusable for the first month of the season to being the clear best arm in the New York Mets' bullpen. With the Aug. 3 deadline approaching, president of baseball operations David Stearns has to evaluate what it would take to part with such a reliable arm.

Weaver signed a two-year, $22 million dollar deal this past offseason to be the primary set-up man to closer Devin Williams. While Williams has struggled mightily this season, Weaver has flourished. In 40 innings, he has only allowed nine earned runs, with eight of them coming in the month of April. Weaver’s 207 ERA+ ranks among the top in baseball.

If the season ended today, Weaver would finish with career bests in ERA, ERA+, FIP, WHIP and hits per nine innings. Few relievers in baseball are pitching as well as the Mets' high-leverage fireman and opposing organizations will realize that. The thing is, this caliber of production isn't a guarantee to continue moving forward; if the Mets hold onto Weaver at this deadline and he struggles next season, fans will look back and wonder what they could have gotten for the 32-year-old right-hander. They should not make that mistake.

So, with Weaver having a career year and the Mets fully committed to selling this deadline, it's time to cash in. Weaver’s extra year of control will drive up his value, and though it might be tempting to hold onto him for a run in 2027, that's just not advisable. New York should probably end up with potentially add two top-ten prospects from a contending organization in exchange for Weaver. They can't ignore that kind of on-the-fly farm system invigoration, especially knowing that they've already called up many of their top prospects this year.

Relievers are just too volatile not to trade at the peak of their value; there's nothing guaranteeing that Weaver will this good next year for a hopefully better Mets team in his age-33 season. And that's ignoring the possibility that the 2027 campaign in axed due to the expected lockout.

Because of that impending lockout, most teams will go for it this year and prospects will be thrown around like there's no tomorrow. David Stearns will know to take advantage of those market conditions, even if it means parting with his best offseason addition.