Last winter the New York Yankees signed Luke Weaver to a two-year $5 million deal that came with the second year being a club option, and they’re making the obvious decision to retain him after a dominant 2024 campaign. he struck out 103 batters with a 2.89 ERA across 62 appearances out of the bullpen for the Yankees, becoming their closer in early September and dominating in that role. The Yankees desperately needed someone to step up and take the closer role after Clay Holmes sputtered down the stretch, and he more than answered the call.
Valued at just $2.5 million for the 2025 season, it’s a steal of a deal that will give the Yankees a top-of-the-line closer at an extremely low cost.
Yankees Faith in Luke Weaver Results in a Cost-Efficient Closer
Just a year ago, Luke Weaver was claimed by the Yankees off of waivers after being designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners. It was the second time he had been DFA’d that season, as the Cincinnati Reds chose to cut him as well after a horrid stint as a starting pitcher. The Yankees were able to scoop him up, get three productive starts, and bring him back on an extremely cheap contract that has become one of the best Brian Cashman has ever inked.
Sporting a mid-90s fastball, devastating changeup, and solid cutter in his arsenal, Weaver is able to rack up strikeouts and limit damage contact thanks to his excellent velocity and movement profiles. Couple that with a unique leg kick and delivery, and you have a pitcher who can dominate in the ninth inning against the very best lineups in the sport. Weaver took off after being named the closer, where he put up dominant numbers in the regular and postseason.
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As the Yankees’ closer, he posted a 1.03 ERA across 20 appearances, striking out 40 batters and posting a 0.65 WHIP in regular and postseason action. His stuff spiked as well, throwing harder and seeing an increase in his fastball whiff rates as a result. Hitters were held to just a .140 BA against him, working just five walks over that sample size. Luke Weaver’s ability to go multiple innings makes him extremely valuable as well since Aaron Boone can bring him into the eighth or ninth inning depending on the situation.
With Clay Holmes, Tommy Kahnle, and Tim Hill all hitting the free agent market, they’re losing three high-leverage arms who they’ll either have to bring back or replace over the winter. Juan Soto’s free agent saga is the priority for the Yankees as it should be, which leaves less money allocated to finding bullpen depth, but that’s not new for the Yankees. They’ve opted for these cheaper prove-it deals that they’ve been able to convert into quality bullpen depth, as they did with Weaver himself.
The Yankees now have their closer set in stone ahead of Opening Day, one piece to a bullpen puzzle that will be interesting to monitor over the offseason.