Luke Weaver, the Mets’ most valuable trade asset, has been traded to the Pirates. Weaver, a 32-year-old relief pitcher, has another year of team control after 2026. After falling out of the playoff race, the Mets had a decision to make on whether to keep Weaver or trade him at his peak value. Ultimately, David Stearns chose the latter and decided to move him to Pittsburgh.
In return, the Mets are receiving infield prospect Sammy Stafura, Pittsburgh’s No. 9 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No. 25 prospect according to Baseball America. Stafura’s numbers have taken a huge step forward in 2026, batting .276/.367/.593 with 20 homers and 20 steals over 259 plate appearances, although he has also struck out 79 times.
The Mets signed Weaver in December of 2025, inking him to a two-year, $22 million contract. After a rocky start to the year, Weaver became a dominant high-leverage reliever. This year, Weaver has posted a sparkling 1.84 ERA across 44 innings. From May on, Weaver has given up one earned run over the last 32 innings, striking out 37 and walking only seven.
Despite some criticism after struggling in 2025 for the Yankees, Weaver bounced back and became an incredibly valuable piece in the Mets’ bullpen. What makes Weaver such a valuable piece is his success vs both righties and lefties, and his ability to avoid free passes. Weaver was not only dominant against right-handed hitters, but also more than capable versus lefties. Against righties, Weaver is holding hitters to a .099 BA (.099/.167/.155 vs him). Similarly, lefties are only hitting .217 off of him (.217/.278/.325). When combined with his ability to avoid walks, this makes him a perfect high-leverage option for Pittsburgh.
