Luke Weaver is heading to the Mets, and both Evan and Morash believe it could turn out to be a high-reward signing. McMonigle agrees, but wonders why the salary was as high as it was. Plus, Moose sounds off on David Stearns' philosophies that led to losing Pete Alonso, and McMonigle says the team is having a brutal offseason so far.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I want to hear from a few Yankee fans. So let's start with you, Sean Morash. Luke Weaver was certainly a guy that at times you really liked, really trusted, was a big part of your bullpen for parts of two seasons. What's your view on the Yankees losing Luke Weaver to the New York Mets? Well, I can say this definitively.
For the second straight offseason, the Mets have signed Sean Morash's favorite Yankee.
Chapter 2: What are the implications of Luke Weaver signing with the Mets?
That's true. That's how you felt about Luke Weaver? I love Luke Weaver. Yeah, I found an old tweet of you. You ready for this? Uh-huh. And you're walking right into it. This isn't a catch-you moment because you're backing it up. This is from May 22, 2025, right before Luke Weaver fell off the rooftop.
Chapter 3: Why did the Yankees not re-sign Luke Weaver?
Luke Weaver is the best and most trustworthy closer for the Yankees since Mariano. That was you. Yeah, and it was true at the time. It's true. You love him? Yeah. And it was true at the time. Obviously, he felt whatever happened, where if he was tipping a little pitch, his location after he'd come back from the injuries. Here's the truth.
You're an idiot if you don't watch baseball and understand that there are so, more often than not, relievers are very year-to-year in Major League Baseball. And I believe that Luke Weaver's downside last year after the injury, as much as it was infuriating, tough to figure out. I mean, he blew that 4th of July game to the Mets. A lot of that was tough to handle.
I was of the belief this offseason, even if the Yankees weren't going to bring him back, that I believe Luke Weaver is going to have a huge bounce-back season. And I also think that Luke Weaver... Whether you liked him or didn't like him, his mentality and his kind of odd persona and wiriness is really oddly fit perfect for late innings and pressure. Yeah, he's a weird guy.
He's a weird guy in a good way. Nice guy, weird guy. When you watched Devin Williams pitch last year, you couldn't figure out if Devin Williams mentally just was crumbling under the pressure. I never thought that Luke Weaver's struggles had anything to do with a mental crumbling of the moment. I think it was very mechanical and everything to do with it.
So I say that to say, I expect Luke Weaver to have a really big year for the Mets. So you thought it was a good move is what you're saying? I thought it was a good move. And in the end, I believe Luke Weaver will ultimately prove to be the closer of the New York Mets by the time the season ends. Wow. So you're not...
taking this time to mock the Mets yet again signing a Yankee cast-off, if you will.
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Chapter 4: What are the concerns about the Mets' offseason decisions?
Because in fairness, the Yankees did not pursue re-signing Luke Weaver, just like they did not pursue re-signing Devin Williams. So whether they have great years or not, that may happen. It's their bullpen arms. The Yankees did not pursue keeping either guy. Are we sure? Because yesterday there was a report the Yankees were one of 10 teams that are interested in him.
I heard that they weren't, but who knows? We know Devin for sure. Look, we know Devin for sure. Maybe not on Weaver. It is fair to look at the Mets and go, oh my God, they got another ex-Yankee. In fact, when I did my five bold predictions for this winter, I said the Mets would sign at least one more Yankee. I brought up Luke Weaver. So I was right on that.
I can't mock if I think the guy's going to be really good there. All right, so that's a positive view from Sean Moresh. I received an audio text message from a friend of mine, and he did give me permission to play any part of the clip I wanted.
It was a minute and a half long, so I picked the end of his conversation in which he was talking to me as a Yankee fan about Luke Weaver and Devin Williams.
Dude, the guy was awful. $11 million a year? So you basically spent how much? $24 million this year and next year and whatever? On two relievers that suck for us. Congratulations.
That's very funny. So do you share that belief? Yeah, but again, I go back to what I said. They did suck for us last year at the end of the year, but relievers are year to year. Listen, I think you actually have the right healthy view of this with relievers. There are very few relief pitchers. That are sure things. Very few.
Most of the time, you sign relievers, and you never know what you're going to get. Now, Luke is a little bit different because he's a converted starting pitcher, and I want to throw that out there. Let us not rule out that the Mets may move him to the rotation, which I am against, by the way. If they do that, then I'm totally mocking them. Okay, me too. I'm against that as well.
Luke was a starting pitcher with Arizona and St. Louis, and he bounced around baseball, and even the Yankees. He made a few starts in 2023. When they moved him to the bullpen in 2024, he was awesome. He was awesome because he could pitch multiple innings, and he was really good, and he never let the pressure bother him.
Last year, he got off to another great start until the hamstring issue came back probably too early, and then from June on, was awful. There's no disputing it, and the why is the big question. Why was he awful? Did the league figure him out? Well, if that's the case, that's deeply concerning. Was it his mechanics altering because he came back so quick from the hamstring?
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Chapter 5: How does David Stearns' philosophy affect the Mets' roster?
They don't have a five- or six-year track record of being really good. You just have to hope that the Mets are going to fix whatever issues hit Luke Weaver in the second half of 2025. And if you look at the October of 2024... Luke Weaver has proven it in the big game more than Edwin Diaz has in his career at the back end. Well, he had a lot of opportunities.
So to your point, in the 2024 postseason, Luke Weaver pitched 15 out of third innings, allowed three runs, 16 strikeouts, two walks, pitched to a 1.76 ERA. So he pitched very well in the postseason. Obviously, this past postseason, no one wants to talk about that. No. Because he was atrocious. A third of an inning, four hits and five runs. Yeah, it wasn't great. He was unpitchable. I agree.
So the Mets just have to fix that. They got a pitching lab, though, Evan. They should be able to clean that up. They just blew up the pitching lab. How about the fact that they're employing three former Yankee closers, too? Oh, because of Clay Holmes? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they have a lot of former Yankees. And I remember saying this about the Devon signing.
It's a small thing, but it's an important thing. It does help when you sign a former Yankee, or in your case, you sign a former Met, that the guy has experience pitching in New York. Like, if let's say the Met signed Pete Fairbanks, besides the injuries that I just talked about... One of the things I would have thrown out there about Fairbanks was, well, he's been in Tampa. Right.
Can he handle New York? We don't have to do that with Luke Weaver. We don't. So as much as it's easy fodder, I understand the appeal of actually signing someone from the other New York team. Can I give you the downside? Sure. I brought up the mentality of Devin Williams. Devin Williams already has to deal with the idea of he's replacing Edwin Diaz.
Now his biggest threat to taking his job with the Mets is the guy that took his job last year. It's got to be a little mentally wearing on you in the locker room. Maybe. Probably not, but I'll let you make your theory. Okay. You can smirk because I think I just brought something to the table. We can break that down on the Rico.
I don't think I'm going to break down the relationship of Luke Weaver and Devin. You like the signing, Tommy?
I do, and this tells me that Cody Bellinger's next. If they're going to just sign every former Yankee, why wouldn't Bellinger be a part of that, right? I know, Evan, you have gone back and forth on this now, but after the signing of Luke Weaver, doesn't that once again get you back into camp that Bellinger's going to be a man?
No, I think it has nothing to do with it. Counterpoint, this proves Cody Bellinger is going to be a Yankee because if they're not rubbing nickels together for Luke Weaver to bring him back, they're saving every last dollar for Cody Bellinger. Yeah, I mean, maybe. I don't think that one has to do with the other. I really don't.
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Chapter 6: What are the potential issues with the Mets' bullpen strategy?
I'm not. I still get pissy about it. You made the NLCS after he was gone. Yeah, they could have won the World Series if he was there. You're not going to get... That means we're working with that? Do you think Joe is over Daryl? I don't think Joe's over Daryl. Joe's not over Seaver. You guys are insane. I got over Soto. But you got to, first of all, come on, dude. The guy was there for one year.
Don't do that. We made the World Series. I get that, but it was one year. It's just not the same. It is the same. No, it's not the same. It is the same. It's not. And also, here's the other difference. You really genuinely made every attempt to keep on Soto. You really did. The Yankees went to... 16 years and $750 million. They tried. They lost. They battled. They went to the one-yard line.
They lost. With those guys, with Daryl, DeGrom, and Alonzo, bro, they didn't even make a real attempt. You guys got to get it together here. You're building something here with the Mets. You asked me a question.
And I'm giving you an answer.
I thought you were going to be like, you know what? I sit down. I go through those gates opening day. We're ready. It's a new season. I wasn't expecting to say it. No, no, but that's different. That's very different. Like, getting over something, the answer is never. Moving on enough to just evaluate things on their own, I don't know, a couple of weeks. That's different. But getting over it?
I don't get over a lot of things. There's certain things you live with. You're like, no, I'm never going to get over that.
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Chapter 7: How do the Mets plan to replace Pete Alonso's production?
Are you over not working with Joe anymore? I miss Joe, but I'm over it. I mean, he needed to move on. He wanted to retire. Like, what am I going to get mad about? It's not mad, but over it. Craig needed more money. Like, I'm not going to get mad about it. Like, both of those guys left with good reasons. Like, I'm not mad at them.
Okay. A show idea here for the new year as my last, you know, act as executive producer. What? You guys need to have a sports intervention with Evan to help him get over these things of the past so he can move on as a sports fan. How about we just give him an oil change? I think it was oil check, but yes.
The Mets offered him three years, $66 million, with $21 million deferred over 10 years. The Mets then produced another offer, adding a $9 million signing bonus to match the Dodgers offer. But Diaz wanted an average annual salary of at least $20 million after deferrals were taken into account and less deferred money spread over a shorter period. The Mets refused to meet those terms.
The Dodgers did, and Edwin Diaz felt compelled to accept it since the Dodgers accepted it. Why take it back to the Mets when they said no and the Dodgers said yes? So this reinforces my opinion that they thought he was coming back. They wanted him back.
I think they got way too cute in these negotiations, including Castillo mentioning again that Edwin Diaz was, quote, miffed by the Devin Williams signing and not being informed about it. So whether you want to call Edwin sensitive or not, clearly the Mets handling of these negotiations helped nudge him slightly to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, why am I less mad at Edwin Diaz?
There was a third team that made an offer to Edwin. We know about the Dodgers. We know about the Mets. And this third team made a five-year offer. The Yankees? It was not the Yankees. He received a five-year offer from the Atlanta Braves. Oh, my God. Now, we don't know how much money it was per year. I'm assuming it was less. That would have been great.
And the Braves also declined to match Edwin's ask. But they did make him a five-year offer, and Edwin Diaz said no. Ah, so you respect that. He could have gotten more long-term security by going to the Braves. You're a rival, and he didn't do that.
And really what I care about is that as much as we hate the Dodgers and they're evil and they're bad for baseball, the division rival still matters more than the team outside of my division. Absolutely. I would have been more pissed at Edwin Diaz signing with the Braves than him signing with the Dodgers. That stupid A on the hat coming out to the trumpets, that would have been a tough pill.
And more than anything, it's six games versus 13 games. Yeah, he's in your face way more. And winning a division, as we've talked about, is really important. And it comes down to a couple games. He's shutting down those couple games, and Devin Williams is blowing a couple games. That's all the difference in the world. I am happier that Edwin Diaz is a Dodger as compared to the Atlanta Braves.
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Chapter 8: What is the significance of the Mets' pitching lab in player development?
Yes is the easy answer because it is a division rival, but the Braves kind of stink. The Dodgers, to me, are the measuring stick right now. That's the team you wanted to throw in. You don't want to make the Dodgers even better than they already were.
Oh, Jesus. I know you're going to be doing a different show, but you'll always be a part of this family.
I can't have an opinion on a baseball team in Atlanta?
You absolutely have a right to have an opinion. And I have a right to replay that freaking clip of what you just said come July.
Just make sure you promote the show after you play it. That's fine.
Promote the show?
I promote everything. Don't just say some idiot said this. Just say, Luke, you could hear him at night or after Yankee games.
When we make fun of Big Mac over the last year and a half, do you think I properly promoted his overnight show or not really? You properly promoted it. All right, so then you got nothing to worry about. What are you worried about? You're worried that we're not going to play promos? Listen to Tommy Lugauer at night.
I didn't even think of that.
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