2:10pm: The Pirates are acquiring Weaver, according to Jorge Castillo of ESPN. There is no word on the return yet.
2:06pm: The Pirates are “pushing hard” to acquire right-handed reliever Luke Weaver from the Mets, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Nothing is done yet, but the Pirates are indeed the favorites for Weaver, Chelsea Janes of SNY adds.
As part of an aggressive offseason, the Mets added Weaver on a two-year, $22MM pact in free agency. Little has gone right for the Mets since then, evidenced by their 47-66 record and status as surefire sellers, but Weaver has been a rare bright spot. The 32-year-old has turned in 44 innings of 1.84 ERA ball, though he has benefited from a .204 batting average on balls in play and an 82.8% strand rate. While his current ERA may not be sustainable, metrics such as FIP (2.82), xERA (2.84), SIERA (3.09) and xFIP (3.50) all suggest he has done quality work. Weaver has helped his cause with above-average strikeout, walk and ground-ball percentages of 26.6%, 6.5% and 43.1%, respectively.
More to come…
