The have added one of the best relievers in baseball to one of the game’s worst bullpens. The Pirates are set to acquire right-hander from the , reports the . The Mets will receive infield prospect in the deal. Weaver is under contract with an $11 million salary for next season.
Weaver, 33 later this month, . He owns a 1.84 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 44 innings, plus he’s big-market and postseason battle-tested. Two years ago, Weaver was the postseason closer for the en route to their American League pennant win.
Going into Monday, Pittsburgh’s bullpen ranked 22nd in ERA and 17th in WAR. They’ve now added Weaver and to the relief crew, giving manager Don Kelly right-handed complements to lefty stalwarts and . The Pirates are said to want a right-handed bat before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline.
Stafura, 21, is a native New Yorker who joined the Pirates in last year’s trade with the . He’s hitting .276/.367/.593 with 20 home runs in Single-A this year, with 14 of those homers coming in July. ranked Stafura as the No. 9 prospect in Pittsburgh’s system thanks to his defense.
As for the Mets, Weaver is the latest player to be shipped out as part of their deadline sell-off. In recent days, they’ve traded to the , to the , to the , to the , and now Weaver to the Pirates.
Rentals and are likely to move prior to the deadline, possibly as well. Here now are our grades for the Weaver for Stafura swap.
Bullpen help was a must for the Pirates and not only did they land one of the best relievers in the game, he’s under contract next season. Weaver will help this year and next, and they didn’t have to trade from the top of their farm system. That’s an easy A. The Pirates got much better and they kept their best prospects.
I expected a larger return for Weaver, one of the game’s top relievers and a player who is signed through next season, but unless we’re talking , teams simply do not trade tippy top prospects for relievers these days. Stafura is a quality, arrow-up prospect who is maybe two or three years away from Queens.
