Yankees boost rotation, trade for LHP Ryan Weathers

The New York Yankees added lefty Ryan Weathers in a trade with the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, per YES Network’s Jack Curry. Longtime Marlins insider Craig Mish added the Yankees would send four prospects to Miami in the deal, including center field prospect Dillon Lewis.

A former first-round pick, Weathers was drafted seventh overall by the Padres in 2018 and debuted in 2021. He was traded to Miami for Garrett Cooper in 2023 and posted a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last season.

Therein lies the concern over Weathers: health. He didn’t pitch until May last year because of a forearm strain in spring training. In June, a strained lat kept him on the shelf until September. He has started 55 of 70 career games, not once reaching 100 innings in a season.

However, there is one thing Weathers does that absolutely attracted general manager Brian Cashman and pitching coach Matt Blake: velocity. Weathers throws hard. Even in an injury-shortened 2025, his fastball velocity topped out at 96.8 mph. That placed him in MLB’s 86th percentile.

The downside is Weathers is a fastball-dominant pitcher still figuring out his secondary pitches. He’s gotten a good feel for his changeup, posting a career-best 107 Stuff+ with it last season. The sinker and sweeper, on the other hand, are works in progress along with his fastball. Weathers didn’t post an above-average Stuff+ until last year, and his fastball is still considered below average.

However, this could be where Blake enters the picture. This is the same man who made “Nasty Nestor” out of journeyman lefty Nestor Cortes. The one who transformed Michael King from a rookie who didn’t know what to do with himself into the centerpiece of the Juan Soto trade and current Padres ace. Blake also taught Jameson Taillon to lead with his fastball instead of pitching with what can only be called a “bag of tricks” approach.

And who can forget how Blake took a no-name Pirates reliever named Clay Holmes, and used the natural velocity to develop the two-planed “demon” sinker? Cue Holmes becoming an All-Star Closer and now Mets rotation regular.

In fact, this could be Blake’s motivation with Ryan Weathers. The young lefty has always been a majority ground ball pitcher, with his career grounder rate (GB%) at 43.4 %. Weathers is also a big soft-contact guy, posting a career-rate near 18%. Very strange considering he gave up over 1.6 home runs per nine innings in 2025.

Add the velocity, pitch mix, underlying stats and upside altogether, and it’s almost too clear why the Yankees like Ryan Weathers. He’s a groundball pitcher who, despite entering his sixth MLB season at age 26, is still learning how to pitch. He’s a late bloomer on account of injuries.

It also helps that this is something of a family reunion. Ryan’s father, David Weathers, came to the Yankees at the 1996 trade deadline from—brace yourselves—the Marlins. Though the elder Weathers struggled mightily as a Yankee, posting an awful 9.35 ERA in two short stints, he wasn’t a complete bust in pinstripes. He allowed one run in 11 postseason innings and picked up the win in the decisive Game 4 of the ALDS versus Texas. Better yet, he went on to pitch for 12 more years with a handful of teams.

That said, this is the Yankees taking a low risk on another upside project. Ryan Weathers, injuries aside, has natural fastball velocity and is young enough at 26 that it’s worth it for Matt Blake and pitching director Sam Briend to get him inside the Gas Station and make a plan. As of now, he should slot in behind Max Fried and Cam Schlittler while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon recover from their respective elbow surgeries.

Better yet, Weathers comes with three years of control and only makes $1.35 million this season. There’s a lane for a clean break if things don’t work out, be it for health or baseball reasons.

In the meantime, come spring training, Ryan Weathers can expect to make regular starts. So long as he improves his fastball movement and commits to the sinker? Don’t be surprised if he winds up looking like yet another Cashman surprise find.