Headlines

  • Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier
  • Darren O’Day Announces Retirement
  • Royals To Re-Sign Zack Greinke
  • Rays Close To Contract Extension With Yandy Diaz
  • Mets To Extend Jeff McNeil
  • Braves Extend Manager Brian Snitker Through 2025
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Luke Weaver

Reds Sign Luke Weaver

By Anthony Franco | January 13, 2023 at 4:34pm CDT

The Reds announced they’ve signed right-hander Luke Weaver to a one-year contract. Infielder Matt Reynolds was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move. The Boras Corporation client will receive a $2MM base salary, tweets Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.

Weaver joins the fifth organization of his professional career. A first-round selection of the Cardinals in 2014, he broke into the majors with St. Louis two years later. After struggling through nine outings as a rookie, the former top prospect put up a 3.88 ERA through 60 1/3 innings in 2017. Weaver looked as if he might carve out a long-term rotation role for the Redbirds, but he stumbled to a 4.95 ERA across a career-high 136 1/3 frames the next season.

The following offseason, St. Louis packaged Weaver alongside Carson Kelly and Andrew Young to the Diamondbacks for Paul Goldschmidt. The move and subsequent five-year extension turned out brilliantly for St. Louis but didn’t pay off for the Snakes. That’s in large part because Weaver never cemented himself in the Arizona rotation.

Things started off encouragingly enough, as Weaver pitched to a 2.94 ERA in 12 starts in 2019. He posted strong peripherals but missed an extended chunk of time with forearm tightness. Arm injuries would unfortunately become a recurring theme for the Florida State product, who has lost notable portions of three of the last four seasons. The only recent fully healthy campaign came in 2020 with the shortened schedule. He took a full slate of 12 turns through the rotation that year but was bombed for a 6.58 ERA through 52 innings. He was limited to 13 starts in 2021 by a strained shoulder and lost a couple months early last season with inflammation in his throwing elbow.

Over three-plus seasons in the desert, Weaver pitched to a 4.72 ERA in just fewer than 200 innings. At last summer’s trade deadline, the Snakes flipped him to the Royals for infielder Emmanuel Rivera. Kansas City’s buy-low attempt didn’t go as hoped. Working exclusively in relief, Weaver allowed 15 runs in 19 2/3 innings. The Royals took him off the roster after the season. He briefly landed with the Mariners via waivers but Seattle non-tendered him within a couple weeks. That sent him to free agency for the first time, where he’ll try to right the ship in Cincinnati.

Over parts of seven MLB seasons, Weaver owns a 4.79 ERA in 450 2/3 innings. He’s struck out a solid 23.5% of opposing hitters against a manageable 7.5% walk percentage. That strikeout/walk profile has led to more favorable views from ERA estimators like FIP (3.96) and SIERA (4.08) than his bottom line ERA might suggest. An elevated .328 batting average on balls in play has plagued Weaver, though it’d be overly simplistic to attribute that entirely to poor luck. The 6’2″ hurler has given up plenty of hard contact throughout his career. Opponents have hit more than 40% of their batted balls hard (with an exit velocity of 95 MPH or greater) in each of the last four seasons.

Primarily a fastball-changeup pitcher, Weaver has unsuccessfully tinkered with various breaking pitches over the years. He’s mixed in each of a slider, cutter and curveball throughout his MLB tenure but never seemed entirely comfortable with any of those offerings. Working almost exclusively out of the bullpen last season, he turned to his fastball or changeup roughly 90% of the time while occasionally deploying a slider as a third pitch against right-handed batters.

Weaver started just one of his 26 outings last season. He’d started 80 of 89 big league appearances before last year, though, and it seems the Reds will give him another shot at a rotation role. Cincinnati has Nick Lodolo, Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft — each of whom showed upside to varying degrees as rookies last season — penciled into three rotation spots. The final two are firmly up for grabs, with players like Luis Cessa, Justin Dunn and Connor Overton battling for rotation jobs as well. Weaver figures to have the inside track at one of the available spots, with Cessa having primarily been a reliever throughout his career and Dunn and Overton still having minor league options remaining.

The 29-year-old Weaver has over five years of major league service time. He can’t be optioned without his consent, so he’s a virtual lock to open the season on the MLB roster in some capacity. He’ll return to the free agent market again at year’s end, and the one-year term makes him an obvious midseason trade candidate if things click early in his Cincinnati tenure. The Reds are unlikely to hang around the playoff picture in 2023, making it likely they’d field offers on short-term veterans like Weaver and fellow free agent signee Wil Myers if those players perform well enough to draw interest from contenders.

Tacking on Weaver’s modest salary brings Cincinnati’s projected payroll up around $81MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. That’s well below last year’s $114MM approximate Opening Day figure. General manager Nick Krall has spoken on multiple occasions about the payroll constraints facing the front office. It’s possible Cincinnati rolls the dice on another low-cost upside play or two with Spring Training a month away, but they’re unlikely to make any particularly noteworthy free agent additions. The bullpen and center field stand out as areas where Cincinnati could continue searching for smaller upgrades.

Reynolds, displaced by Weaver’s addition, landed in Cincinnati last April off waivers from the Mets. The out-of-options infielder held his roster spot all season, appearing in 92 games with Cincinnati. He tallied a new career high with 272 plate appearances, hitting .246/.320/.332 with a trio of home runs. Reynolds walked in nearly 10% of his plate appearances but went down on strikes roughly 29% of the time. While he made a fair amount of hard contact, a lofty 50.9% grounder rate muted his overall power impact.

The Reds will now have a week to trade the 32-year-old infielder or place him on waivers. Reynolds has cleared outright waivers twice previously in his career. That’d give him the right to refuse an outright assignment and test minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed again.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Cincinnati Reds Newsstand Transactions Luke Weaver Matt Reynolds

35 comments

Which Remaining Free Agent Relievers Are Coming Off The Best Seasons?

By Anthony Franco | December 26, 2022 at 4:45pm CDT

The offseason floodgates opened this month, with an avalanche of free agent activity once the Winter Meetings got underway. Things have quieted down in recent days thanks to the holidays, but clubs are likely to again get back to attacking the free agent market in earnest this week.

Most of the winter’s top names are off the board, leaving teams to mostly look through lower-cost options as they search for upgrades on the margins of the roster. There are still a number of experienced options available, particularly for teams seeking to round out the bullpen. Using MLBTR’s free agent list, we find 47 pitchers who tossed at least 20 innings out of a team’s bullpen in 2022 and remain unsigned.

We’ll sort the remaining free agent relievers by various metrics of 2022 performance to identify some of the top arms. There are obviously other factors for teams to consider — quality of raw stuff, pre-2022 track record, the player’s injury history, etc. — but a brief snapshot on the top bullpen arms by last year’s performance should provide a decent starting point for players teams might target moving forward. (All figures cited, including league averages, are looking solely at pitchers’ outings as relievers).

ERA (league average — 3.86)

  1. Matt Moore (LHP), 1.95
  2. Alex Young (LHP), 2.08
  3. Matt Wisler (RHP), 2.23
  4. Wily Peralta (RHP), 2.72
  5. Brad Hand (LHP), 2.80
  6. Andrew Chafin (LHP), 2.83
  7. David Phelps (RHP), 2.87
  8. Ralph Garza Jr. (RHP), 3.34
  9. Jackson Stephens (RHP), 3.38
  10. Michael Fulmer (RHP), 3.39

Strikeout rate (league average — 23.6%)

  1. Daniel Norris (LHP), 30%
  2. Darren O’Day (RHP), 27.7%
  3. Andrew Chafin, 27.6%
  4. Matt Moore, 27.3%
  5. Aroldis Chapman (LHP), 26.9%
  6. Steve Cishek (RHP), 25.8%
  7. Chasen Shreve (LHP), 25.4%
  8. Will Smith (LHP), 24.9%
  9. David Phelps, 23.9%
  10. Noé Ramirez, 23.7%

Strikeout/walk rate differential (league average — 14.5 percentage points)

  1. Andrew Chafin, 19.8 points
  2. Daniel Norris, 19 points
  3. Darren O’Day, 17 points
  4. Chasen Shreve, 16.7 points
  5. Steve Cishek, 16.4 points
  6. Craig Stammen (RHP), 15.7 points
  7. Will Smith, 15.3 points
  8. Matt Moore, 14.8 points
  9. Ross Detwiler (LHP), 14.8 points
  10. Luke Weaver (RHP), 13.8 points

Ground-ball rate (league average — 43.5%)

  1. Luis Perdomo (RHP), 62.5%
  2. Joe Smith (RHP), 57.5%
  3. Alex Young, 55.7%
  4. Alex Colomé (RHP), 55.6%
  5. T.J. McFarland (LHP), 53%
  6. Craig Stammen, 52.6%
  7. Garrett Richards (RHP), 52.4%
  8. Bryan Shaw (RHP), 51.8%
  9. Andrew Chafin, 51.3%
  10. Jacob Barnes (RHP), 50.7%

FIP (league average — 3.86)

  1. Luke Weaver, 2.46
  2. Alex Young, 2.65
  3. Matt Moore, 2.98
  4. Andrew Chafin, 3.06
  5. David Phelps, 3.11
  6. Garrett Richards, 3.16
  7. Jackson Stephens, 3.45
  8. Michael Fulmer, 3.57
  9. Brad Hand, 3.93
  10. Darren O’Day, 4.04

Innings Pitched

  1. Matt Moore, 74
  2. Caleb Smith (LHP), 69
  3. Steve Cishek, 66 1/3
  4. Michael Fulmer, 63 2/3
  5. David Phelps, 62 2/3
  6. Hunter Strickland (RHP), 62 1/3
  7. Will Smith, 59
  8. Andrew Chafin, 57 1/3
  9. Bryan Shaw, 54
  10. Jackson Stephens/Hirokazu Sawamura (RHP), 50 2/3 each
Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

2022-23 MLB Free Agents MLBTR Originals Alex Colome Alex Young Andrew Chafin Aroldis Chapman Brad Hand Bryan Shaw Caleb Smith Chasen Shreve Craig Stammen Daniel Norris Darren O'Day David Phelps Garrett Richards Hirokazu Sawamura Hunter Strickland Jackson Stephens Jacob Barnes Joe Smith Luis Perdomo Luke Weaver Matt Moore Matt Wisler Michael Fulmer Noe Ramirez Ralph Garza Ross Detwiler Steve Cishek T.J. McFarland Will Smith Wily Peralta

88 comments

American League Non-Tenders: 11/18/22

By Darragh McDonald | November 18, 2022 at 7:30pm CDT

The deadline to tender contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7:00pm Central. Here’s a rundown of the players on American League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed.

MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all arb-eligible players last month. Onto the transactions…

Latest Transactions

  • The Mariners announced that they have non-tendered three players: catchers Brian O’Keefe and Luis Torrens, as well as righty Luke Weaver. Weaver was just claimed off waivers from the Royals a few weeks ago but will now become a free agent.
  • The White Sox announced three non-tenders: outfielders Adam Engel and Mark Payton, as well as infielder Danny Mendick. Engel is generally considered a strong defensive outfielder but he struggled at the plate in 2022. Mendick played all over the diamond while hitting .289/.343/.443 for a wRC+ of 125.
  • The Guardians announced they have non-tendered lefty Anthony Gose and catcher Luke Maile. Gose was designated for assignment earlier in the week. Maile got into 76 games hit at a below-average level with roughly average defensive marks.
  • The Angels announced four non-tenders: lefties Jhonathan Diaz and Rob Zastryzny, as well as righties Touki Toussaint and Nash Walters. The latter three names were designated for assignment a few days ago.
  • The Rays have non-tendered Ryan Yarbrough, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Tampa designated him for assignment earlier in the week.
  • The Blue Jays announced that they have non-tendered outfielders Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer, as well as infielder Vinny Capra. The two former names were designated for assignment a few days ago.

Earlier Moves

  • The Athletics announced that they did not tender contracts to three players: right-hander Deolis Guerra, left-hander Jared Koenig and infielder David MacKinnon. Guerra is the most seasoned of the trio, having made his MLB debut back in 2015 and made 136 appearances. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in April, missing the entire 2022 campaign and possibly some of 2023 as well.
  • The Red Sox are non-tendering outfielder/first-baseman Franchy Cordero, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Cordero appeared in 84 games for the Red Sox this past season, but hit just .219/.300/.397 with eight home runs while grading out very poorly on defense.  The Sox have also non-tendered infielder Yu Chang, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. The versatile infielder began the year with the Guardians but subsequently went to the Pirates in a trade, then went to the Rays and Red Sox on waiver claims. Across those four teams, he hit .208/.289/.315 for a wRC+ of 78.
  • The Astros will part ways with reliever Josh James, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports they’re expected to non-tender him tonight. He spent the entire 2022 campaign in the minors, and underwent flexor tendon surgery in October and is without a timetable to return.
  • The Rangers announced that right-hander Nick Snyder has not been tendered a contract. He only has 4 2/3 innings of MLB experience over the past couple of seasons. He spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, posting a 4.97 ERA over 38 innings, though with a 30.9% strikeout rate.
  • The Royals opted to non-tender lefty Jake Brentz and right-hander Nate Webb, the team announced. That’s no surprise, as both players were designated for assignment earlier this week. They lost their 40-man roster spots as a result, but the non-tender means Kansas City won’t need to run them through waivers before sending them directly to free agency. Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets that Kansas City is tendering contracts to the rest of their arbitration class, including Brad Keller and Amir Garrett — each of whom seemed to have a small chance of being cut loose after tough seasons.
Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Cleveland Guardians Houston Astros Kansas City Royals Los Angeles Angels Oakland Athletics Seattle Mariners Tampa Bay Rays Texas Rangers Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Adam Engel Anthony Gose Bradley Zimmer Brian O'Keefe Danny Mendick David MacKinnon Deolis Guerra Franchy Cordero Jake Brentz Jared Koenig Jhonathan Diaz Josh James Luis Torrens Luke Maile Luke Weaver Mark Payton Nash Walters Nate Webb Nick Snyder Raimel Tapia Rob Zastryzny Ryan Yarbrough Touki Toussaint Vinny Capra Yu Chang

64 comments

Mariners Claim Luke Weaver, Designate Derek Hill

By Darragh McDonald | October 26, 2022 at 5:20pm CDT

The Mariners announced that they have claimed right-hander Luke Weaver off waivers from the Royals. Outfielder Derek Hill was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Weaver, 29, was a highly-touted prospect as he made his way through the system of the Cardinals, who drafted him in 2014. He showed some potential in his first tastes of the big leagues and eventually became a key piece of the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt from Arizona to St. Louis. Weaver made 12 good starts in the desert in 2019 but has since been held back by injuries and underperformance.

He was able to make 12 starts in the shortened 2020 season but put up an ERA of 6.58 that year. He was better in 2021 but a shoulder injury limited him to just 13 starts over that full season. This year, the D-Backs tried moving him to the bullpen, which didn’t really work. He registered a 7.71 ERA before getting flipped to the Royals at the deadline. He was slightly better in KC, but still had a 5.59 ERA after the deal.

There wasn’t any public indication the Royals had placed Weaver on waivers, though it appears they had been quietly performing some roster maintenance. Many teams are facing roster crunches soon, as there’s no injured list between the World Series and Spring Training. Since most teams have at least a few players on the 60-day IL, those players will soon have to retake roster spots or else be cut. Weaver is arbitration-eligible and has been projected for a salary of $3MM by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Instead, it seems the Royals have cut him loose and will use his roster spot for other players.

For the Mariners, they are evidently more enamored of Weaver than the Royals. It’s not outlandish to think that Weaver could find better results than what he saw in 2022. His .429 batting average on balls in play and 58.6% strand rate are both much worse than league averages. As such, all advanced metrics thought him deserving of much better than his 6.56 combined ERA between the D-Backs and Royals. Weaver’s 3.64 SIERA, 2.69 FIP and 3.82 xFIP all suggest he was better than he might have seemed, though xERA is a bit more skeptical with a 5.45.

In order to take a chance on Weaver, the M’s are risking losing Hill. The 26-year-old was just claimed off waivers from the Tigers in August, having served as a depth piece for both clubs. However, he is now out of options and unable to be easily sent down to the farm going forward. He got into 31 MLB games this year, all with Detroit, and hit .229/.270/.289 for a wRC+ of 60. In 68 minor league games, he slashed .220/.294/.386, 73 wRC+. Despite that tepid offensive output, Hill might find interest from other clubs given his speed and defensive skills. If he clears waivers, he would be eligible to elect free agency based on having spent parts of seven seasons in the minors.

Share 0 Retweet 10 Send via email0

Kansas City Royals Seattle Mariners Transactions Derek Hill Luke Weaver

23 comments

D-Backs, Royals To Swap Luke Weaver For Emmanuel Rivera

By Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald | August 1, 2022 at 7:40pm CDT

The Royals and Diamondbacks are nearing agreement on a deal that’ll send right-hander Luke Weaver to Kansas City for infielder Emmanuel Rivera, reports John Gambadoro of 98.7FM radio in Phoenix (Twitter link).

Weaver was once a high-profile acquisition of the Diamondbacks, coming over as part of the package they received for sending superstar Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals. After the first 12 starts he made for Arizona, it seemed like they had a rotation stalwart on their hands. Weaver put up a 2.94 ERA in 2019 with a 40.7% ground ball rate, 26.5% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. Unfortunately, a forearm strain ended his season early and he hasn’t been quite the same since.

Weaver was healthy for the shortened 2020 campaign, making 12 starts and throwing 52 innings but putting up an ERA of 6.58 in that time. He was better in 2021, getting his ERA down to 4.25, but was limited to just 13 starts by a shoulder injury. Coming into this season, the D-Backs moved him to the bullpen, which has led to results both encouraging and discouraging. His 7.71 ERA is certainly unappealing, though there are reasons to believe that isn’t a true reflection of his work. His 24.1% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate are both better than league average, and he’s also allowing just 7.7% of his fly balls to leave the yard. What seems to be hurting his ERA is an unsustainable .434 batting average on balls in play and a 55.9% strand rate.

Still, this is a sample of just 16 1/3 innings after multiple seasons of disappointing results. The Royals won’t have a ton of time to get Weaver back on track, as he is set to reach free agency after the 2023 campaign. He’s making a salary of $2.875MM this year and is eligible for another pass through arbitration next year.

In exchange for Weaver, the Diamondbacks are getting Rivera, 26, a corner infielder who hasn’t hit much in the majors but has shown plenty of promise in the minors. Since making his MLB debut last year, he’s gotten into 92 games and hit .243/.294/.378 for a wRC+ of 87. However, in 63 Triple-A games last year, he hit .286/.348/.592 for a wRC+ of 144. In 20 games there this year, his line is .307/.388/.520, 142 wRC+.

Rivera is primarily a third baseman and would likely slot behind Josh Rojas on Arizona’s depth chart, though Rojas is capable of moving to other spots on the field if they really want to give Rivera a shot. Rivera’s also played some first base and could perhaps see some time there if the D-Backs pull the trigger on a Christian Walker trade, as they have reportedly considered. However he’s deployed, Rivera comes with an extended window of control, having come into this season with less than a year of MLB service time. He also can be optioned for the remainder of this year as well as another season, potentially delaying his free agency and arbitration.

For the Royals, they likely felt Rivera was squeezed out due to their crowded corner infield mix, with Nicky Lopez getting a lot of playing time at third, while Vinnie Pasquantino, Nick Pratto and Hunter Dozier are also around for first base or corner outfield duty. The designated hitter slot is also a little busy between that group and the catching duo of Salvador Perez and MJ Melendez. They’ve used that surplus of corner infield bats to add an intriguing arm, while the Diamondbacks have taken a pitcher they couldn’t get good results out of and turned him into a controllable infield depth option.

Share 0 Retweet 3 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Kansas City Royals Newsstand Transactions Emmanuel Rivera Luke Weaver

30 comments

Diamondbacks Designate Drew Ellis For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | June 12, 2022 at 12:10pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced a series of roster moves today, with right-hander Luke Weaver being activated from the 60-day injured list. To create space for Weaver on the active roster, right-hander Edwin Uceta was optioned to Triple-A. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, infielder Drew Ellis was designated for assignment.

Acquired from the Cardinals in the Paul Goldschmidt trade, Weaver had an excellent start to his Diamondbacks tenure, although it was limited by a forearm strain. In 12 starts that year, he put up a 2.94 ERA in 64 1/3 innings. But over the subsequent two seasons, injuries and underperformance dimmed his outlook. In April, manager Terry Lovullo announced that the club planned to use Weaver out of the bullpen to start the year. Regardless, Weaver landed on the IL with elbow inflammation after throwing just 2/3 of an inning, only now making his way back to the majors. It’s possible that Weaver could get back into the rotation soon, as his last rehab outing was a four-inning start where he threw 60 pitches. Caleb Smith took Weaver’s rotation spot at the start of the year but was himself bumped into the bullpen after just one start. Humberto Castellanos took over a rotation spot in April but landed on the IL recently.

As for Ellis, 26, he was a second round pick of the D-Backs in 2017. He had his contract selected in July of last year and made his major league debut. In 34 MLB games so far, he has a tepid batting line of .134/.268/.207, 37 wRC+. He has an incredible 18.4% walk rate in 42 Triple-A games this year, helping him produce a line of .217/.369/.399, 100 wRC+. Ellis has garnered praise from prospect evaluators for his defense, where he’s capable of playing first, second or third base. Given that versatility and patient approach at the plate, he could be of interest to other clubs, especially since he still has options and can be stashed in the minors. Arizona will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers.

Share 0 Retweet 5 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Drew Ellis Edwin Uceta Luke Weaver

5 comments

Diamondbacks Transfer Luke Weaver To 60-Day Injured List, Reinstate Kyle Nelson, Option Tyler Holton

By TC Zencka | May 28, 2022 at 6:31pm CDT

The Diamondbacks made a number of roster moves today. They reinstated southpaw Kyle Nelson from the injured list, optioned Tyler Holton to Triple-A, and transferred Luke Weaver to the 60-day injured list, per the team.

Weaver faced just five batters this year before hitting yet another injury roadblock. He worked through blister issues in the spring, returning to find a spot on the active roster. But after just two thirds of an inning in relief, he was placed on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. At this stage, the change in designation means Weaver won’t be able to return before June 7, though his long-term outlook remains unclear at this point.

Nelson, meanwhile, returns from the COVID injured list. The 25-year-old has a 1.23 ERA/1.57 FIP in 15 appearances covering 14 2/3 innings so far this season. Nelson was selected off waivers from the Guardians this past November. The former 15th-round pick had made just 11 career appearances for the Guardians without much success, yielding 14 earned runs in just 10 1/3 innings. Needless to say, Nelson is off to a better start in Arizona.

As for Holton, the 25-year-old southpaw made two appearances, tossing three scoreless innings for the Snakes. He’ll head back to Triple-A for now, where he owns a 5.65 ERA over 14 1/3 innings of work.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Kyle Nelson Luke Weaver Tyler Holt Tyler Holton

1 comment

Diamondbacks Place Luke Weaver On 10-Day IL

By Mark Polishuk | April 10, 2022 at 12:44pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Luke Weaver has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation.  The placement is retroactive to April 8.  Left-hander Kyle Nelson has been called up from Triple-A to take Weaver’s spot on the active roster.  In other moves, the D’Backs outrighted southpaw Caleb Baragar and righty Humberto Mejia to Triple-A, as both of the recently-designated pitchers cleared waivers.

Weaver tossed two-thirds of an inning of relief work in Thursday’s 4-2 Arizona win over the Padres, allowing a run on three hits.  An elbow issue could be the reason behind that shaky outing, though Weaver was also dealing with a blister problem during the end of Spring Training.  Weaver worked exclusively as a starter in 2019-21, but the D’Backs are using him as a reliever in the early going of the season, so this IL stint could delay any eventual return to the rotation.

Nelson will now step into Arizona’s bullpen, and the southpaw’s first appearance will mark his Diamondbacks debut.  Nelson has pitched in each of the last two seasons, with only a 12.19 ERA to show for 10 1/3 innings in The Show.  The D’Backs claimed Nelson off waivers from the Guardians in November, after Nelson had spent all five of his professional seasons in Cleveland’s organization.

Share 0 Retweet 11 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Caleb Baragar Humberto Mejia Kyle Nelson Luke Weaver

12 comments

D-backs Set Rotation; Luke Weaver To Pitch Out Of Bullpen

By Steve Adams | April 5, 2022 at 6:00pm CDT

The Diamondbacks are moving right-handed starter Luke Weaver to a bullpen role to begin the season and will open the year with lefty Caleb Smith in the rotation in his place, manager Torey Lovullo announced to reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via Steve Gilbert of MLB.com and Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Arizona’s rotation to begin the season will be Madison Bumgarner, Merrill Kelly, Zach Davies, Smith and Zac Gallen.

Weaver, 28, has been used exclusively out of the rotation since coming over from the Cardinals alongside Carson Kelly, Andy Young and a Competitive Balance Draft selection in the trade that sent Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis. As was the case in his short time with the Cardinals, who originally drafted him with the 27th overall pick back in 2014, Weaver has at times looked like a quality big league rotation piece but has struggled to stay healthy.

The only season in which Weaver has managed a full workload for the Diamondbacks was the shortened 2020 campaign, when he was rocked for an uncharacteristic 6.58 ERA in 52 innings over the life of 12 starts. Weaver posted a 2.94 ERA with brilliant strikeout and walk rates through a dozen starts in 2019, his first year with the Snakes, but also spent the bulk of the season on the injured list due to a forearm strain. In 2021, he turned in a solid 4.25 ERA with slightly worse (but still solid) strikeout and walk rates. A shoulder strain, however, kept him out from mid-May until September 1.

It’s of course possible that it’ll prove to be a short-term move to the bullpen for Weaver, but it’ll also be interesting to see whether a move to shorter stints will help him to remain healthy. Weaver’s fastball sat at an average of 93.7 mph last year while working as a starter, and it’s common for pitchers to see their velocity tick upward when moving to a relief role. Weaver also has fairly extreme splits when facing lineups for the second and third time in a game. When facing the lineup the first time through, he’s held opponents to a rather tepid .241/.297/.393 output.

As for the 30-year-old Smith, he’s no stranger to a rotation role. He pitched exclusively as a starter with the Marlins in 2018-19 and made 13 starts for Arizona last year, though the D-backs deployed him more heavily out of the bullpen in 2021. Smith has had more success pitching in relief in his career, with superior marks in ERA (3.45 to 4.90), walk rate (9.8% to 11.3%) and home run rate (1.15 per nine to 1.79 per nine) relative to his work as a starter. That said, Smith did pitch to a 4.41 ERA with a 26.3% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in 230 2/3 innings as a member of the Marlins’ rotation in 2018-19.

Both Smith and Weaver have four-plus years of Major League service time and are thus controlled through the 2023 season. Given their relatively short amount of remaining club control, there could be trade speculation surrounding both this summer as the trade deadline approaches. However, Arizona recently extended two of its most popular trade candidates — Ketel Marte, Merrill Kelly — continuing to make an effort to put a competitive roster on the field as they await a wave of high-end prospects who are on the cusp of MLB readiness.

Share 0 Retweet 4 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Caleb Smith Luke Weaver

20 comments

NL West Notes: Weaver, Mets, Roberts, Dodgers, Giants, La Stella

By Mark Polishuk | March 11, 2022 at 6:48pm CDT

The Mets “have done some background work on” Diamondbacks righty Luke Weaver as New York continues to explore trade possibilities, SNY’s Andy Martino reports (via Twitter).  A right shoulder strain limited Weaver to only 65 2/3 innings last season, giving him two injury-plagued seasons sandwiched around a dismal 2020 campaign that saw him post a 6.58 ERA.  Despite these recent issues, Weaver is still controlled via arbitration for the next two seasons (projected for $2.7MM in 2022) and has shown some signs of quality throughout his career in Arizona and St. Louis, so the D’Backs might still want to see if Weaver can get healthy and be an inexpensive rebound candidate at the back of their rotation.

For the Mets, Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco are penciled into the top four rotation spots, and Tylor Megill and David Peterson are the favorites for the fifth starter’s role.  Weaver brings his own set of question marks, but he would add depth to a group that also has plenty of injury concerns.  Given how aggressive the Mets will likely continue to be in their offseason endeavors, New York is likely to check in on just about any pitching option available, whether a bigger name in free agency or on the trade market, or perhaps a more modest acquisition like Weaver.

More from around the NL West…

  • Dave Roberts and the Dodgers are “really close” on a contract extension, the manager told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) today.  Reports surfaced last month that the team was looking into a new deal for the World Series-winning skipper, as Roberts is entering the last year of his current contract.
  • Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters (including The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser) that his team was still looking to add some hitting, yet even though the Giants lineup is short on right-handed bats, Zaidi said that they are looking at options on both sides of the plate.  “I don’t think we’re going to be totally fixated on that side.  If there’s a left-handed bat that makes sense for us, I think we can find a way to fit that as well,” Zaidi said.  “We obviously love versatility.  Handedness isn’t as critical.”
  • Also from Zaidi, he said that Tommy La Stella’s recovery from left Achilles surgery is coming along well, though the infielder will be a little behind during the Giants’ Spring Training camp.  La Stella underwent the surgery at the end of October and had a rough timeline of four months, so it isn’t surprising that La Stella isn’t quite yet fully ready.  There doesn’t yet seem to be concern, however, that La Stella might miss any time at the start of the season.  La Stella battled several injuries during his first season in San Francisco, likely contributing to his underwhelming .250/.308/.405 slash line over 242 plate appearances.  Due to the backloaded nature of his three-year, $18.75MM free agent contract, La Stella is still owed $16.75MM over the final two seasons of that deal.
Share 0 Retweet 2 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Los Angeles Dodgers New York Mets Notes San Francisco Giants Dave Roberts Farhan Zaidi Luke Weaver Tommy La Stella

30 comments
Load More Posts
Show all

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier

    Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

    Royals To Re-Sign Zack Greinke

    Rays Close To Contract Extension With Yandy Diaz

    Mets To Extend Jeff McNeil

    Braves Extend Manager Brian Snitker Through 2025

    Rays Sign Pete Fairbanks To Extension

    Royals Sign Aroldis Chapman To One-Year Deal

    Athletics Sign Jesús Aguilar

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

    Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor

    Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment

    Scott Rolen Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame

    Red Sox Sign Adam Duvall

    Brad Ausmus Reportedly Among Astros’ GM Finalists

    Mike Clevinger Under Investigation For Domestic Violence Allegations

    Arte Moreno No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Angels

    Twins Acquire Michael A. Taylor From Royals

    Recent

    Red Sox Designate Franklin German For Assignment

    Red Sox, Marlins Swap Matt Barnes For Richard Bleier

    Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Collin Balester

    Giants Sign Joe Ross To Minor League Deal

    White Sox Claim A.J. Alexy From Twins

    Phillies Designate Sam Coonrod For Assignment

    Tigers Sign Jonathan Davis To Minor League Deal

    Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

    Royals To Re-Sign Zack Greinke

    Yankees Name Brad Wilkerson Assistant Hitting Coach

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version