Yankees Trade for Ryan Weathers
- E.J. Fagan
- Jan 15
- 2 min read
By E.J. Fagan
January 15, 2026
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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission.
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The Yankees traded Dillon Lewis, Dylan Jasso, Brendan Jones and Juan Maltheus to the Florida Marlins for Ryan Weathers.
Let’s dispense with the cost real quick: the Yankees gave up a bunch of fringe prospects that you won’t miss. Dillon Lewis was the best of the bunch and was a 13th round college pick who posted a .700s OPS in the low minors.
n return, they get a major league starter:
When Weathers has managed to stay on the field over the last two years, he’s been okay. He’s got the talent of 26 year-old who was a former high first round pick. He still throws 97. But he also doesn’t really strike anyone out. Maybe the Yankees believe he could be a useful blank canvas.
One point in the Matt Blake Project column: Weathers was famously rushed to the majors. He was the top high school pitcher in the country when he was drafted in 2018. He pitched in the low minors in 2019, then lost his 2020 minor league season to COVID. He had just under 100 professional innings when the Padres pushed him to the major leagues to start the 2021 season, which would be low even for a top college pitcher. They did weird things with his workload and he predictably struggled. He bounced between Triple-A and the majors, but to date has still never pitched in High-A or Double-A. He never had a chance to develop.
But he’s definitely a huge injury risk. He missed half the 2024 season with a fluke finger problem, but the 2025 injuries were serious. He had a forearm strain in Spring Training and then a lat strain mid-season. He finished the season healthy, but you have to assume he is a major risk going forward.
I think you could do a lot worse than Ryan Weathers as your 5th starter. He pushes Ryan Yarbrough to the bullpen. Even if he pitches to his 3.96 xERA for two months, he solves a real problem for the Yankees. But it would neither shock anyone if he pitches much better nor if he throws 40 innings and goes down with Tommy John.
I wonder if this trade allows them to trade Luis Gil for Freddy Peralta, as was rumored by a Brewers reporter yesterday. Losing Gil creates another hole, so the Yankees might not have wanted to pull the trigger without adding first.
So yeah, good trade. The Yankees got something for nothing. They are better today than they were yesterday. But there’s a reason why the Marlins were willing to give him up for four insignificant prospects. Weathers is an interesting lottery ticket.
We didn't have to give up our top prospects like Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones and our top pitching prospects. So I think it's a good gamble to trade for Ryan whose has a power fastball. Four lesser known prospects for Weathers could be a steal.
Did I see where Weathers in a game against the Jays, 6 inning shut out with 6 KS?
Does that fit the narrative?
The Yankees have four of the most valuable resources in MLB. Four MLB pitchers with a minimum of 3 years of control.
Gil, one more year removed from surgery
Warren, had 3/4 really bad games to totally skew the numbers.
Schlittler, incredible rookie year
Weathers, excellent, injury history.
Some of these trades thrown around are absolutely hilarious for ONE year of Peralta.
this is all basically what I wrote moments after the trade was announced. we got someone who has had difficulty staying healthy but has the talent of a former top ten overall draft choice. there are definite risks but also a world of potential
yes we gave up 3 top 25 prospects but zero top 10 prospects
3 not top ten prospects and another lottery ticket for a former top ten overall pick? if we wanted to give less quantity it probably required higher quality. the deal seems worthwhile
Cashman completely fleeced the Marlins in the deal for Weathers. Great trade from the Yankees perspective - not to take anything away from the four intriguing prospects the Yankees gave up in this trade.
Dillon Lewis projects as a LF, nice prospect and all, good exit velos but Weathers was worth more than what the Marlins received. I also like Brendan Jones as a speedy utiliy OF but I'd happly dump both Lewis and Jones and a few lower level prospects like Jasso and Matheus for a pitcher like Weathers, who to me is a lot like Tanner Scott. Jasso has a bat, so he's a great piece for the Marlins to dream on - he's learning 3B these days…
I agree. The Yankees gave up no one who was going to help them this year or in the foreseeable future and got back an effective starter (when healthy) with three years of team control.