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.
Good!
Sheeeesh
freshwind, teams need potboiler activity like this at this time of year especially, to keep their farm systems as well-stocked as they can..
Weaver is getting old I didn’t expect this move.
There is often a place for just such an older pitcher to help bring the young guys along.
It’s funny you say this, not because it’s not true, but it seems like he should be older to me. I’ve been hearing about Luke Weaver for years. Maybe his career is just blending into Jared Weaver for me….
He’s 29, not 39.
Really sorry to hear about Hill….loved his defense and occasional flashes of talent with The Tigers….really thought he’d finally click. I bet he will manage to go to spring training with SOMEBODY next year.
Really a head scratcher of a trade for the Royals. Not like I’m upset about losing Emmanuel Rivera necessarily, just never seemed to make much sense or have a purpose. Then when we got him he just sat on the active roster not being used.
Derek Hill is a classic example of just how hard it is to hit in the major leagues even if you’re a high draft pick.
We’ll never know. Players need regular AB. Look how poor Bryson Stott hit until the Phillies decided to use him full time. One of the last acts of Al Avila was DFA Derek Hill who is among the very best defensive CF in MLB.
Hill couldn’t hit. He was out of options. If you are one of the lousiest hitters on the Tigers….you are a lousy hitter. Sadly, he’ll probably bum around the major leagues for a few more years. If he ever accumulates 500 ABs I’ll be surprised. Good luck to him regardless.
Luke Weaver, Brother of Jeff and Jared. Was only a toddler when they broke into the show.. Congrats Mama Weaver! Another boy in the show!
?????
Just messing around Fred
All sons of Earl, no doubt.
Anyone reppin the Goonies and keeping it alive is A OK in my book! And I do have a book!
KC gave Emmanuel Rivera away for nothing then
Boy I think Luke could be a guy who could easily turn it back around. Get him working with the right coaches and this could be a steal as a 4th or 5th starter. The simplest change and boom a steal like Rodon was 3 years ago.
This man had a era above 6, but his fip was 2.5.
Major discrepancy. Strange gap.
Sometimes a pitcher’s hit rate is just going to be very high when he’s in the zone a lot and not fooling hitters. Pitchers aren’t all equal in their ability to limit contact and hard contact, but we’re going to see a gap both with pitchers who are getting some bad breaks and little help in the field, as well as pitchers who are just getting hit hard.
In my opinion, a limitation of the advanced ERA metrics is that there is an implied assumption that all pitchers are equally responsible for balls in play. That leads to taking the phrase “fielding independent” and stretching it into “here’s how good the pitcher was if it weren’t for the defense and ballpark”. It doesn’t make sense. Sometimes a pitcher would have had a rough year under basically any circumstances.
Whenever people bemoan trading top prospects for established talent look no further than these players as to why it’s nothing to worry about.
Weaver Wire pick-up