The New York Yankees made a surprising move this offseason, and the early returns have not been great.
Back in January, the New York Yankees swung a rather a surprising move, completing a trade to acquire Ryan Weathers from the Miami Marlins.
The Yankees sent four prospects to the Marlins in the deal, including highly-regarded outfielder Dillon Lewis.
New York loved Weathers' velocity and clearly felt it could get the most out of his stuff, which led to him being a first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2018.
However, the early returns from Weathers have not been good.
While the left-hander's first outing in Spring Training was great, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts against the Washington Nationals, his last couple of showings have been rough, to say the least.
The 26-year-old coughed up six runs — five earned — on seven hits in two innings versus the New York Mets, and in his most recent outing against the Atlanta Braves, Weathers surrendered four runs on seven hits across 3.2 frames.
Weather's ERA for the spring? An unsightly 8.68.
Yes, it's only Spring Training, and Weathers is still trying to get his feet wet in pinstripes. But with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon both being on the shelf to start the season, Weathers has a chance to lock down a spot in the starting rotation.
New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers. Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.While Weathers might get that chance regardless due to the Yankees' lack of other options outside of Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn, he is wasting his chance to truly impress New York.
Remember: Weathers is very unproven to begin with.
Yes, he flashed some decent talent in Miami, particularly over the last two years. But he made just 24 starts between 2024 and 2025, so the sample size is small.
Weathers has also historically struggled to strike hitters out, which is strange for a pitcher with his velocity and raw stuff. That raw stuff is why the Yankees decided to take a chance on him, but they paid quite a hefty price to do so.
New York was in on names like Freddy Peralta and MacKenzie Gore, but watched as they were dealt elsewhere. The Yanks actually landed Weathers before either of the two former arms were moved, indicating that the Yankees did not want to pay the price required for either of them.
But it's not exactly like the Bronx Bombers acquired Weathers on the cheap.
There is still plenty of time for Weathers to right himself. Perhaps he will be very impressive out of the gate to start the regular season.
But there's also no question that there is reason to be concerned given Weathers' rather volatile track record.
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