Luke Weaver's Clay Holmes hint proves he'll make Yankees' lives tough in free agency

The New York Yankees re-signing Luke Weaver following the 2025 season felt like an open-and-shut case on Opening Day. Now, a seemingly endless list of blockers have gotten in the way to complicate things, with Weaver himself tossing another wrench into the mix entering the weekend.

Weaver's struggles this year have been well documented. He's mixed sterling months with poor ones. He recovered from his June injury fully ... until he didn't and his command wavered once more. Devin Williams? We all know he's pitched himself out of the Yankees' future plans, and has one playoff run left to continue to build momentum and earn himself a nice contract elsewhere.

Weaver seemed to be the anti-Williams early on, after his stunning October cemented his folk hero status. Now? Things have changed, and the bullpen brinks truck might be backed up for David Bednar if it's coming for anyone. The Yankees need a backend makeover, not multiple multi-year commitments to incumbents.

The feisty right-hander only complicated things further when he hopped on Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman's podcast before the weekend in Baltimore, making it clear that he'd be open to trying starting again — and not just "open" to the possibility, but enthusiastically so. That opens the door further to multiple creative suitors in free agency, including the New York Mets, who did the same thing with Clay Holmes last year, and the Boston Red Sox, who tried to.

Yankees' Luke Weaver wants to enter free agency with transitioning back to a starting pitcher looming as a possibility

"I do like this question," the affable Weaver began with a chuckle, before noting, "Clay has done a great job this year in that transition ... It's cool to see that it's possible, too, right? Like, we see it's happening from time to time now. Teams are being a little more strategic. Yes, I'm very much open to it. But I also am not just, like, 'Yeah, I wanna do that,' or, 'Yeah, I wanna do this'. Let's sit at the table, have a conversation, and see what that looks like. I would like to have those options if they are there."

Weaver was exclusively a starting pitcher (and occasional bulk guy out of necessity) before he arrived in New York, impressed the Yankees with a few late-season starts in 2023, then became a bullpen force with a complex arsenal out of nowhere.

The Yankees certainly might still be interested in bringing him back, but starting pitching depth isn't exactly what they're lacking these days. If the Yankees and Weaver sit at the table, New York will probably decline to open the door for him to an altered role. The other teams in the conversation will almost definitely enter talks in a more flexible state of mind.

If Weaver prefers the status quo (and a less impressive dollar figure), he might be a Yankee for a few years longer. If he wants to be wooed — and it sounds like he does — he'll probably find the other conversations more appealing.