Yankees must finish Luke Weaver extension before the sharks start circling

To say Luke Weaver "unlocked" something as the Yankees' closer is an understatement. Relieving, after a career spent in a starting role, can be a different transition. Finishing off the ninth? That's an entirely different animal. Luckily for the Yankees, so is Weaver, currently pitching spectacularly in the option year of a pseudo two-year contract he signed prior to 2023.

Where would the Yankees be without the WeavDog? The ninth inning would be a lot less fun — and, based on what we know about his content creation skills, so would innings 1-through-8 and every road trip.

No closer is perfect. Mariano Rivera got walked off by Marco Scutaro in 2007 and succumbed to his "immense" talents in another game at Fenway in 2011. If "infallibility" is your goal, then you'll always be let down. But if it's comfort you're seeking, Weaver's laser precision, elevated fastballs, and potent changeup seem to get the job done quite often, and far more efficiently than Aroldis Chapman and Clay Holmes ever did.

Outside of Jhonkensy Noel's smack, Weaver handled October 2024 — his second ever month as a closer — spectacularly, never running out of gas even as he emptied the tank nightly. He's started 2025 with a minuscule ERA below 1.00, seamlessly solving the Yankees' Devin Williams problem (and allowing Williams to swiftly regroup, as his skills at shutting out the noise seemingly became contagious at the moment of the role reversal).

2025 is Weaver's final year under contract. Same with Williams. And even if Weaver won't entertain a hometown discount for the Yankees, they should still be willing to meet market price for their Ferocious Jungle Cat. But the sooner they get this particular piece of business handled, the better.

What would a Yankees contract extension with Luke Weaver look like after hot start to 2025?

Weaver, who will be 32 years old in August, appears to be a worthy three-season investment (and a team option for the fourth year might not be a bad idea for a sweetener). If he feels like he owes the Yankees something after they managed to uncover his true first-round talent, maybe he'll accept $9 million annually on a three-year, $27 million deal with escalators. At worst, this seems like a prime opportunity for the Yankees and Weaver to agree on something akin to Jeff Hoffman's contract in Toronto, a three-year, $33 million contract with incentives that could take it to $39 million.

Hoffman, a 32-year-old reliever, had to search through unfamiliar territory this offseason, failing two physicals before winding up in Canada. The Yankees should go ahead and make Weaver's journey far easier — and they should do it before the All-Star break.