Trade details: New York Yankees acquire LHP Ryan Weathers from the Miami Marlins for OF Dillon Lewis, OF Brendan Jones, IF Dylan Jasso and IF Juan Matheus
The Yankees already had a promising rotation on paper heading into 2026, especially if Gerrit Cole returns by midyear, so I was a little surprised to hear they traded for a starter, sending four players to Miami for Ryan Weathers. My interpretation of the deal is that this is less about adding a starter to fill out the rotation and more about acquiring a candidate for their player development group to try to help, given the success they’ve had over the last few years with improving pitchers’ arsenals.
Weathers was the No. 8 pick way back in 2018 by the San Diego Padres. He spent 2019 in the minors, didn’t pitch in 2020 due to the pandemic, and then made the Padres’ Opening Day roster in 2021, when he was 21 years old and had just 114 innings of professional experience. He’s improved his command and control since he was traded to the Marlins at the 2023 trade deadline, and his sweeper — which he didn’t throw until 2023 — is an above-average pitch, while his changeup might be as well.
There isn’t a ton of deception in his delivery, and I think hitters pick up the fastball, which has a little arm-side run, because he tends to drop his arm slightly on his other pitches, which may also be why he’s been fairly homer-prone in the majors. He missed time last year with forearm and lat injuries, but when he pitched, he threw harder than ever, averaging 96.9 mph on the four-seamer (up 1 mph) and 83.8 on the sweeper (up 1.1), so I can see why the Yankees would be interested in acquiring him as a project for their pitching development team. If he gets healthy, he’s a fourth starter, with a fair bit of room for growth beyond that.
Dillon Lewis played his college ball at Queens University in North Carolina and then played at the A-ball levels in 2025. (Nell Redmond / Associated Press)
This is a quantity-over-quality return for the Marlins, who are clearly focused on players with the “right” sort of data for their player development model.
Dillon Lewis is the best example of that. He hit a mediocre .250/.323/.477 with a 28 percent strikeout rate in Low-A Tampa to start last year as a 22-year-old, but he made a ton of hard contact. He peaked at 113.9 mph, his 90th percentile EV was 109.3 mph, and his hard-hit rate was 54.6 percent. The Yankees promoted him to High-A Hudson Valley, and he continued to make hard contact but hit .228/.320/.426 with a 21 percent strikeout rate. He’s a plus runner and above-average defender in center, which buys him a lot of time, but other than the power, he didn’t produce well at either level. If one player in this deal breaks out and becomes an everyday player, I’d bet it’s Lewis, but I also wouldn’t bet on that happening, either.
Juan Matheus is a switch-hitting infielder who pulls the ball a ton and makes generally good swing decisions with a flat swing that doesn’t produce much power or even line drives. He’s played all over the infield, mostly at third base, where he’s an above-average defender, but the bat doesn’t profile as a regular there, and he’s not a good enough defender to be an everyday shortstop. He spent most of 2025 in Low A, where he was old for the level at age 21, hitting .271/.360/.369 there before a promotion to High A in August, hitting .287/.381/.398 there in 24 games. He’s most likely a utility infielder.
Dylan Jasso spent all of 2025 in Double A, hitting .257/.326/.400 but showed better pitch selection than the stat line might indicate. He closes off terribly after his stride, making it very difficult for him to pull the ball — he had more homers the other way last year than to his pull side. He’s played mostly third base with some second and first, and there’s a non-zero chance he ends up at first base. I’d at least like to see what the production is like if he just strides more online to the pitcher, but right now, he profiles as an emergency guy in the big leagues.
Brendan Jones hit .245/.359/.395 between High A and Double A as a 23-year-old, with plus speed and average defense in center. He makes good swing decisions; he just doesn’t do much with them. He’s an up-and-down guy or another emergency guy until and unless he shows he can do some damage at the plate.