Brian Cashman didn’t need even a single headline-grabbing trade deal done to stir things up in the winter meetings. All it took was his one single phrase—just one—and suddenly, the Yankee-verse is left wondering if Luke Weaver is suddenly walking out of the Bronx.

During a YES Network interview, Cashman was talking about rebuilding the bullpen when he said, “We’ve lost Devin and Weaver.”

Devin Williams? Okay, sure– he signed with the New York Mets.

But Weaver? The 32-year-old is still a free agent who is still available and someone whom the Yankees absolutely can bring back.

So why then talk about him, like he is as good as gone now? Cashman sounded like someone who, by mistake, leaked out the decision before the press release even made it to Twitter. Sure, everyone knows Cashman does something big every winter meeting– but this no one expected. And honestly, the timing is wild.

Weaver, you see, is not some random bullpen piece, and before his injuries derailed him and the October meltdown overshadowed everything, he was New York’s steadiest arm. He made 64 appearances and punched out 72 in 64.2 innings, and even held down the closer job for a while.

So, losing him for sure would create one more hole for a bullpen that, anyway, finished 11th in the AL last season. But if you think this is the only stir-up Cashman did, you’re so wrong. Because he managed to fire up the Yankees-Red Sox beef, too.

Sonny Gray, who is now with the Boston Red Sox, aka the Yankees’ archrival, claimed that “he never wanted to go” to New York. Cashman could bear it at all, and he countered with an entirely different memory–one that directly accused Gray of lying.

According to Cashman, when Gray was still in Oakland, he was lobbying hard to wear pinstripes, even telling the team staffers, “When he was with the A’s, he was telling our Minor League video coordinator, ‘You’ve got to get me over to the Yankees. Tell Cash, get me over to the Yankees. I want out of Oakland. I want to win a world championship…He was communicating that to a number of different people, and it was getting to us that he wants to be a Yankee.”

Cashman even recalled confronting Gray about this years later, and he apparently blamed his agent for it. He said he was told to lie, because it “would look bad for free agency.”  Cashman recalled, “He told me to lie. It wouldn’t be good for my free agency to say there are certain places I don’t want to go to.” Well, whatever the case may be, Cashman sure did start two very talk-worthy controversies. Classic Winter meeting chaos.

But here is the thing—Weaver actually wants to be a Yankee!

The thing about Cashman’s wording being so weird is that just a few weeks back, Weaver made it clear—he liked being a New York Yankee player. Not just that. He even sounded hopeful that a homecoming is in the cards.

“I would say, look, the door is open,” Weaver said, “I am never going to just say ‘absolutely not.’”

He wasn’t shy about it at all. He loved how New York had revved his career, and he embraced that bullpen role and became a postseason hero in 2024. He said he’d even be open to starting again, if the Yankees ever needed it.

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Sure, he struggled after the injury, but he gave the team plenty of valuable innings across two seasons. Most pitchers would kill for this kind of second act. So, that’s why Cashman talking about him like he is walking out the door, no doubt, is off. Even more so, given that they have spoken to Weaver’s agent this winter.

But if you are being honest, the moment that New York traded David Bednar and Camilo Doval—that moment was the move in the needle. Doval took the firearm role, and Bednar closed out playoff games; those two are locked in for 2026. So Yanks have their eighth and ninth innings covered.

And with that, Weaver went from being a must-keep to a maybe in case the price is suitable. And according to the projections, Weaver could command anything between two years and $18 million to three years and $30 million. That’s a healthy market for sure, but Cashman doesn’t always pay premium relievers unless they’re truly elite.

So yes, maybe the front office is indeed moving on.