Ryan Weathers trade grades: Who won Yankees-Marlins deal?

For the second time in as many weeks, the Miami Marlins traded from their starting pitching surplus.

After trading Edward Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, Jan. 7, the Marlins on Jan. 13 agreed to a trade to send left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers to the New York Yankees for a package featuring four hitting prospects.

The prospect package headed back to Miami is headlined by outfielder Dillon Lewis, who MLB.com ranks as the Yankees’ No. 16 prospect in their system. Lewis, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenethal, was a name that Miami was seeking from the Yankees in talks for Cabrera.

Weathers, 26, is the son of longtime MLB pitcher David Weathers, who was actually traded from the then-Florida Marlins to New York at the 1996 deadline. Ryan Weathers went 2-2 in eight starts in 2025 with a 3.99 ERA in 38⅓ innings.

Ryan Weathers trade grades

New York Yankees

Weathers joins a Yankees rotation that will be down Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón to start the season due to injuries. If Weathers remains healthy, he could slide into the rotation with Max Fried, Cam Schlittler and Will Warren, until Cole and Rodón return.

Health, however, has been a major detriment for Weathers in his young career. Over the last two seasons, he has been limited to just 24 starts and 125 innings.

When healthy, Weathers features a fastball that averaged 96.8 mph in 2025, per FanGraphs, and can also miss bats with his changeup and sweeper.

Miami and Weathers settled on a $1.35 million salary last week, avoiding arbitration. Weathers is eligible for arbitration twice more and will not be a free agent until the 2028-29 offseason at the earliest.

Grade: B+

Miami Marlins

Surprisingly, the Marlins are moving a second starting pitcher in as many weeks. Miami is clearly seeking to prioritize adding hitting prospects into its system, acquiring the quartet of Lewis, Brendan Jones, Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus.

Lewis, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenethal, was a name that Miami was seeking from the Yankees in talks for Cabrera. The 22-year-old outfielder was a 13th-round pick in 2024 out of Queens University of Charlotte. He posted a .237/.321/.445 slash line with 22 home runs and 26 stolen bases in 2025.

Jones is ranked as the No. 15 prospect in New York’s system, per MLB.com. He hit for a combined .245/.359/.395 line between High-A and Double-A with 51 stolen bases in 60 attempts in 2025.

MLB.com ranks Jasso as the 23rd prospect in the Yankees’ system. The former undrafted prospect hit .257/.326/.400 with 13 homers in Double-A in 2025.

Matheus finished with a .275/.365/.376 line with 40 stolen bases in A-ball last season.

Despite trading Weathers and Cabrera in the last two weeks, the Marlins still have former Cy Young pitcher Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez atop the rotation for 2025. Braxton Garrett and Max Meyer should slot into the 3-4 pitching slots, while prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling reached Triple-A in 2025 and could crack the rotation sometime in 2026.

Grade: A-