Report: Mets sign Clay Holmes to three-year, $38 million contract
A career reliever, the Mets will attempt to transition Clay Holmes to the starting rotation
With the Mets looking to rebuild their pitching staff, the Mets have procured a versatile right-handed pitcher for their arsenal, adding RHP Clay Holmes on a three-year, $38 million contract, according to the New York Post.
The Mets will attempt to transition Holmes from a reliever into a starting pitcher, according to ESPN. He can opt out of his contract after year two.
Holmes, 31, made 67 relief appearances with the Yankees last year, recording 30 saves in 43 chances while posting a 3.14 ERA with 22 walks and 68 strikeouts n 63 innings. He had lost his closing job in September after struggling to convert save chances for the Yankees, but he allowed just three earned runs in 12 innings of relief in the postseason.
There is a widespread belief Holmes - with his four-pitch repertoire - is capable of successfully transitioning to a starting pitcher, akin to Seth Lugo with the Royals and Michael King with the Padres.
Holmes has made four starts in his major league career, his last coming in 2018 while with the Pirates. He has made 307 relief appearances since.
Holmes throws a fastball, sinker, slider, and sweeper, with his slider serving as the elite pitch in his arsenal. He produced a whopping 64.6 groundball rate in 2024, was in the 84th percentile with his swing-and-miss rate, and the 88th percentile with his fastball velocity, per Statcast.
If Holmes is successful at the transition, he will join Kodai Senga, David Peterson, and Frankie Montas as sure bets for the rotation, with Tylor Megill and other non-roster invitees currently set to duke it out for the fifth spot in the rotation.
If he is not successful, Holmes will likely return to a relief role as one of the primary setup men to Edwin Díaz.
Having said that, the Mets will need to continue to look for support in the middle of their rotation on the free agent market as well as viable depth. They have reportedly been linked to free agent RHP Walker Buehler in free agency.
This was a solid move and I’d be just as happy keeping him in the pen.
Really good move with no real downside. If he makes the transition, great. If he doesn't, he has a ton of experience pitching out of the 'pen.
We may even see something of a mini-rotation in the back end, especially if we go to a six-man rotation. Assuming Big Sean comes back, we'll have Senga, Manaea, Montas, Peterson and then a stable of Holmes, Butto, Megill and Blackburn to fight it out for the last two slots.
If Sean doesn't come back, we'd be alright. But I really, really like having two big lefties in the rotation.