The one Mets rumor that doesn't make sense

The Juan Soto bidding war rages on. Plus, the Mets are showing interest in Clay Holmes... as a starting pitcher?

What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎

• The Mets are showing interest in free agent RHP Clay Holmes as a starting pitcher (Sherman)

• New York is among the teams showing strong interest in signing RHP Walker Buehler to a short-term contract (Sherman)

• The Mets re-signed former top prospect Alex Ramírez and RHP Grant Hartwig to a pair of minor league contracts (The Athletic / The Athletic)

---

The Juan Soto Sweepstakes ♨️

NY Post

• There is reportedly “widespread belief” that the Blue Jays will make the largest offer for Juan Soto in free agency (SNY) – Dec. 2

• The Mets and the Red Sox are the two most likely landing spots for Juan Soto, with Hall of Famer David Ortiz working hard to recruit Soto to Boston. The Yankees might not be willing to go beyond $550 million with their offer (NJ.com) - Dec. 1

• As the bidding enters its second round, the Yankees upgraded their initial offer to Juan Soto, who is looking for a 15-year contract (New York Post) - Nov. 27

• The Red Sox are becoming more and more aggressive in their pursuit of Soto, and are seen as a legitimate contender for the superstar hitter (New York Post) - Nov. 27

• While five teams have already made offers for Juan Soto, there are expected to be multiple rounds of offers made, with the first round of offers expected to be preliminary and meant as a way to gauge interest from all parties. The following offers / rounds will increasingly become more serious, with a final decision possible around the Winter Meetings (The Athletic) - Nov. 27

• The Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Blue Jays have all extended offers for Soto (SNY) - Nov. 26

• Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy confirmed that his team are firmly in the Juan Soto sweepstakes, making clear that the Sox have “a sense of extreme urgency internally” to be competitive in 2025 (SNY) - Nov. 20

• Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner revealed that he had a “very honest” meeting with Juan Soto, but has “no idea” if the superstar will return to the Bronx (NY Post) - Nov. 20

• Juan Soto ending up with the Mets this winter is seen as the “most likely scenario” according to one prominent insider (Athletic) - Nov. 19

• The Dodgers reportedly met with Juan Soto on Tuesday (MLB.com) – Nov. 19

• The Phillies haven’t met with Juan Soto yet, but they plan to (New York Post) – Nov. 19

• The Mets are willing to bid $50 million over whoever is the highest bidder for Juan Soto (YES Network) – Nov. 18

• Mets owner Steve Cohen, president of baseball operations David Stearns, and manager Carlos Mendoza met with Scott Boras and Juan Soto on Saturday in Newport Beach, CA (New York Post) – Nov. 16

  • The Mets came away “hopeful” and perhaps “optimistic” of their chances of being able to sign Soto

  • They remain viewed as one of the favorites to sign Soto, as the meeting went very well

• Someone would have to blow Juan Soto away with an offer to pry him from the Yankees, who could sign before the Winter Meetings (SNY) – Nov. 12

• Francisco Lindor has taken a role in the club’s pursuit of free agent superstar Juan Soto (ESPN) – Nov. 12

• Soto is eying a $700 million contract in free agency (New York Post) – Oct. 31

• After the Yankees lost Game 5 of the World Series, Soto told reporters all 30 clubs will be in play for his free agency this winter (watch) – Oct. 30

---

Rumor Mill 💨

• While their focus is still on re-signing 3B Alex Bregman, the Astros are interested in Jorge Polanco as a contingency plan (Rosenthal)

• The Yankees have a back-up plan in the event that they lose out in the Juan Soto sweepstakes (MLB.com)

---

---

Why the Mets interest in Clay Holmes as a starter doesn’t quite work ✍️

We’re in peak rumor season right now in baseball, so the Mets being linked to a new free agent shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

On Monday, the club was listed as a potential suitor for free agent reliever Clay Holmes, who most recently has pitched for the Yankees. On it’s surface, this link would seem to make a lot of sense. Despite having a really poor season as the team’s closer – the right-hander blew a whopping 13 save opportunities to lead the league – Holmes would still be a valuable addition to the Mets bullpen as he’s pitched to a 2.69 ERA, 2.74 FIP and 155 ERA+ since being traded to the Yankees during the 2021 season (220 appearances).

The only problem, of course, is that the Mets may not be interested in using Holmes out of the bullpen…

According to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, the Mets are among several teams that are showing interest in signing Holmes and turning him into a starting pitcher. And this, if I’m being perfectly frank, makes virtually zero sense for this Mets team as things currently stand.

First of all, Holmes has essentially zero experience as a starting pitcher in his major league career. While he did originally come up as a starting pitcher, making 114 starts in the minor leagues between 2012 and 2018, this is not something Holmes has done in a long time. Over his seven-year big league career, the 31-year-old pitcher has made just four appearances as a starter, all of which came in his rookie season back in 2018 with the Pirates.

For the Mets, or any team for that matter to sign him with the expectation of remaking him into a starting pitcher enter his year 32 season would be a fairly expensive crapshoot. Personally, I don’t believe that the Mets are the team in a position to take that sort of chance.

As things currently stand, New York’s rotation is undermanned and unproven. There is still a lot of offseason left so this is all subject to change but as of December 3rd, the Mets only have three viable starting pitchers on their roster between Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Frankie Montas.

Senga, who only has one full season of big league experience, was injured throughout the 2024 season and made just one appearance in the regular season being coming back in the playoffs to extremely mixed results. While he has far-and-away the best stuff of any pitcher on this staff, he still remains a big question mark entering 2025. David Peterson was largely spectacular for the team this season, in the regular season and playoffs, but still needs to prove himself and stack a second consecutive quality season on top of his ledger before gaining the full trust of this team.

And then there’s Montas, the newest member of the rotation, who has the most to prove. While one can argue that David Stearns is taking a similar approach with Montas as he did with Sean Manaea and Luis Severino last year – both of whom worked out extremely well for this team – there’s no certainty in lightning striking there again. For every hit on a Manaea and Severino, there’s also an acquisition that doesn’t work out quite so well – hello, Adrian Houser.

That’s not to say that the Montas signing won’t work out similarly well for this team, but the point is that the Mets are already taking on a risk in their rotation by signing him to a two-year contract. Can this team really afford to take another equally large risk by signing Clay Holmes, who has exclusively been a reliever for the last seven years, and trying to convert him as a starter in his 30s?

If the Mets made some other larger moves to bolster their rotation, bringing in multiple major arms such as Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and/or Garrett Crochet than sure, that could change the calculus but if we’re under the assumption that the team won’t reach that level of aggression in their rotation, this is a move that doesn’t pass the smell test for this team. Not this season, at least.

---

Around the League 🚩

• The Cubs reportedly signed LHP Matt Boyd to a two-year, $29 million contract (Heyman)

• The Rangers signed C Kyle Higashioka to a two-year, $13.5 million contract with a mutual option for the 2027 season