Cubs Acquire Clay Holmes, Tyrone Taylor from Mets for Jefferson Rojas
As Jon Heyman was first to report, the Cubs have acquired right-handed starter Clay Holmes and outfield Tyrone Taylor in exchange for minor league infield prospect Jefferson Rojas. Ranked No. 2 in the system and No. 63 overall, Rojas was a very steep price to pay. But with the infield set, Pedro Ramírez looking like a dude, and Matt Shaw coming back from a sprained wrist, the Cubs felt they could part with Rojas.
While Holmes has been out since mid-May with a right fibula fracture, he has made three rehab starts and should be ready to return to the bigs for his next turn. The former lockdown reliever for the Yankees moved to the rotation with the Mets and was putting up very strong results before suffering that leg injury. We’ve already seen how moving from that subpar defense to the Cubs’ elite unit has made David Peterson better, and Holmes is a groundball monster who could get an even bigger bump.
Holmes loves his 94 mph bowling-ball sinker, and for good reason, offsetting it with a sweeper, change, curve, and cutter that all have way more depth than most. His greatest asset could be that he avoids hard contact and gives up fewer home runs than almost anyone in the game. Since 2021, only two of 238 qualified pitchers carry a better mark than Holmes’ 0.56 HR/9. When you’re talking about postseason games being decided by the longball, Holmes is a tremendous asset.
Taylor is basically a throw-in who offers a little depth and could provide a little speed on the bases in certain situations.
This is one of those all-in moves that carries plenty of risk due to both players being rentals, but there’s tremendous upside in Holmes pitching in front of MLB’s best defense. The Cubs now have a good deal more pitching depth to go with increased potential, making them far more dangerous down the stretch and in the postseason.
Things didn’t go well for the Mets the last time these two teams did a two-for-one deal that featured a top prospect, so let’s hope that’s still the case with the sides reversed.
