Mets to Begin Extension Talks with Clay Holmes

Holmes signed a three-year, $38 million deal with the Mets in December 2024, but has a $12 million player option after this season. His name has also been floated around in trade rumors with New York expected to sell ahead of the August 3 trade deadline.

The 32-year-old has only made nine starts this season after suffering a fractured right fibula back in May during his outing against the New York Yankees. Prior to that injury though, Holmes cemented himself as the ace of the Mets' staff, posting a dazzling 2.39 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP through those nine starts.

Those numbers come after Holmes went 12-8 last season in 33 games (31 starts), with a 3.53 ERA, 129 strikeouts and a 1.30 WHIP in a career-high 165.2 innings.

Holmes is also slated to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones. The right-hander will likely need to make multiple rehab starts before the Mets make a decision on his return.

The Amazins' expect Holmes to return by the beginning of August in time for the trade deadline, where starting pitching-needy teams could call the team on his potential availability. While the Mets have not publicly spoken about wanting to retain Holmes after this season, they would certainly love to hold onto him.

New York's rotation has been one of the main issues in their nightmarish season in 2026 with some of the other arms on their staff vastly underperforming. The Mets currently have the second-worst record in the National League at 41-57 in front of only the Colorado Rockies.

Even though the Mets aren't going anywhere in 2026, retaining Holmes beyond this season to go along with Nolan McLean and Christian Scott would be an encouraging step that would help retool their beleaguered rotation for 2027.