TAMPA — Clay Holmes is entering his walk season and, to date, he says the Yankees have not initiated conversations about an extension.
And I understand the Yankees’ position.
After all, when they traded for Holmes he had a 5.57 ERA as a Pirate and that among what this organization does best is identify distressed relief pitchers with skills they like and maximize those skills. And if they did it with Holmes, they will keep doing it and find his inexpensive closer successor.
They could note that going long years and to the top of the market with Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman ultimately did not end well, and that — again — this is an area in which they do not need to star chase or toss their wallets on the table. A year ago Ian Hamilton was a nonentity on a non-roster invite. Off of a breakout 2023, he is now a key pen cog. The Yanks believe somewhere among more of those types this spring such as Nick Burdi, Yerry De Los Santos, Joey Gerber, Dennis Santana and Art Warren, they will unearth and refine another low-cost, high-impact alternative.
They could project that they already have lots of financial commitments going forward and will have to decide about Juan Soto after the season and perhaps find another starter then (or maybe even sooner if the market for Blake Snell really does collapse into their laps). So saving money elsewhere to manage the payroll is imperative — and probably easiest in the pen.
I got it all. It makes sense.
But here comes the caveat: I do think the Yankees must place a premium on players they know succeed in their environment on and off the field. As an example, Wandy Peralta’s stuff was down somewhat in 2023 from his first two Yankees seasons. But he was fearless. He seemed to love being a Yankee and was totally comfortable with all that came with that. He was great in the clubhouse.
Maybe lefties Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez, who have spent their entire careers until now with the big-market Dodgers, have their New York primer first step down already. But unless the medical, scouting and analytic group were in lockstep that Peralta’s stuff was in permanent regression and/or his injury risk was way up, I would have found a way to re-sign him if I had a Yankee vote. Because the only way to know a guy can handle being a Yankee for sure is seeing them as Yankees. And Peralta could handle it.
So can Holmes.
“I want to win,” Holmes said. “I enjoy this environment. I love the high expectations and obviously, you know that may not work out every single outing, but I enjoy the pressure and the ability that, ‘Hey, this is what we’re all here for.’ This is what I’m here to do, win a championship. I want to help my teammates accomplish that and I enjoy that aspect about being here.”
Holmes is not a Mariano Rivera-esque metronome. Every once in a while in his two-plus years with the Yankees, Holmes’ sinker will come out of whack and he will have a few walk-a-thon heavy outings before he self corrects. Holmes, in fact, said his goal this year is to find the pitching keys sooner to lock back in on his sinker while using his slider and sweeper more in those moments to avoid a sustained glitch.
Nevertheless, overall, Holmes has been among the handful of best relievers in the sport since his New York arrival. Durable. Imperturbable. Successful. The Yankees made four trades at the 2021 trade deadline and the one to land Holmes was by far the least heralded, behind not just Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo, but Andrew Heaney, too. But it was the best.
Of the 137 pitchers with at least 100 relief innings since his first Yankees game on July 29, 2021, Holmes is among the top 20 in games, innings, ERA and is eighth in Fangraphs WAR and second in ground-ball rate while holding opponents to a .201 batting average and whiffing 27.2 percent. It is elite production.
Holmes turns 31 the day before the March 28 season opener in Houston. It is hard to project free agency a year out, even more so for something as volatile as relievers. But among those in or close to their primes, I would have Holmes as the No. 1 walk-year bullpen option ahead of Texas’ Jose Leclerc and Atlanta’s A.J. Minter. And keep in mind that not just Holmes from the Yankees pen is in his walk year, but Ferguson, Tommy Kahnle and Jonathan Loaisiga, too.
Again, the Yanks have been a machine at turning out capable options for Aaron Boone. Yet do you want to guess about someone handling the ninth inning not just for anybody, but for the Yankees? The Yanks do not have to do this now anyway, they can wait and if Holmes has another successful, healthy season try to retain him afterward. But he is exclusively theirs now.
“I haven’t really given it a ton of thought because there hasn’t been anything there [as far as negotiations],” Holmes said. “What excites me from when I first came over here and going into this year, is having a chance to win a World Series for the Yankees. We have a chance to do that this year. That’s where my mind is at. That is what I care about right now. If something changes, we can talk about it.”
