Clay Holmes is staying in New York but switching teams.

He’s also switching jobs, as the erstwhile closer of the Yankees will be deployed as a starter for the crosstown Mets.

The 6’5″ right-hander has agreed to a contract that calls for three years and $38 million with an opt-out after the second season, according to Joel Sherman of The New York Post and Jeff Passan of ESPN.

A two-time All-Star used exclusively in relief since 2018, Holmes had a career-high 30 saves in 2024 but also led the majors with 13 blown saves. He lost his closer’s job to Luke Weaver in September as Holmes finished the season as a set-up man.

In post-season play, however, the groundball specialist yielded only three runs in 12 innings, attracting the attention of several suitors who saw him as a potential starter.

Rotation Remake

The Mets were one of those clubs after three of their 2024 starters became free agents. One of them, Luis Severino, signed with the Athletics earlier this week.

Jose Quintana and Sean Manaea remain unsigned but the Mets filled one of their spots by signing another ex-Yankee, Frankie Montas, two days before giving Holmes a new home.

Holmes, who turns 32 in March, earned $6,000,000 with the Yankees last season. He broke into the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018, making the only four starts of his career that season. He went to the Yankees just before the 2021 trade deadline.

In 2024, he posted a 3.14 earned run average in 67 innings pitched but struggled with his command late in the year. No other reliever blew more than eight leads.

He now joins a rotation also likely to include Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and Montas, with the team reportedly still open to the return of Quintana and Manaea, a pair of veteran left-handers.

With the baseball winter meetings set to start Sunday in Dallas, the Mets also remain active in a five-team bidding war for former National League batting champion Juan Soto, an outfielder who spent 2024 in Yankees pinstripes. The Dominican slugger is expected to pick his team soon.

Conversions That Worked

A sinker/slider pitcher, Holmes hopes to emulate the success stories of other relievers-turned-starters, including Garrett Crochet (White Sox), Michael King (Yankees), Reynaldo Lopez (Braves), and Seth Lugo (Royals). All but King were 2024 All-Stars.

Although Holmes was a successful starter in the minors, the Mets are mindful that his return to rotation work is not guaranteed. Because of his bullpen success, however, Holmes could become a valuable set-up man ahead of star closer Edwin Diaz in Flushing.

He’s especially effective against right-handed hitters, who have managed only a .203 mark against him during his seven-year career. Holmes has also averaged more than a strikeout an inning, with a 9.6 mark.

Even after the Holmes signing, the Mets rank third among the 30 teams with a projected payroll of $230 million, according to Roster Resource. That will change, however, if the team signs Soto, slugging infielders Willy Adames or Alex Bregman, or top-rated starting pitchers Corbin Burnes or Max Fried.

The Mets have been linked to all of them, with hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen widely considered the wealthiest owner in the game – and one of the most determined to win.

Cohen’s club reached the National League Championship Series last October but has not won a pennant since 2015 or a World Series since 1986.

The Mets were the sixth and final seed in the NL’s wild-card standings in 2024, when their regular-season record was 89-73, six games behind the front-running Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.