Mets Trade Clay Holmes to Cubs, Land No. 2 Prospect, Latest Rumors on Full Deal Before MLB Deadline

The New York Mets are reportedly trading both Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to the Chicago Cubs ahead of the MLB trade deadline.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the move Monday:

According to MLB.com's rankings, Jefferson Rojas was the No. 2 overall prospect in Chicago's system.

This is a risky move for the Cubs because Holmes will be returning from a major injury. He suffered a fractured fibula after being hit in the leg by a liner off the bat of New York Yankees DH Spencer Jones in a May 15 game.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said at the time they expect Holmes to be out for "a long time."

There was initially some concern that Holmes would need surgery that could extend his recovery timeline. Typical recovery time for the bone to heal is four to six weeks, but Mendoza also said he would need a spring-training buildup before returning to the rotation.

Yet Holmes has since made minor league rehab starts.

Holmes has the potential to swing a playoff race if he returns at the level he was at prior to the injury. The right-hander had a 2.39 ERA in his first nine starts of the season.

For all of the things that have gone wrong for the Mets over the past two seasons, Holmes has been a tremendous success story. He signed a three-year, $38 million deal as a free agent in December 2024.

The Mets signed Holmes to be a starter even though he only had four career MLB starts in his first seven seasons, all of them in 2018. His single-season high in innings pitched going into 2025 was 70.0.

It worked out great for the Mets and Holmes, who had a 3.53 ERA in 165.2 innings in his first season in Queens. He looked even better to start the 2026 campaign.

There is some risk involved for the Cubs because Holmes has a $12 million player option for 2027, so it's possible they only get a handful of starts out of him.

But the upside is significant considering how rare it is for a frontline-caliber starter to change teams during the season. Holmes doesn't have ace-quality stuff in his arsenal, but he has been adept at pitching at a high level for long enough to think he can be a difference-maker in a playoff race.

The safest bet anyone could have made leading up to the trade deadline was the Cubs acquiring a frontline starting pitcher.

Chicago has arguably the best lineup in MLB and is more than capable of leading a deep run in October, but the pitching concerns are so significant that it could derail everything.

The Cubs' rotation ERA of 4.23 ranks 14th in MLB. Injuries have also derailed the rotation with Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, Ben Brown and Justin Steele among the notable names who are sidelined.

Holmes is a bit of a question mark coming off a major injury that has kept him out of action for nearly three months at this point, but his performance before that was so good that he could be a difference-maker for the stretch run.

Chicago's lineup is so deep that it doesn't need perfect pitching to be a World Series contender. Holmes will help solidify the rotation as the Cubs look to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season.