NEW YORK (AP) — Clay Holmes felt like many Mets fans as he watched Pete Alonso, Edwin Diaz and Brendan Nimmo leave New York.
“It's a little sad to see these guys go. They're great players. They've been great Mets players for a long time, really connected with the fans,” the pitcher said Thursday at Citi Field after playing the role of Santa Claus at the team's annual children's holiday party.
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Entering his second season with the Mets after leaving the Yankees, Holmes will be joined next season in Queens by two more recent Yankees players: Devin Williams and Luke Weaver.
Alonso signed a five-year contract with Baltimore worth $155 million. and Diaz for Three-year, $69 million contract with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.. Nimmo was sold to Texas for All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien.
After failing to make the playoffs, New York's retooling reached its climax. $51 million, three-year contract with Williams And $40 million, two-year deal with infielder Jorge Polanco. The Mets have anticipation. Two-year, $22 million contract with Weaver.
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“I'm sure there has to be some growth involved in making big decisions like this, and sometimes it can be a little uncomfortable,” Holmes said. “I think you just have to trust the direction they want to go.”
Weaver began exchanging messages with Holmes ahead of a Zoom meeting with the Mets scheduled for Wednesday. Weaver then texted Holmes again before Zoom.
“He said, 'Well, I just decided—I sort of verbally agreed to it,'” Holmes recalls. “Everything went quickly for him. He really liked a lot of things. Happy to have a friend here.”
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A 32-year-old right-hander, Holmes agreed to a three-year, $38 million contract last December, moving the two-time All-Star pitcher into the starting rotation. He went 12-8 with a 3.53 ERA in 31 starts and two late-September appearances over 165 2/3 innings—95 2/3 innings more than his previous major league high.
Holmes fell to a 1-2 record and 5.45 ERA in eight starts from July 2 to August 12.
“There were maybe a couple of moments where I just felt a little bit of a buildup of workload and stuff, but I think the biggest positive for me was that I was able to kind of adjust to it and kind of come out the other side pretty strong,” Holmes said. “I liked how it ended.”
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His wife Ashlyn sat next to him dressed as Mrs. Santa and handed out gifts, and they were joined by rookie pitchers Jonah Tong, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat, all dressed as green elves.
“This is a first for me,” Sproat said. “I don’t know what I look like in it, it probably looks ridiculous, but it’s pretty warm.”
Holmes said Edgar Suero, the Mets' team travel manager, helped recruit the pitcher and his wife for the role.
“So now I know where to turn if I want to convince her to do something,” Holmes said with a smile.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
