Grading the 4 NY Mets starting pitcher contracts they've added this offseason

The Mets made a fair deal with Clay Holmes

There's a decent amount of risk with the Mets' plan to turn dominant closer Clay Holmes into a productive starting pitcher. Holmes will need to make some real adjustments to have success in that role, and only time will tell if he will succeed.

There's a sizeable risk with taking a guy who made four poor starts all the way back in 2018 and banking on him as a consistent starter, however, the nature of his contract makes this a play that makes a lot of sense.

Holmes signed a three-year $38 million deal which given the going rate for starting pitchers is a fantastic value. For example, the Cubs gave Matthew Boyd a $14.5 million AAV to fill out the back of their rotation, and though Boyd has success as a starter, he comes with many question marks.

Through that lens, a $12.67 million AAV seems like decent value for Holmes who should be filling the fourth or fifth starter role in Flushing. The added benefit of the Holmes deal is that if he bombs as a starter the Mets can easily flip him to the bullpen where they can reasonably expect him to dominate given his past success. In that scenario, his contract is around the market rate for a top-tier reliever.

Given the role Holmes is expected to fill and the existence of a fallback plan in case the starter experiment doesn't work out, the contract is a solid value for the Mets. You might like some more certainty in the rotation, but at this price point, you're only looking at imperfect options.

Grade: B+