NY Mets fans can have a laugh at headline from August discussing Yankees roster decisions

When you’re a team with as much prestige as the New York Yankees, it should never come down to an either/or with any players currently under your control. This has been a constant theme throughout the reign of Steve Cohen as majority owner of the New York Mets. A “why not both?” mentality from fans is usually the place we’ve turned when it comes to roster decisions.

Sometimes budgetary desires can get in the way of having it all. Back in August, there was thought the Yankees wouldn’t be able to retain Clay Holmes if they wanted to re-sign Juan Soto. That’s funny. It was no issue for the Mets.

Early Mets offseason moves have made this Yankees payroll plans look even cheaper

The perception that the Yankees are cheap is so false. They were willing to spend almost as much to retain Soto as the Mets ultimately decided to guarantee him. Their payroll is often right up there with where the Mets are. Nevertheless, a four-month old headline/story about how the Yankees wouldn’t have Soto and Holmes on the roster together again in 2025 can give us a good chuckle.

Holmes received a reasonable for any role $38 million over three years from the Mets. The deal will pay him $13 million in each of the first two seasons with a player option worth $12 million and no buyout for the third year.

To put this in Mets terms, it would be somewhat like saying the Mets wouldn’t be able to re-sign Jose Quintana if they were to land Soto. Quintana made the same $13 million AAV last year as Holmes will in 2025. One could easily argue with Holmes’ proven ability to pitch well in relief and questions about Quintana’s future abilities, the move is a stronger one as the Mets could always confidently shift Holmes to the bullpen if he doesn’t perform well enough as a starter.

No Yankees fan is crying over the loss of Holmes to the Mets. In fact, many had their own laugh at the mere thought of turning him into a starting pitcher. It’s either a genius or a brain-dead move. At least there’s a clearly marked trap door to make it better.

The Yankees’ willingness to spend $760 million on Soto does show they aren’t financially handicapped from making other moves. Still, it’s hard to not look back at how a headline from August aged so favorably for the Mets who muscled their way into getting the both from an either/or situation with their in-city rivals.