The Mets and Cubs lined up on a trade that will send right-hander Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor to Chicago in exchange for infield prospect Jefferson Rojas (Cubs' No. 2 prospect, No. 63 overall), the teams announced on Monday.
This is the second trade between these two clubs this season, after the Cubs acquired left-hander David Peterson in exchange for first base prospect Cole Mathis on June 25.
Trades and Transactions presented by CohnReznick
• Tracking every Deadline trade
• Skubal heads to Dodgers in Deadline blockbuster
• Rutschman traded to Red Sox for big prospect haul
• Phillies get 3-time batting champ Arraez, relief ace Raley
• Every prospect traded before Deadline
The 21-year-old Rojas, who will slot in as the Mets' new No. 1 prospect on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 list, has put up a .257/.338/.395 slash line with 40 home runs in 409 career Minor League games since he signed with the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic in 2021, but his bat has taken a big step this year while with Double-A Knoxville, setting career highs in home runs (15), slugging percentage (.461) and OPS (.800) in 91 games.
He's seen time at both third base and shortstop with Knoxville, with 55 starts at the hot corner and 26 at shortstop.
TRADE DETAILS
Mets get: INF Jefferson Rojas (NYM No. 1 prospect)
Cubs get: RHP Clay Holmes, OF Tyrone Taylor
Before fracturing his right fibula on a Spencer Jones comebacker on May 15, Holmes was the Mets’ most reliable starting pitcher. But the injury was a serious one, prompting questions over Holmes’ fitness for the pennant race. Though he’s ready to return to the Majors, Holmes has yet to complete his comeback. He made his third Minor League rehab start on Sunday with High-A Brooklyn.
Taylor, who will be a free agent at season's end, is a defense-first outfielder who has been on offensive heater of late, with seven home runs and a 1.311 OPS in 24 games since returning from a hip injury on June 28.
When healthy, Holmes is a ground-ball machine, using the heavy sinker that once made him a standout closer for the Yankees to generate grounders more than 50 percent of the time. Since becoming a starter before last season, Holmes stands alongside Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies and Framber Valdez of the Tigers as one of the league’s foremost sinker artists.
But Holmes has also expanded his arsenal as a starter, adding a changeup, cutter and curveball to go along with his sinker and sweeper.
After breaking into the league as a starter with the Pirates in 2018, Holmes converted to full-time relief work the following year. Eventually, he made his way to the Bronx, where he became one of the game’s most successful closers from 2022-24. But when he became a free agent before last season, Holmes let teams know he wanted to try starting again. The Mets bit, and it’s been a successful marriage ever since.
Prior to fracturing his leg, Holmes was 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA, completing at least five innings in every start other than the one in which he was injured.