As Holmes ramps up rehab, could he be on the move?

PHILADELPHIA -- Due to rain in the New York area on Saturday, Mets starter Clay Holmes did not make his scheduled rehab outing for High-A Brooklyn. That news came to the chagrin of multiple rival clubs, who had dispatched scouts to Coney Island to monitor Holmes’ rehab from a fractured right fibula.

Instead, as they suffered through a 6-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, Holmes threw a roughly 45-pitch live bullpen session away from prying eyes. Not that team officials would have minded the prying. This week, multiple sources confirmed, the Mets informed teams they are ready to listen to offers on nearly all their players, listing only a handful of untouchables.

Unsurprisingly, according to sources, Holmes was not among the untouchables.

As such, Holmes presents one of the most interesting cases leading up to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline. Before fracturing his right leg on a comebacker in a May 15 game against the Yankees, Holmes had established himself as one of the game’s most consistent starters, with a 2.39 ERA over nine starts. Not counting his injury-shortened final appearance, Holmes threw at least five innings and allowed no more than two earned runs in each of his outings.

Then came the comebacker, which not only broke Holmes’ leg but sapped his trade value in the process. At the time, it was far from certain that the Mets would be Deadline sellers. Now that their status is clear, no one has seen Holmes pitch in a competitive game in more than two months.

So what, exactly, is his value? Multiple rival talent evaluators suggested that a market for Holmes should exist in muted form. Given that he can opt out of the final year and $12 million on his contract after this season, Holmes profiles as a pure rental. Though Holmes recently expressed some public interest in signing an extension, the most likely outcome remains a trade.

According to one rival evaluator, the most relevant data point here is Shane Bieber, who was four starts into his Tommy John rehab last summer when the Guardians traded him to the Blue Jays for their fifth-ranked prospect, Khal Stephen. Like Holmes, Bieber was a 30-something pitcher with a solid track record as a starter. He also had a $16 million player option on his contract. The return for him was a borderline Top 100 prospect.

Unlike Holmes, Bieber was coming back from an arm injury, making him a somewhat riskier asset. But Bieber had at least made four rehab starts by that point, allowing clubs to monitor his velocity and the sharpness of his stuff.

Although this year’s trade market doesn’t figure to be quite as devoid of starting pitching, that’s mostly due to the presence of Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. Much will depend on evolving situations around the league, such as whether the Tigers (Skubal), Red Sox (Sonny Gray) and Twins (Joe Ryan) decide to sell.

It’s possible the Mets will wind up dealing the best two starters at this year’s Deadline: Holmes and Freddy Peralta. At the very least, they possess as much useful inventory as anyone.

“Not many options,” as one rival scout put it.

From a starting pitching perspective, while Peralta presents the most potential upside, Holmes -- injury aside -- may be the surer thing. Five or six days from now, he should finally make his rehab debut, throwing four innings in front of what may be a growing army of scouts. Five or six days after that, he could return to the Mets -- or to another team, if a trade happens before then.

Consider it one of the most intriguing subplots of this year’s Trade Deadline. At this juncture, it remains unclear how much teams will pay for a starter who has not appeared in a game since May. Still, Holmes stands as good a chance as any starting pitcher to move.