Mets Backed Out of Clay Holmes Trade with Diamondbacks Over Medical Records at MLB Deadline
The Arizona Diamondbacks thought they had Clay Holmes. Then the medical file came in.
According to the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, the Mets and Diamondbacks had a trade in place for the All-Star right-hander before New York backed out. The reason was concerns about the medical records of one of the Arizona prospects heading back to the Mets. The two sides tried to renegotiate. They could not close a new version in time.
The Mets ended up sending Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs instead. That is the frustrating part for Arizona. The Cubs are the Diamondbacks’ primary competitor for a National League Wild Card spot, and they got the pitcher who was supposed to be Arizona’s answer to a struggling starting rotation.
Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen was clearly annoyed when he spoke Monday.
“We had some things just not go our way. It didn’t happen for us,” Hazen said. “We took some runs at a lot of pitchers. We made a lot of players available. It just didn’t happen for us. We offered a lot, all the way to the top of our farm system.”
This is the version of deadline chaos that never makes the big highlight reels. Everyone remembers the Skubal trade. Everyone remembers Rutschman going to Boston. Almost no one is going to talk about the almost-trade that would have sent Clay Holmes to Phoenix except the people in the two front offices who watched it fall apart.
For Arizona, the timing could not be worse. They have Corbin Burnes, Michael Soroka, and Ryne Nelson all working back from injury with dates that are more hopeful than certain. Their starting rotation has been carrying a heavier load than it was built for, and the bullpen is not stacked. Holmes would have given them a genuine leverage arm for the last two months. Instead they are hoping the injury news gets better.
The Mets probably did the right thing on their end. If a prospect’s medicals came back with something worth pausing over, backing out and finding a different partner is the correct front-office move. You do not build long-term with acquired players who are already hurt. David Stearns has been operating that way since he took over, and this is consistent with how he does business.
The Cubs got a plus reliever and a serviceable outfielder for what appears to be a reasonable package. Chicago is pushing to close the gap on Milwaukee in the NL Central and they wanted more arms to bridge to their closer. Holmes will help.
The Diamondbacks are the odd team out. They tried, they got close, they got nothing. Hazen’s frustration is not going to fix a rotation. Neither is hoping Corbin Burnes hits every checkpoint on his rehab plan.
Sometimes the deadline works. Sometimes the deadline hands you a nightmare.
Phoenix is living the second one.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
