The Cubs’ trade deadline haul may have handed them more than immediate help. It may have given them a clear extension candidate, too.
Jed Hoyer loaded up without touching the organization’s top overall prospect, Josiah Hartshorn, or top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins, and the result was a deadline class built around two top-of-the-rotation rentals, a long-term bullpen arm and left-hander Braxton Garrett as a bonus piece. The one box that went unfilled was the most obvious one: a proven starter with multiple years of team control.
For a moment, Reid Detmers looked like he might be part of the mix. That didn’t happen, and the Cubs instead ended up with Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes. Of the two, Holmes looks like the more natural candidate to stick around.
Holmes fits what Chicago does best. He’s the kind of old-school pitcher who keeps the ball on the ground, and that profile should play up in front of the Cubs’ elite defense. The contrast with the Mets’ glove work behind him in Queens is impossible to miss, and it should not take long for Holmes to notice the difference once he’s in Chicago.
None of that means the Cubs are ready to start hammering out an extension before he even throws a pitch for them. There’s still the matter of his rehab and whether he wants another start before rejoining the big-league club, or whether he’s ready to take his next turn with Chicago right away. But once the season ends, this has the feel of a conversation that needs to happen.
The idea wouldn’t require anything outrageous, either. With pitching prices where they are, Holmes could land somewhere in the $20 million AAV range if he finishes strong down the stretch and into October after returning from injury, and a three-year deal makes sense since he turns 36 next March. The Cubs will have plenty of money available and openings in the rotation after the season, and Holmes could wind up being the one who benefits from both.
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