The Brewers are looking for help on the mound, and a familiar name has surfaced as a possible fit.
On Monday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Milwaukee is among the teams pursuing Mets starter Clay Holmes. Sherman wrote, "Clay Holmes of the Mets is drawing a lot of attention in the market. The Brewers are among those pursuing."
That pursuit comes at a time when the starting-pitching market has already thinned out. Three of the top trade candidates are gone: Tarik Skubal went to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Freddy Peralta landed with the Tampa Bay Rays and José Soriano was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Holmes has not taken a major league start since May 15, but he has already started a rehab assignment and is expected back soon unless something interrupts that progress. He went on the Injured List with a fractured right fibula.
Before the injury, he was in the middle of what looked like a career year, or at least the beginning of one. In nine starts, Holmes posted a 2.39 ERA with a 45-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 52 2/3 innings.
For Milwaukee, the appeal is obvious. Brandon Woodruff is on the Injured List, and the Brewers are in need of a veteran arm for their rotation.
Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison give them a strong starting point when healthy, but both are young, and that becomes a bigger concern in the playoffs. Holmes brings October experience, even if it came in relief with the New York Yankees, and he owns a 1.35 ERA in 19 playoff games.
After Misiorowski and Harrison, Logan Henderson looks like a clear playoff-rotation option. Beyond that, the picture gets murky. Brandon Sproat appears to be the likeliest candidate for the No. 5 spot.
It is still too early to know whether Milwaukee can get a deal done, but Holmes checks a lot of boxes for a club trying to stabilize its staff. He also carries a $12 million player option for the 2027 season.
The expectation is that he would decline it and reach free agency, though his injury leaves at least a little room for the possibility that he could pick it up. Either way, the Brewers are clearly in the hunt for pitching help.
In Other News...
Brewers May Be Trying Another Deadline Turnaround Fans Have Seen Before
The Brewers were active again at the deadline, working a four-player deal with Cleveland that added catcher Bo Naylor and reliever Codi Heuer to a roster built around constant roster churn and opportunistic bets. In return, Milwaukee sent reliever Craig Yoho and outfielder Blake Perkins to the Guardians, another reminder that this front office is rarely afraid to swap pieces if it thinks theres a path to squeezing more out of them.
Naylors arrival is the part that makes the move feel familiar to longtime Brewers watchers. He is at a similar stage in his career to Andrew Vaughn when Milwaukee brought him in previously, and the club has shown before that it believes a fresh setting can unlock a player it thinks still has room to grow. Both Naylor and Heuer were optioned to Triple-A after the trade, so the next phase of this move will play out away from the majors while the Brewers see whether another deadline swing can produce the kind of turnaround they have chased before. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Fans Just Got Another Trade Deadline Twist In Relief Market
Another familiar bullpen name is on the move at the deadline, and this one has a Milwaukee tie. Brent Suter, the left-handed reliever who recently faced his former club, has been dealt from the Angels to the Braves, according to ESPNs Jeff Passan, with Atlanta sending infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. back the other way.
For Brewers fans, it adds another layer to a market that has already been buzzing around relief help. Suter is heading to a contender for the stretch run, and there is at least one more twist to monitor if the schedule lines up, because the Brewers could see him again when the Braves come to town later this month. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Made A Staff Move Pat Murphy Really Needed
The Brewers have been looking for another layer of stability around a pitching staff that has had to keep adapting all year, and a recent move with St. Louis gives Pat Murphy another pair of arms to work with as the calendar turns toward the stretch run. It is the kind of trade that makes sense on Milwaukees side: add big-league help where it can matter most, while dealing from a deeper group of minor-league position players to make it happen.
For a club trying to piece together innings and shorten the distance from starter to endgame, the attraction is obvious. The shuffle also shows how much the Brewers value getting immediate pitching support without waiting on a prospect timeline, even if it costs them two outfielders who had been part of the organizations future depth. What comes next is the part Milwaukee will care about most: whether the new arrivals can settle in quickly enough to help right away. [Read more 🡒]