A's should make this former New York Yankee their top target this winter
The A's want to be a .500 team in 2025, yet they are having a hard time acquiring talent, either by convincing them to play in Sacramento, or via trade, because the Athletics largely want to keep their team intact. Yet, this former New York Yankees reliever fits what they're trying to do, and has a long enough track record that they could potentially offer him enough on the free agent market to land him in green and gold.
That player is 31-year-old right-hander Clay Holmes.
Obviously Holmes had some trouble in the closer role at points with New York in 2024, but that actually works in the A's favor, with there being less of a fervor to land him. Over the course of his seven year career he holds a 3.71 ERA, and this past season it sat at 3.14 with a 3.02 FIP. His strikeout rate (25.1%) and walk rate (8.1%) were also better than his career averages, and better than league average.
In looking at his Stuff+, his slider was the best one he's thrown in his entire career, and he was able to get by all year with his slider/sweeper combo and a sinker. The pitch that was giving him issues was that sinker this past season with a .317 batting average against (.284 expected batting average).
Holmes is a solid pitcher, and the A's could use more solid pitchers. But why the Athletics should go after him specifically goes deeper than that. Among pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched last season, Holmes ranked second in ground ball rate at 65%, only trailing Tim Hill's 68.2%. Over the course of his career, Holmes has consistently kept the ball on the ground, only dipping below a 60% clip once, in his rookie season back in 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and it still sat at 57.3%.
The reason that trait is so valuable to the A's specifically is because they'll be playing in a minor-league park in Sacramento, and the ball tends to need a little less exit velo when put in the air at Pacific Coast League parks. Keeping the ball on the ground ensures fewer cheap home runs.
While A's GM David Forst said that the team is unsure of how the park will play, and they won't know until they get some data from actually holding games there with MLB players (like Aaron Judge), the front office has made a habit this winter of signing pitchers with high ground ball rates.
The tricky part would be convincing Holmes to play for the A's in Sacramento. According to MLB Trade Rumors, he is projected for a contract of three years, $30 million in free agency. The A's are attempting to add payroll this winter, and have plenty of room to go to match even last year's league-worst $63 million team payroll.
The Athletics could either go with a higher average annual value, say $13 million per season, or tack on another year at the same $10 million per season projection.
Typically it's a little bit of a gamble to sign relief pitchers to a multi-year deal because of the fluctuations in their performance year-after-year. Yet, Holmes has been consistent up to this point, and if there is another skill the A's will value as they enter the unknown in Sacramento, it's consistency.