WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO CLAY HOLMES?

The Yankees need an overhaul this winter. They've got a lot of area that needs tweaking and I am anxious to see which areas the Yankees prioritize outside of Juan Soto. One area I will be watching very closely is the bullpen. Considering Clay Holmes had 13 blown saves in the 2024 season the Yankees have to be moving on to someone else.

Not to mention that Luke Weaver came in, brought back stability at the end of the bullpen and just impressed the hell out of me. He had the swag of a closer and he stole the spotlight. Weaver earned the closer role so there's no real NEED to bring Holmes back, in my opinion.

You could make the argument that he's worth holding onto just as a bridge to Weaver, but the Yankees have enough deficiencies to improve upon, why hold onto him in a new role when they can try to make real improvements that are needed on this team? I'm tired of watching the Yankees take their recycled approaches and hoping that a different outcome will happen. That's the approach that leads to a World Series loss. We need fresh new faces, and fundamentals.

Last year we talked about the possibility of RUMOR: YANKESS MAY BE DONE WITH HOLMES AS A CLOSER and now we can safely say that's happening, because as unsuccessful as he was as a closer the Baltimore Orioles are rumored to be interested, check it out HERE. If the Orioles are interested, and he does leave for an AL East rival I am not going to spend a lot of time crying about it. Instead, I will hope he blows saves against us.

At the end of the day, I just don't see Holmes as a necessity. I think the Yankees would be better served bringing back Tim Hill and Tommy Kahnle if the prices are right and bringing in some fresh blood. In a perfect world, the Yankees would get their bullpen upgrade from Tanner Scott who is the best bullpen arm available and could be costly but would also make the bullpen stronger. If the Yankees want to make another run in 2025 Hal Steinbrenner is going to have to open up his wallet to pay for some upgrades the Yankees need. He spent a lot of money forming a highly flawed roster and he's going to have to spend more money to fix it.

The Yankees were dedicated to Holmes, and in the end, it didn't work out. Now it's just time to move on. Have fun in Baltimore, Holmes, or wherever it is you land for next season.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj