Clay Holmes’ schedule, Luke Weaver’s appeal, Tyrone Taylor’s hot streak: Mets deadline notes
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NEW YORK — New York Mets starter Clay Holmes is slated to throw for High-A Brooklyn on Sunday, according to interim manager Andy Green, who reiterated that their pitching plans remain fluid with Monday’s trade deadline two days away.
“That could change at any point,” Green said, if “market interest got up to a point that feels imminent.”
Holmes, out since mid-May with a fibula fracture, is one of the most sought-after starters available in the trade market. He’s fully healthy, and multiple executives who watched his latest rehab outing last week deemed him big-league ready. The idea of pitching on Sunday in Brooklyn is mainly to continue his schedule.
“I’m more than ready,” Holmes said.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates are among the teams showing strong interest in right-handed Mets reliever Luke Weaver, according to league sources briefed on the conversations who were not authorized to speak freely.
There is high interest in Weaver around the league, who is owed $2.4 million after Aug. 3, with another $11 million due in 2027. Some teams regard him as the best reliever available if the San Diego Padres do not trade from their bullpen.
In 41 appearances, Weaver holds a 1.88 ERA.
In a market hunting for right-handed outfielders, might the Mets’ Tyrone Taylor be a fit for several teams?
After slumping through 2025 and the start of 2026, Taylor is in the midst of the best offensive stretch of his career. His two-run homer Saturday was his seventh since the start of July — especially impressive because Taylor has taken fewer than 55 plate appearances in that span as a part-time player. (Eight players have more home runs than Taylor in that timeframe; all eight have more than 100 plate appearances.)
“I feel free,” Taylor said. “Hard work is paying off.”
By most any measure, July was the best offensive month of Taylor’s career. He posted his best bat speed, his best hard-hit rate, his best expected slugging, his second-best expected wOBA and second-best exit velocity. He’s adjusted his stance just a touch, going with a higher leg kick that’s helping him both meet the ball out front more consistently and get there at a steeper launch angle. The result is a steady delivery of long balls into the left-field seats.
“He’s turning himself loose,” Green said. “He trusts himself. He’s got a lot of evidence to trust.”
Long known for his defensive versatility in the outfield and a genial personality that teammates gravitate toward, Taylor might be surging at just the right time. Teams throughout the league are desperate to add a right-handed hitter to their outfield mix. Righty-hitting outfielders are posting their worst production since the turn of the century — the 19th century.
Taylor can play a proper center field and might carry over this power surge. After all, throughout his career, he’s been a better hitter in the second half (.812 OPS) compared to the first (.644).
When Bruin Agbayani made his first trip to Citi Field as a 12-year-old, he was taken aback by the love Mets fans continued to show his dad, Benny.
“It was amazing seeing how many fans remember him and how big of a name he is in New York,” Bruin said last year.
Now, he will have a chance to leave his own mark with the Mets organization.
Agbayani, a sixth-round pick in last year’s draft by the Minnesota Twins, was part of the Mets’ return in the Thursday night trade that sent A.J. Minter to the Twin Cities. For his dad, it’s an incredible turn of events.
“I was shocked,” Benny Agbayani said Friday. “It’ll be great to have him wearing a Mets jersey and continuing the legacy.”
Agbayani was a fan favorite during his Mets career at the turn of the century — an integral member of back-to-back postseason teams in 1999 and 2000 — and best remembered for his walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 2000 NLDS.
Agbayani has spent much of his post-career time working as a ramp agent for Hawaiian Airlines and coaching his kids. His daughters earned Division I college softball scholarships, and the day job loading and unloading luggage allowed Agbayani to fly his kids to the mainland more frequently for exposure.
As a left-hand-hitting middle infielder, Bruin is a different player than his dad — and by Benny’s estimation, a better one.
“He’s growing into his swing,” he said. “He brings more to the plate than I did.”
Bruin Agbayani has played in just 15 professional games since being drafted, missing much of this year with a shoulder injury. That didn’t stop Benny from contemplating what it could be like to see his son in a home uniform in Queens.
“It’s going to be emotional,” he said. “I hope he can wear that No. 50 in the big leagues.”