The Yankees were off on Monday, but that didn’t stop them from dipping their toes in the trade market to give their ailing bullpen a spare arm. The team announced on its Twitter that it had acquired righty reliever Clay Holmes from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for infielders Hoy Park and Diego Castillo. In a move that essentially locks in backup catcher Kyle Higashioka’s return from the COVID IL, the Yankees also returned third-stringer Rob Brantly to Triple-A Scranton.
On the surface, the deal for Holmes is odd, and Occam’s razor suggests that it is probably exactly that.