Clay Holmes did not want to finish his baseball career without exploring whether he could still cut it as a starting pitcher.

Holmes, who broke into Major League Baseball as a starter with the Pirates in 2018, has not stepped onto the mound in the first inning since that season. But the thought of pursuing that challenge persisted after he moved into the bullpen and became one of the game's elite closers with the Yankees.

Now, after hitting free agency for the first time in his career, Holmes will realize that reality, with the Mets giving him that chance on a three-year, $38 million deal.

"It was something that still deep down, I had a passion for it and excited me," Holmes said. "I'm very thankful for this opportunity that's coming here with the Mets. I get to stay here in New York and be with the Mets to pursue this opportunity. I don't think there's a better place, so super excited to be here."

The transformation crossed Holmes' mind as early as 2020 when he was broached about the idea of stepping into a starter's role overseas. And this season, while keeping things light in the bullpen and throwing some four-seam fastballs and changeups, Holmes thought, "Hey, this could happen."

After completing his second All-Star season with the Yankees in 2024, Holmes, who was relegated from the closer's role late in the regular season, talked with a few teams about the possibility of entering a starting rotation. But it was the Mets that matched Holmes' mindset..

After spending the last seven seasons in the bullpen, Holmes understands the grind that relievers have to deal with on a daily basis. It can be pitching on back-to-back days or two out of three games.

Holmes wants to help take the strain off his reliever counterparts. Heading into the 2025 season, the Mets will not put an innings limit on the 31-year-old as he makes the transition back.

"I think there's parameters. They're not just going in blindly and just say, 'Go run free,'" Holmes said. "They have a great system in place, but there's no hard cap on, 'Hey, this is the max you can do.' It's kinda, 'Hey, we're gonna push you as far as you can within these guardrails,' and I think that excites me. I want to go at it."

The former Yankees reliever said his intention is to throw 160 innings despite his career-high of 70 with the Yankees and Pirates in 2021. He's been encouraged by conversations with the Mets staff about monitoring his workload based on his strength and mobility.

Related: How the Mets learned Clay Holmes wanted to start again, and what that means going forward

That approach, along with the front office's leadership, vision and the franchise's momentum, all had a bearing on Holmes' decision.

"As a player, I may not always show a ton of emotion, but I care a lot just about the game and my craft and what I can be and the teammate I am," Holmes said. "And I think with the Mets fans, that level of care is matched. I think as a player when you feel that kind of reciprocated, it's really all you can ask for. It makes winning that much sweeter."

Holmes' transition from relief pitcher back to starter is something that has become a little more prevalent in recent seasons.

Last season, former Mets reliever Seth Lugo finished second in American League Cy Young voting with the Royals in his second year removed from the bullpen. The Braves' Reynaldo Lopez had success reentering the rotation, while Holmes' former teammate Michael King thrived with the Padres.

Each of those players took different paths to success, and Holmes said he will look to find his own lane to effectiveness.

Projections: NY Mets projected starting rotation for 2025 season as Clay Holmes joins the team

"It's just one of those things where you just have to see where your strengths match up to hitters and where you can potentially get them out a couple different times," Holmes said. "I think that's where the depth of arsenal kind of comes into play a little bit and kind of what excites me about this is being able to expand that and kind of use that to be a little more unpredictable and get guys out in multiple ways versus kind of pigeon-holing myself into a corner where I live and die with one pitch."

Holmes returned to throwing a four-seam fastball in the bullpen last season and tinkered with a changeup. Those two pitches are likely to be added to a three-pitch mix which features a sinker, slider and sweeper. The sinker will always be Holmes' bread and butter, helping him produce a 64.6 percent ground-ball rate that was second-best in MLB in 2024.

"I think the challenge for me is to continue to keep it simple," Holmes said. "My sinker development since I last started has been, it's night and day from where it was when I started previously. And I think that's just going to add to the potential of what this could be and not to forget that."

In early November, the Mets made an under-the-radar hire when they brought assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel over from the Yankees.

It was alongside Druschel that Holmes began to expand his arsenal in the Yankees' bullpen. And now the duo will link up once again.

"He was always one of the hardest workers. He would make sure we had every resource available to us," Holmes said. "With that, he's very knowledgeable about a lot of things, but specifically two things that I think that pertain a lot to me (are) the pitch design and workload management."

Holmes chose not to see the rivalry component when making his decision to switch boroughs but he now he a growing contingent of former Yankees within the Mets organization, including Druschel, Carlos Mendoza and, of course, Juan Soto.

"I got to see a full year of what (Soto's) capable of and it's incredible," Holmes said. "There's a lot of ups and downs in the game, but if there's one guy that defines consistency, especially with an at-bat, it's Juan Soto. It's impressive to watch."