Which MLB team drafted 2026 relief trade candidate Clay Holmes in 2011?

The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Clay Holmes in 2011. Pittsburgh selected the right-handed pitcher in the ninth round, with the 272nd overall pick, out of Slocomb High School in Alabama.

Holmes signed with the Pirates rather than attending Auburn, where he had committed to play college baseball. He developed through Pittsburgh’s minor-league system and made his MLB debut for the Pirates on April 6, 2018. The organization later traded him to the New York Yankees in July 2021.

Holmes became especially prominent as a relief pitcher with New York, eventually serving as the Yankees’ closer and earning All-Star recognition. His later career path can make the draft answer easy to miss: the Yankees acquired him years after Pittsburgh selected him, and he subsequently moved on to the New York Mets. The draft club, however, was the Pirates.