Naturally good-hearted Yank fans should want only the best for Clay Holmes

Clay Holmes is a Met. Deal with it.

Usually, when a Yank crosses town, it's time for hot tar and rooster plumage. This time, though, I cannot summon the bile. 

Swallow your spit, people. We should only wish him well.

Yes, this is a break with the venomous, rage-filled indignation that is a proud trademark of IT IS HIGH. How can I say anything nice about a Yankee who so traitorously moves to the Mets? It's complicated, but I have reasons.

1. He's probably done. In terms of Holmes' career, this is "Break Glass" moment. The Yankees squeezed all the man-juice they could get from the guy. At age 31, he's suffered the emotional abuse of a 50-year old. But he never quit. Even at the end, tanking against the Dodgers, Holmes gave his all. Unlike Aroldis Chapman, who quit on his team and embarrassed God - (he's all yours, Boston) - Holmes answered the bells, even when they tolled for thee. I hated to see him getting crushed. But I can't hate him. 

2. Let's face it: The Yankees are no longer the Yankees - that is, the team that sets the pace in every bidding war. Let's not pretend otherwise. Soon, we will probably lose Juan Soto, a generational star, who might join Holmes, making the Yankees, in essence, a minor league feeder team for the Mets. Don't take it out on Holmes. He just wants to play for the Yankees. In a way, he's getting his wish.

On that note, it needs to be said - once again, loudly - that Hal Steinbrenner cannot gaslight us. He wants us to think this is a painful auction, that he's digging deep into his fanny pack, that he has no coins to spend. This is crapola. The Steinbrenner family, if they live 200 years, will never suffer one iota of financial discomfort, regardless of what they pay the help. The Yankees remain one of the biggest cash machines on the planet, and they own a majority share - and that's not even counting the insane value of YES. Hal seems to want us to believe he is looking in the couch cushions for extra cash. We must never let him off the hook. He has more money than his grandchildren will live to count. He must like rubbing his privates with coinage. Never forget: In these negotiations, Soto isn't the greediest one.    

3. The Mets are offering an intriguing plan, converting Holmes into a starter. It will be fun to watch. Last year, they resurrected Luis Severino, after the Yankees quit. This year, it could be Holmes. And if their plan succeeds, as Michael King did in San Diego, let's celebrate another oozing puss turd in Brian Cashman's A.I. Moneyball algorithms punch bowl. Will it matter? Probably not. But barely five weeks after embarrassing themselves in Game 5, the Yankees look like a floundering franchise, obsessed with Plan B's. If they lose NYC - and this might be the year it happens - I wonder if Cashman can keep running the Yankees. (And, to be honest, who might be worse in succeeding him.) 

4. As far as I know, Holmes never went Dick Nixon-on-Ron Ziegler in a postgame presser. He led the planet in blown saves but never smart-mouthed to the Gammonites, never flung feces at Meredith, never squirted Chlorox at Suzyn. He endured the boiling spotlight that shines on every Yankee debacle. Good for him. Win or lose, he'll handle himself as a Met. 

5. Face it: He needed to go. There was no place for him on the Yankees. I sorta wanted him out of the AL East, and I'm sorta surprised that Boston didn't make a run (but they're saving it for Soto.) But I'm glad that he can keep his kids in the same school district, keep his family from moving to Kansas City? I wish the Yankees weren't in a mindset that seems to embrace poor-mouthing, but that's where we are. It's not Holmes' fault. 

Seriously, I wish him well.