Market Watch: Matt Holliday
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Asked within the past couple days if he expected the St. Louis Cardinals to make a move on his client, outfielder Matt Holliday, before the window for exclusive negotiations slides shut this week, agent Scott Boras stated the obvious: “Uh, no.”
The Cardinals and Boras have said since before the club clinched the National League Central Division title that both sides expected the righthanded-hitting, All-Star outfielder to hit the open market and field offers from other teams. Boras’ trend, as we’ve discussed many times, is to trot his thoroughbred around the free-agent season for all the clubs to see and not sign until after the winter meetings. (Those are set for early December in Indianapolis.)
Colleague Bernie Miklasz has posted this morning in his blog an update on Holliday from Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., a guest on the Big Man’s radio show. Check that out here at Bernie’s 5 Minutes.
Elsewhere, here’s the vibe on Holliday:
- As mentioned in Miklasz’s entry, the Los Angeles Angels general manager told the Los Angeles Times that Holliday isn’t in their focus. This could be semantics. According to baseball writer Mike DiGiovanna, Tony Reagins said the focus right now is on re-signing John Lackey and Chone Figgins, two of the Angels own free agents. The focus “right now” — key phrase, probably — isn’t courting Holliday, who cannot be negotiated for until after Friday.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the New York Yankees want to keep other bidders “honest”, but that Goliath isn’t “interested” in Holliday.
- At FOXSports.com, Dayn Perry writes that Holliday should be the chief target of the San Francisco Giants, a team in desperate need of an offensive jolt. In the same article, Perry suggest another option for the Cardinals — outfielder Mike Cameron. Perry writes that Cameron is a chronically under-appreciated player and that he’s a good short-term fit for the Cardinals who have another priority this offseason: signing Albert Pujols forever.
- New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he is likely to be “more cautious than anxious” with free agents this season, according to Newsday.
- Looming on the horizon for the Yankees is the expiration of captain Derek Jeter’s contract, and River Avenue Blues — a blog covering the Yankees — makes the interesting point that last year’s frenetic spending has already committed $92.9 million to the 2013 payroll. That’s before Jeter’s next deal, and that, the blog speculates, may make the Yankees reluctant to add another massive, long-term contract to the pile already in place.
- In a recent article for The Boston Globe, baseball writer Nick Cafardo quotes an unnamed general manager doesn’t think Holliday will get Teixeira money.
The comment is a little bit down in the article, and while the article is worth a whole read for context — an important part of any reporting this time of year — the quote about Holliday is pasted here:
So the logical conclusion is that this offseason may be like last offseason. John Lackey, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, and maybe Chone Figgins will make good money, though a National League general manager said of Holliday, who stands to be the highest-paid free agent, “Won’t get what Mark Teixeira got. No chance. Lackey may get A.J. Burnett money, but I’m not even sure anyone would go that high.”
It’s the money and the trends that seem to have inspired the analysis/article that got a lot of attention in the past 12 hours or so, the one from FOX Sports Jon Paul Morosi that connects the dots from Holliday to Boras to Baseball’s Financial Behemoths. Morosi writes that he expects Holliday to play in the American League next season. It’s interesting to note that in the article an unnamed source details whether the Cardinals can expect to get a hometown discount or receive any “special preference” in the coming sweepstakes. The answer isn’t any more surprising than the one from Boras that started this article.
Uh, no.
And with that it’s important to go back and read DeWitt’s comments to Miklasz.
-30-
Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
The Yankees have always been partial to lefties and switch hitters - their ballpark steers the team that way as sure as Boston goes after righties (even though some of Bosox best have hit from the left, excluding Joe D. and ARod the same can’t be said of the Yanks).
Plus many say that the Yanks minority owners have a bigger say than the papers would otherwise suggest and many of them would like to actually make some money.
Watch out for the SF Giants.
If it wasn’t illegal I would love to see all of the MLB General Managers boycott Boras and anyone he represents. The guy is a menace and every fan with one of his clients on there home team can thank him for your year over year price increases on tickets, food, merchandise, etc.
He is what is wrong with MLB.
Prediction that Holliday will be a San Francisco Giant next year. They will spend crazy money for him.
Good points made by everyone on the Giants. I wasn’t really sure where Holliday would end up, but they have the dough to spend on Holliday. If some Cardinals fans went nuts about having Holliday next to Pujols, imagine how Giants fans would feel about having Holliday next to Pablo Sandoval to boost that lineup
My money is still on the Mets landing Holliday via Borass. They have the money and they have a huge need for his bat. Not to be overlooked is the fact the Mets need to generate some attention and PR buzz after that other NY team won the World Series coupled with the fact Holliday apparantly prefers the NL. So if he signs with an AL team, I’ll be convinced he simply goes wherever Borass directs him in order for the slime bucket agent to collect the biggest cut possible from Holliday’s paycheck for himself.
Matt Holliday made a point of saying, on at least a couple of occasions, that he learned he did not enjoy being on a team that is not contending. Therefore, it seems unlikely to me that he would want to get involved in that mess with the NY Mets, who are hamstrung both by an owner that meddles too much and whose money was Madoff with. I’m more concerned about the SF Giants.
The Mets don’t have the money. Their owner lost big-time to Bernie Madoff and they have overspent in the past. San Francisco is the likely target if Holliday stays in the NL. Boston might let Bay walk and sign Holliday for his spot. I am guessing Holliday will either play for the Giants or the Red Sox next year. If neither takes him on, I look for him to re-sign with the Cardinals.
After reading things the last few days, I am more optimistic than I was about Holliday landing back in St. Louis. Bay’s going to sign with Boston, taking the Red Sox out of it. The Yankees, despite having double the resources of most other teams, have a HUGE payroll cloud looming in the outyears of their core contracts (WITHOUT Jeter and Rivera), the Mets are in a bad way cash-wise and they aren’t contending anytime soon, and the Angels are talking as if they aren’t intersted. That leaves the Giants and the Cards - and I think if it came down to it the Cards will buck up enough to make it happen, and he did enjoy his time here.
The fascinating thing is how Boras figures into all of this. I categorically cannot stand this guy, and wish he would go away. But the mid market teams have gotten a little bit wise to him, and their rhetoric proves it. If a Boras client is involved, the teams that can’t overspend engage in a coordinated game of cat and mouse about who they are interested in. Case in point - the Cards saying they wouldn’t pursue Bay as a Holliday alternative. I don’t believe it for a minute - that’s a tactic meant to send signals to Bay and his agent into signing with Boston. If enough other teams do the same, that effectively takes one of the overspenders out of the Holliday stakes. To a lesser extent, the Cards lukewarm stance on Xavier Nady does the same thing - makes the Yankees less driven to go overpay for a big bat if they think Nady can be had on the cheap…bingo - Yankees out of it as well. The Angels are doing the same thing where Holliday’s concerned: “No we’re not interested - dont’ worry about us, Red Sox and Yankees. No need to drive up the price to get that guy…” Don’t be surprised if, after all that talk, they swoop in and try to get him for a deal.
Boras is a parasite, and he’s done nothing good for the game. BUT, he is a reality, and teams like the Cards need to find ways to deal with him if they want any of his clients.
Forget Holliday!! We need to worry about another quality pitcher and resigning Pujols. Then, we need to pursue, via trade, Adam Dunn from the Nats. They cannot afford to have a big ticket item on the shelf when the store is closed. They will only draw 1 million fans whether he is in the outfield or not next season and he would be a threat behind Pujols in the 4 slot. He may strike out a lot but you would to if all you knew about was losing for the last 8 years and the only years of your baseball career. Sure Big Mac won’t make him into the next Ted Williams but you know Dunn would be on his best behavior and would wip his own butt into shape knowing he is going to the best baseball city in the world. Not too expensive, comparitively, and probably wouldn’t have to give up that much. C’mon MO, put me on the payroll and step aside son…. Daddy’s got some deals to make here.
Boras is not what is wrong with baseball’s skyrocketing prices. The owners STILL have to pay the players these outrageous salaries. But nobody is holding a gun to their heads! Am I obligated to purchase that shiny new Lambourghini when another car with a much lower cost that does basically the same thing is out there? We all make choices, too. I really think we are nearing the end of some of this nonsense with salaries.