Spark the Stove: Holliday, Others Poised as Free Agency Opens
ST. LOUIS — With the 2009 World Series over, let the opening salvos of 2010 begin.
The day after the final game of the World Series is the annual opening of free agency for Major League Baseball and its eligible players. Over the next 15 days, players with at least six years of major-league service and no contract for 2010 can file for free agency. Players can elect to file at any time during the period.
During this period the player’s current team has exclusive rights to negotiate with the pending free agent. Other teams can talk to the player, can even court the player and define the length of a potential offer, but financial terms cannot be exchanged with the 29 other teams until after the 15-day period ends. Any team that discusses financial terms with a free agent who is not their own during this period can be nailed with tampering charges.
Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday figures to be one of the most coveted plums in the market, and the Cardinals have said they intend to pursue a long-term contract with the 29-year-old former batting champ. The other top-flight free agents who are expected to enter the market are Los Angeles Angels starter John Lackey and Boston Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay.
Like the Cardinals with Holliday, the Red Sox have stated they plan to pursue Bay in hopes of signing him before he reaches the untethered free-agent market 15 days from now. Holliday’s agent, Scott Boras, has implied he expects his client to reach the open market, though the Cardinals can still use the coming weeks to make their case and describe the number of zeroes while other teams can only talk about neighborhoods, franchise culture and length of deal.
Mark DeRosa expects to hit the open market as well, and he’s likely to field an offer from the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals said they plan to explore re-signing DeRosa, and they are also expected to have conversations with free-agent pitcher John Smoltz.
The complete list of the Cardinals’ nine free agents:
- Rick Ankiel, OF
- Mark DeRosa, 3B
- Troy Glaus, 3B
- Khalil Greene, SS
- Matt Holliday, OF
- Jason LaRue, C
- Joel Pineiro, RHP
- John Smoltz, RHP
- Todd Wellemeyer, RHP
For Holliday, Wellemeyer, Ankiel and Greene this will be their first crack at being free agents.
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(8 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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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. 
Sign DeRosa!!! To versatile of a player to let walk. Not counting on Holliday…Bay would be a great sign!
Well this will be a fun few days around here….
I would go for pitching, Roy would fit in better than Matt. Pitching is what win games.
Roy who? Halladay isn’t a free agent. Holliday is. That’s a big difference. They also spell and pronounce their last names differently.
after watching the playoffs, we might be better off pursuing a lefty starter to counteract the Phillies lineup….Any good lefties availlable?
Starting itching, DeRosa, Holliday… those should be the priorites, in that order.
er, Pitching, not “iching”… it’s early, and I should proofread.
Cards should sign whichever free agents Pujols likes the best. Need to keep the MVP happy.
Well, it would sure be nice to have a Pujols-Holliday tandem for the next 6 to 8 years. Sign DeRosa and Smoltz and add another good starting pitcher. Wainwright and Carpenter are a comfort right now. The Cards need to get serious about their acquistitions because our two aces and Pujols can’t wait to long before their prime is worn down.
Better sign him now…when Albert goes to the Yankee’s in a couple of years we’d be left with nothing…