A big-name outfielder decided to eschew free agency and stick with his new team, where he found happiness and an opportunity to participate in postseason play.

“This is a team that gives you an opportunity always to be in the playoffs,” he explained, according to The Associated Press. “This time, my first time with them, I was very close to getting to the World Series, so why not stay? Of course you want a team that is going to give you opportunities to be in the World Series and win the World Series. I don’t want to take a chance with someone else.”

Alas, that outfielder was not Matt Holliday talking about his successful late summer with the Cardinals. That was Bobby Abreu discussing his decision to stick with the Angels with a two-year, $19 million contract.

Holliday, on the other hand, filed for free agency on the first possible day – as did Jason Bay, the other top outfielder in this market.

So the adventure begins. We’re guessing that bidding teams will forget all about Holliday’s little defensive gaffe in the playoffs.

The Red Sox acquired outfielder Jeremy Hermida from the Marlins Thursday, but that move won’t preclude them from negotiating with Bay and Holliday. Bay rejected a four-year, $60 million Boston offer and opted to test the market.

ESPN.com’s Peter Gammons assessed the situation thusly: “If the Red Sox don’t sign Bay, they’d like to sign Matt Holliday, and they have a mutually respectful relationship with Scott Boras and a family connection between Holliday and (Red Sox pitching coach) John Farrell.”

SI.com’s Jon Heyman believes Holliday could land a seven-year, $120 million deal as the top offensive free agent in this market.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests the Yankees may not ditch Johnny Damon and/or Hideki Matsui after all, due to their postseason heroics. Also, the club needs to set aside $100 million or so to extend Derek Jeter’s contract.

Sherman wrote: “The Yankees found $181 million lying around last offseason, and made a late, victorious bid to corral Mark Teixeira, so never say never when it comes to the Yankees and spending. But the initial read as the winter bazaar opens is that the Yankees do not intend to make a play for the three biggest free agents: Jason Bay, Matt Holliday and John Lackey. After signing the three biggest free agents last offseason (Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett), the Yankees just might be boring this winter.”

That would be very good news for the Cardinals, since Team Steinbrenner would push the Holliday talks well out of the St. Louis price range.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while waiting for Eric Brewer to punch a goal into the OTHER team’s net:

• With the Blues struggling to score, shouldn’t the Blues keep talented youngsters Lars Eller and Alex Pietrangelo along for the long haul?
• Who could have possibly guessed that shaggy Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum would get nabbed on a marijuana beef?
• Isn’t it great to see Tyler Hansbrough reaping the commercial benefits of all his hard work?
• Despite his World Series strikeouts, has Ryan Howard on the path to greatness with the Phillies?
• Now that another athlete has been felled by an accidental shooting, shouldn’t athletes have a game plan to deal with such matters?

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Mark Kriegel, FoxSports.com: “The Yankees didn’t win it for George Steinbrenner any more than the Angels didn’t win it for Nick Adenhart, their gifted rookie pitcher who was killed by a drunk driver. Rather, I’d argue that they won it, in large measure, because of George Steinbrenner. The 2009 Yankees were an exceedingly faithful expression of Steinbrenner’s vision. A $200 million team that opened a $1.5 billion stadium amidst the worst economic times since in The Great Depression, were products of his ambition, his audacity, his grandiosity, his need to win.”

Jay Mariotti, FanHouse: “He has found peace to purge his demons, love when all he had was Madonna and madams and, most importantly, truth when his past was so fake and sleazy. No matter what we once thought of Alex Rodriguez, it’s difficult to hold a grudge when he has achieved joy and reward the right way. In fact, allow me to propose the ultimate happy ending, something unimaginable only a few months ago but perhaps attainable if he continues to be a model citizen, a fine teammate, a grounded human being and the greatest ballplayer alive. That would be a place in Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was suspended by his team for criticizing his coach on Twitter and for using a gay slur. New word for the growing list of athletes in this kind of trouble: Twittercide.”

MEGAPHONE

“I was tortured by it. Hated it. Took ownership of it. Started to have a relationship with it. Started to embrace it. Started to extract from it and grew to love everything it had to give me, which was the relationships in my life, the people, the fans. It was a gift. I go out with my wife now and I hit balls. And I can enjoy it.”

Andre Agassi, telling CBS that he finally loves tennis.

ELSEWHERE ON STLTODAY

To start scoring goals, the Blues need to swarm, swarm and swarm some more.

Hockey Guy was glad to get an early look at top Blues prospect Lars Eller.