Update: HOLLIDAY A CARD 7yr/120 million, p178

[clevername]

I've read the Crawford talk before. That may have changed now that they have Granderson, but I think they were interested in him for next year along with Mauer.

[Eephus Speed]

Maybe I'm just being a Pollyanna, but I don't think the Mets are a legit threat. That organization is so dysfunctional and needs so many things to go right to contend in 2010 that I don't see it as any sort of desirable destination for Holliday.

Holliday and an upgrade to their rotation (maybe Pineiro or Davis or Sheets) might be enough to make them a Wild Card contender (or NL East contender if enough things go wrong for Philly). They've still got Santana, F-Rod, Wright, Beltran and Reyes. The Braves recently made their team worse.

The Rangers? They cry poor an awful lot lately so I'd be surprised.

I just noticed that they're currently well under their '09 payroll figure, so I thought I'd throw them out there.

Anyway, let's not forget about the Yankees and the Red Sox.

[Leroy]

Let's just keep waiting.

[doe_boy]

Let's just keep waiting.

Holliday will get nervous and make a mistake.

[ghostrunner]

Here's how it should work - we throw him 120 million and he can keep whatever he catches with his groin.

[Radbird]

Bernie's latest 5 minutes take on things.

Is the Clock Ticking on STL Cardinals?

1. Mark DeRosa Signs With Giants; What Does it Mean for the Cardinals? Well, the clock is starting to move a bit. There’s nothing wrong with the Cardinals waiting for agent Scott Boras to make a decision for LF Matt Holliday, as long as other free-agent options remain available. But with San Francisco giving DeRosa a reported two-year deal for around $12 million, we may start to see some of the secondary merchandise coming off the shelves. DeRosa was a backup plan for the Cardinals. He’s gone now.

Depending on your perspective, that’s either a blow to the Cardinals or a so-what move that won’t impact the Cards or Giants in a significant way. (DeRosa’s CHONE projections for 2010 are: .255 BA, .333 OBP, .414 SLG, with 17 HRs. And that was before he signed to play half his games in a San Francisco ballpark that suppresses offense.) Other backup plans remain. Other players are still available. The Cardinals can ride this out for now. But here’s the problem: Boras has a lot of clients on the market right now. He’s slow-playing the negotiations, hoping that some idiotic team will overpay a couple of free agents (his or another agents’) which he believes will raise the value of his clients. And Boras doesn’t want to undersell Holliday, only to see Jason Bay’s agent get a better deal for Bay later. In that scenario, Boras would lose face. So Boras will drag this out as long as he can. Remember, Mark Teixeira didn’t sign with the NYY last season until early January. Previous Boras clients had signing dates of Jan. 13 (Derek Lowe, Carlos Beltran) and Jan. 26 (Alex Rodriguez). Here’s the question that probably causes STL general manager John Mozeliak some anxiety: how long does he wait before enacting alternative plans? Will the DeRosa signing open a tight market and lead to a wave of signings? If so, when does Mozeliak jump in? If things remain quiet, Mozeliak can hang in the game. But if bodies start moving, then he’ll have to be quick on his feet.

Item #2 talks about Lopez.

[ghostrunner]

I didn't really see DeRosa as a backup plan for Holliday and I doubt the Cardinals would see any free agent as a backup plan. That seems like a Straussian interpretation. They'd have to expect the cheaper guys would end up going earlier.

[Cole Burns]

I didn't really see DeRosa as a backup plan for Holliday and I doubt the Cardinals would see any free agent as a backup plan. That seems like a Straussian interpretation. They'd have to expect the cheaper guys would end up going earlier.

He was an "expressed" backup plan for Holiday. Now that he's off the table, Mo has one less chip to play v Boras.

[TimeForGuinness]

I think we're "all in" on Holliday now.

[jim]

I didn't really see DeRosa as a backup plan for Holliday and I doubt the Cardinals would see any free agent as a backup plan. That seems like a Straussian interpretation. They'd have to expect the cheaper guys would end up going earlier.

He was an "expressed" backup plan for Holiday. Now that he's off the table, Mo has one less chip to play v Boras.

You are forgetting that we still have the Felipe Lopez card to play.