It’s well-known that agent Scott Boras loves to drum up interest in his clients, often throwing out “mystery teams” and false reported offers to drive up the price on the players he is representing. So it wasn’t a good thing for Mr. Boras when ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted on Monday that the Yankees have no interest in Holliday, and that left-field wasn’t a priority for them this off-season. It would definitely be a good thing if the Yankees aren’t in the bidding for Holliday, but it’s not safe to rule them out yet. Think of them as a sleeping dog if you will, and should they awaken they could come in and give Holliday an offer that blows every other team out of the water, which would be much like the way they did last year with Mark Texiera. The Yankees are just one team though, and figure to just be one of the clubs in the running for Holliday’s services, so what teams can the Cardinals expect to be bidding against this off-season?

 

In no particular order:

 

*Mets-The Mets had a $140 million opening day payroll this past year, and reportedly could have around $25-30 million to spend. That’s very similar to what the Cardinals could have available, and the Mets may have more needs than just adding a left-fielder. It might make more sense for Omar Minaya to spread around his dollars to help his depth. The Mets already have Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and David Wright as an offensive core, and with a rotation with the fragile John Maine as the #2 starter and Omir Santos as the projected starting catcher the Mets would probably be better off complementing their roster with role players rather than blowing 2/3 of their budget on one guy. The Mets are reportedly interested in another Cardinal free agent, Joel Pineiro, which isn’t surprising. I have thought Pineiro would go to the Mets all along because of their need for a durable pitcher. Minaya was heavily criticized for signing Oliver Perez over the durable sinker-baller Derek Lowe last off-season, so look for him to try to correct his mistake by signing Pineiro, who is in the same mold as Lowe.

 

*Yankees-The Yankees might not spend on Matt Holliday, but certainly could if they wanted to. Pitching appears to be a priority for the bombers, but if the Yankees lose out on a pitcher like John Lackey don’t be surprised if they turn to Holliday as their second option in the free agent market. Most rumors and rumblings have the Yankees having a fairly quiet off-season, but until Johnny Damon is re-signed the possibility for Brian Cashman to pursue Holliday is there. It will be interesting to see what roles the Yankees decide to use Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in, as well as if they tender Chien-Ming Wang a contract. Assuming New York signs Pettitte, 2/3 of Joba, Hughes, and Wang could handle the back two spots in the rotation and give Brian Cashman much more financial flexibility to pursue Holliday.

 

 

*Red Sox-The Red Sox had a $121 million dollar payroll last season, and have some financial flexibility going into this winter. I expect the Red Sox to re-sign Jason Bay for left-field, but if for some reason that doesn’t happen they would probably make Matt Holliday a priority. The best thing that could happen for the Cardinals is for Bay to re-sign with Boston. If he leaves, they are probably the biggest threat to land Holliday.

 

*Angels-The Angels are another big market club that could enter the Holliday bidding. If they lose some of their own free agents like John Lackey and Chone Figgins, the Angels could move in on Holliday to add offense even though they already have Juan Rivera in left-field. Recently we learned that the Angels aren’t “currently pursuing” Matt Holliday, but if both Lackey and Figgins leave things could change.

 

*Braves-The one thing that is holding the Braves back from being a force in the N.L. East is the lack of a big bat, especially in left-field. The Braves don’t have the financial flexibility of the Cardinals this off-season (GM Frank Wren said the Braves probably wouldn’t be in the mix for Holliday and Bay in a radio interview on XM), but whenever a team identifies a player as a potential “missing piece to the puzzle” the incentive to spend is there. If signing Holliday meant the difference between 85 and 90 wins, the Braves would be foolish not to add get into the Holliday bidding because the potential revenue gained from getting 90 wins and a possible play-off birth is greater than saving money by not signing Holliday and being an 85ish win team.

 

*Giants-No potential contender needs offense more than the Giants, and if it wasn’t for their horrible signings of Barry Zito ($126 million) and Aaron Rowand ($60 million), they might be a more serious contender for Holliday. However, as Buster Olney tweeted, the Giants would have $50 million committed to three players without having Lincecum, Cain, or Sandoval signed for the long-term.

 

*Mariners-Seattle is another team looking for offense, and also apparently has some serious cash if they reportedly are in the bidding for John Lackey. They might try to sign their ace Felix Hernandez to a long-term deal this off-season, but if he wants GM Jack Zduriencik will have some financial flexibility to work with this winter and get some desperately needed offense.

 

                So altogether it appears that the Cardinals could have up to 7 teams competing with them for Matt Holliday’s services. Although it’s unlikely that all 7 teams will be in the bidding, the potential for Scott Boras to work his magic is there. Whether the Cardinals offer is good enough will depend on if big- market teams like the Yankees and Red Sox stay out of the bidding, and also if Matt Holliday is not looking for every last dollar. Goold and Strauss have stated that there is a possibility that the Cardinals could put forth the best offer to Holliday, but as owner Bill Dewitt said if the big-market teams get involved the likelihood of John Mozeliak giving Boras the best offer isn’t good. Don’t look for any deal for Holliday to get done soon either, as Scott Boras typically likes to wait things out and try to locate a desperate team. Look for a Holliday deal to happen after the winter meetings, usually in the late December to early January period.

 

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