-I apologize for the late and abbreviated post.  It’s finals week and things have been rather hectic.  Expect a full post like  usual on Saturday.

-Regarding the Matt Holliday situation:  It’s been said by writers such as Joe Strauss and Buster Olney that the Cardinals offer to Matt Holliday is around 5 guaranteed years with options taking the deal potentially to 8 years.  That’s a rather hefty commitment,  but if only 5 of the years are guaranteed there is some protection for the Cardinals.  Not many players are worth 8 years, but the Cardinals will only have Carpenter, Pujols, Wainwright, and Molina in their primes for so long and Holliday would give them a core that would consistently rank near the top of the league for several more seasons.  The Cardinals appear to be sticking on an average annual value of $16 million, which isn’t what Boras wants but might be the best he gets in this market.  

-Everything around baseball has benefited the Cardinals in their attempt to retain Holliday this off-season, with the Red Sox signing John Lackey and Mike Cameron, the Mets more interested in Jason Bay than Matt Holliday, and the Angels, Giants, Braves, Yankees and other potential suitors all being reportedly not in the mix for Holliday.  With every passing day it appears there is a distinct possibility of the Cardinals offering the most dollars to Boras, which is surprising.  Like I said earlier, expect a normal post again on Saturday, where hopefully the situation with #15 has become clearer.