Brian Cashman hasn't said much about Matt Holliday this off-season.

                Throughout the off-season, Cardinal fans have been worried about one team in particular getting involved in the Matt Holliday sweepstakes: the Yankees. Those concerns were quieted some when the Yankees acquired Curtis Granderson in a three-team trade, but with the Melky Cabrera (plus prospects) for Javy Vasquez deal going down, there is an opening in left field once again for the Bombers. General Manager Brian Cashman has insisted that any potential signing for left field won’t be a big ticket item, but similar things were said last year before the Yankees swooped in at the eleventh hour and grabbed Mark Texeira away from the Red Sox and Angels. This is why the Yankees can be considered the “sleeping dog” in these Holliday negotiations, as the threat of them suddenly giving Boras an offer he desires exists. Derrick Goold and others seem to think that the Yankees will be a bigger threat to Mark Derosa than they will be to sign Holliday, and I agree 100%. Here’s why:

-People laugh when the Yankees say they are going to have a “budget conscious” off-season, but in their own Yankee-way they are. Although they have traded for a multi-year (albeit team friendly) contract in Curtis Granderson, the rest of the Yankee off-season additions-Andy Pettitte, Nick Johnson, and Javy Vasquez will all be free agents next off-season. The Yankee version of being “budget conscious” doesn’t involve not spending money, it involves not handing out huge multi-year deals, such as the one Matt Holliday would command. This is why the Yankees are more likely to bring back Johnny Damon or sign Mark Derosa, because of the shorter commitments they will require.

-The luxury tax. Yes the Yankees play with monopoly money, but even they would like to keep their payroll for 2010 around $200 million (it’s currently at $204 +). If the Yankees were to sign Matt Holliday at $18 million per year, which would be reasonable considering the Yankees don’t back-load their contracts as much as teams like the Cardinals, with the 40% luxury tax the money they would actually be paying to sign Matt Holliday is $25.2 million, which would put the Yankees payroll around $230 million! That would be an enormous number even for the Yankees, and I just don’t see them paying Matt Holliday $25 million per season.

                In conclusion, the Yankees very well could sign Matt Holliday, but that seems very unlikely at this point. Signing Matt Holliday would go against what the Yankees want to do with their payroll, which is keep it around $200 million and not give out huge multi-year deals. This isn’t what Scott Boras is wanting to hear, but it is looking like the Cardinals will have the best offer for Holliday this off-season.

By: ryan_jones29 on Dec 23rd, 2009
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