Matt Holliday and Jason Bay are, by far, the biggest free agents this offseason. Since Bay was the Red Sox left fielder this year and Johnny Damon, the Yankees left fielder is a free agent as well, those two teams look to be big players in the negotiations for one or both of them. The Mets and Cardinals also appear to be teams that will be firmly in the mix.The Cardinals would love to retain Holliday, but it looks like they might have to pass, in order to save money for Albert Pujols, the best player in baseball.
Holliday is saying that he would prefer to play in New York, so it looks like the Mets and the Yankees have the early lead as far as he's concerned. His agent, Scott Boras, seems to think that he'll get Mark Teixeira money, but I would tend to doubt it, for several reasons:
- The Yankees are the only team that would be willing to pay that much for anyone, and they're probably not going to spend as much as they did last offseason.
- He's not as good as Teixeira.
- The last thing in everyone's mind is his error that finished off the Cardinals in the playoffs.
I think he'll get a deal in the range of 6 years, 110M. Although someone might pay more, of course. Stranger things have happened.
As a Red Sox fan, I hate to say it, but I'm thinking that Jason Bay will end up in Anaheim, as a replacement for Bobby Abreu. Holliday will go to the Yankees and replace Damon. So where does that leave the Red Sox? Possibly in dire straights, unless they trade for another big bat.
What are your early thoughts on the MLB free agent season? It hasn't even started yet, but it's one of the most exciting parts of the year. Be sure to pay attention... things might get interesting.
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