Tag: Matt Holliday (Page 6 of 8)

      Report: Cardinals showing interest in Holliday again

      July 23, 2009 /

      According to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Cardinals are once again showing interest in A’s outfielder Matt Holliday.

      Holliday to Cards, redux: For the second time, rumors are swirling about the Cardinals’ interest in the A’s Matt Holliday, below. One NL source said Wednesday that St. Louis might be edging closer to Oakland’s asking price, minor-league third baseman Brett Wallace, because the Cardinals need a left fielder and their other option essentially would be Washington’s Josh Willingham.

      Nothing has changed much for St. Louis since before the All-Star break. They’re still in first place (granted, only by a game over the Cubs and Astros now), their pitching is still solid, and they have nobody to protect Albert Pujols in the lineup, although Ryan Ludwick has shown flashes that he could take over that role at some point in the second half.

      There are a couple of things working in the Cardinals’ favor when it comes to Holliday. One is that they’re dealing with the A’s and GM Billy Beane, who hates trading in his own league and usually works with NL teams on bigger deals (see Dan Haren, Mark Mulder and Milton Bradley).

      Another factor in the Cardinals’ favor is that Holliday is a free agent at the end of the year and isn’t hitting that well. So while Beane isn’t going to hand him over on a silver platter, he also might have to take a deal of lesser value to make sure he gets something out of the deal he made for Holliday, which is essentially turning out to be a major bust.

      We’ll see if St. Louis can put enough of a package together to entice Beane to deal Holliday.

      MLB

      Ten Predictions for the MLB second half

      July 20, 2009 /


      The second half of the 2009 MLB season has kicked off and with that, I’m going to make some predictions that are sure to be proved wrong in a couple months.

      Feel free to whip out your crystal ball in the comments section but before you do, please do everyone a favor and take off your favorite team prescribed glasses and be objective for once in your life, will ya?

      1. The Blue Jays will trade Halladay…to the Phillies.
      Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is reminding everyone who will listen that he doesn’t absolutely need to trade Roy Halladay – which he doesn’t. But the bottom line is that he’ll probably get more in return for the “Doc” this season than he would next when Halladay is set to become a free agent after the 2010 season. And despite Ricciardi stating that he’s open to trading Halladay within the division, he’s not stupid. He’s not going to trade Halladay to the Red Sox or Yankees and risk becoming public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Jays fans for not only getting rid of their best and most popular player, but also trading him to a division rival in the process. In the end, I think Ricciardi will trade Halladay to an NL team and my guess is that it will be Philadelphia that will eventually puts a package together to acquire him. Although they might balk at the $7 million that’s remaining on Halladay’s contract, the Phillies are built to win now and need more starting pitching to make another run at a World Series. They also have enough appealing prospects to entice Ricciardi to make a deal.

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      MLB

      Bay, Red Sox break off contract talks again

      July 20, 2009 /

      For the second time this year, the Red Sox have broken off contract talks with outfielder Jason Bay, who becomes a free agent after the season.

      “It’s now clear that this round of talks won’t result in a deal, either,’’ Epstein said. “As a result, we’re going to table discussions again, which once again is a mutual decision, and pick them up most likely after the season.’’

      That does not necessarily mean that Bay is eager to test the free agent market. While that would likely garner him bigger offers, especially with the Yankees in need of a left fielder for 2010 and beyond, Bay said he could resume talks with the Red Sox before filing for free agency. The sides, Bay said, have made progress since they first broke off talks in spring training.

      “I’m not trying to set a precedent,’’ Bay said. “Just looking for something that’s fair. Whether that’s changed over the last three months, you guys can determine that.

      Ultimately I think a deal between Bay and the BoSox will eventually get done. It might drag on into the winter, but if Epstein wants him bad enough, Bay will be back patrolling left field at Fenway again next season.

      But if Bay flies the coup (either to the Bronx or otherwise), I wouldn’t discount the Sox taking a look at Matt Holliday, who becomes a free agent after this season. He hasn’t hit well this season, but he would be the next best available after Bay and he’ll still be relatively young.

      Again though, I think Bay will wind up back in Boston. He has dramatically upgraded his defense at Fenway and while he probably isn’t as good as he was at the start of this season, he’s a quality bat and someone the Sox can plug in the middle of their lineup for the next couple seasons and not have to worry about filling that void.

      MLB

      Hairston traded to A’s, is Holliday the next to be moved?

      July 6, 2009 /

      On Sunday, the Padres traded outfielder Scott Hairston to the A’s in exchange for minor league pitchers Ryan Webb and Craig Italiano, in addition to a player to be named later.

      MLB FANHOUSE discusses the possibility of the A’s acquiring Hairston as a precursor to a Matt Holliday trade:

      For the A’s, they already have Ryan Sweeney and Matt Holliday in the outfield. Hairston gives them the ability to play Sweeney in right field instead of either Travis Buck or Jack Cust. Digging deeper, though, the A’s could easily be preparing to trade Holliday, who is in his walk year, certainly won’t be re-signing in Oakland and would likely be a hot commodity in the trade market. According to a source close to the A’s, Hairston will initially split time in center field with Rajai Davis, but they are looking at him as a corner outfielder in the long term. There’s no real word from Oakland about Holliday specifically, but it certainly looks like a precursor-type move — especially with the news that Hairston will begin in center and eventually shift to a corner.

      At this point, it seems inevitable that Oakland will move Holliday. Trade wizard Billy Beane isn’t going to accept just anything in a deal, but he’s going to get something in return for Holliday, especially after giving up multiple pieces to acquire him from Colorado last winter.

      The Cardinals, Giants and Reds have all been linked to Holliday, although nobody should ever count out the Yankees making a move.

      MLB

      The five most (potentially) intriguing names on the MLB trade market

      July 2, 2009 /

      With the All-Star break quickly approaching, many MLB teams are trying to figure out whether or not they’ll be buyers or sellers later this month. It’s a tricky game front offices must play, because they don’t want to alienate their fans by suggesting that their club is already out of contention with half the season left to go, but teams also don’t want to miss out on adding a piece for the future because they’re hanging onto a veteran that won’t play a significant role down the line.

      That said, I’ve compiled a ranking of the five most intriguing names that either are on the trade market, or could be. Granted, every player outside of guys named Pujols, Jeter and Howard could potentially be on the trade market, but I tried to keep the list to only those names that continue to pop up in the weekly rumor mill, whether their teams have officially those names as available or not.

      Two names you won’t find on the list are Dan Haren and Jake Peavy, even though they have been brought up in various trade rumors. The Diamondbacks aren’t going to trade Haren unless some team offers a ridiculous package (as in multiple top prospects) and Peavy’s injury situation has all but killed his trade value. I would be shocked if either player gets dealt this season.

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