ST. LOUIS — The recent round of Matt Holliday-related reports started early this morning, and both had their epicenter in the ongoing negotiations between the New York Mets and Holliday’s chief alternative in this market, free-agent outfielder Jason Bay.
The Mets have spent this week gauging where they fit with their offer to Bay, an All-Star and a left fielder like Holliday. The New York Daily News reported earlier this week that it could take a five-year offer to land Bay, and this morning the back page of the same paper showed how the clock is ticking on the Mets and their pursuit with the headline, “Ho! Ho! Hopeless” under a picture of GM Omar Minaya dressed as Santa. (See pic here.) National writers Jon Heyman, at SI.com, and Buster Olney, at ESPN.com, chimed in with updates on the Bay-Mets connection and it’s impact on the Holliday market.
Heyman writes this morning:
Moving aggressively to try to secure a power-hitting left fielder, the Mets tweaked their offer to Jason Bay to give him a possible five-year alternative and are getting back into the ballgame for Matt Holliday, as well, SI.com has learned.
Olney follows with an update on Bay that casts the Holliday connection slightly different:
The New York Mets remain in serious negotiations on outfielder Jason Bay, and as of Wednesday morning, their offer stood at four years, according to sources. It’s possible that there will be movement in the Mets offer — which was between $60 million and $65 million over four years — but as of Wednesday morning, that had not happened. …
The Mets are monitoring the Matt Holliday negotiations, but are not actively involved, and it could be that talks for the outfielder are out of their price range.
This week has seen significant movement in the outfield market, enough that momentum seems to be pushing teams and free agents toward pre-Christmas resolutions. Johnny Damon, a Scott Boras client like Holliday, figures to be a fit for a team or two that is unsuccessful in signing Bay. Damon told The New York Post: “Matt Holliday, the stuff on him is starting to pick up. And wherever Bay doesn’t end up will open a door for me.” Mike Cameron, an outfield option that one Cardinals official said did not interest them, is set to be announced today as a Boston Red Sox. Other left-field options out there include two righthanded hitters, Jermaine Dye and Xavier Nady. The Cardinals have acknowledged Nady as an option they would consider if their pursuit of Holliday is unsuccessful.
The Cardinals continue to be wary of the possibility they are negotiating against themselves for Holliday, so a public confirmation from the Mets that they are interested in both outfielders, and not just focused on Bay, would change the landscape.
Also …
This past weekend, St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan suggested that free-agent righthander Chien-Ming Wang would interest him as a possible addition to the starting rotation. Wang, recovering from shoulder surgery, was non-tendered by the New York Yankees this past week, and he’s received initial interest from 15 teams, his agent said. However, the Cardinals are not one of those teams, Alan Nero confirmed this morning.
That doesn’t mean the Cardinals won’t entertain and offer for the righthander, as their focus this week has been on Holliday and Nero said Wang is in “no hurry to make a decision.”
The righthander began throwing on Dec. 1 and he’s still targeted to be ready to pitch in May. Nero said that originally after the surgery to repair a tear in the shoulder capsule the thought was Wang wouldn’t be ready until June or possibly July. His rehab has been positive so far, so May “is what we’re talking about now.” Nero said he has no preconceived notions about what Wang’s next contract would look like, and that a one-year offer may be appealing.
The Cardinals have said if they fail to re-sign Holliday they could turn to signing a veteran starting pitcher for the fifth spot in the rotation. Their preference would be to do so on a one-year deal.
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