Apr
22
Holliday willing to play in NY
ByVia MLBTR, it turns out that Matt Holliday is willing to play in New York, which is Boras’ way of getting the Yankees and Mets involved for leverage purposes. Back in November we heard from Holliday’s father Tom, who wants his son to play for the Yankees. Me? I’d pass. I don’t want to see the team sign another player to a huge contract and be locked in at first, third and left field for the better part of the next decade. I prefer Carl Crawford, who’s nearly two years younger and a much more well-rounded player. Not to mention the fact that he’d probably come cheaper in both dollars and years.
Fun Fact: Matt Holliday has hit one homerun since August 20th of last year, including Spring Training.
70 Comments»
RAB Info
The Founders
Mike Axisa, Ben Kabak, Joe Pawlikowski
Editor-In-Chief
Mike Axisa Archives | Email
Managing Editors
Ben Kabak Archives | E-mail
Joe Pawlikowski Archives | E-mail
Contributing Editors
Larry Koestler (Archives)
Moshe Mandel (Archives)
Stephen Rhoads (Archives)
Weekend Writers
Hannah Ehrlich (Archives)
Matthew Warden (Archives)
Special Contributor
J.R. O'Grady (Archives)
Subscribe to RAB by RSS and Twitter
Follow @RiverAveBlues Search RAB
Spring Training Countdown
Just 5 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.Banner Design By
Also, check out Holliday’s home/road splits and his numbers away from Coors…
No really? Omg thats some breaking news!!!
Do you try hard to be a total jackass or does it come naturally?
Please.
I’ve dealt with so much worse.
Syracuse sucks.
100% natural baby
Man, something smells freakin RANCID in here…
Actually, Holliday’s posted OPS’s of .860 (’07) and .892 (’08) away from Coors recently so…It was .819 in ’06 (mostly comprised of his SLG there), but ’05 and ’04 are the only years where he didn’t OPS over .800 at home so those problems could be overblown.
*…didn’t OPS over .800 on the road.
Crawford would be sick.
He can stay put. That’s all I have to say.
I’m pretty confident that Cashman is setting his sights on Crawford. In the hopes that Tampa doesn’t pick up his option.
I’m worried Tampa will pick up his option and then trade him, like the Yanks did for Sheff. I’d rather have Crawford for just money instead of players, obviously.
Damn, you’re right. Forgot about that. Let’s just hope the Tampa FO falls asleep at the switch on this.
Not likely, but hey it’s better than nothing.
In this economy, Im not sure they take that chance…
I’m worried Tampa will pick up his option and then trade him, like the Yanks did for Sheff. I’d rather have Crawford for just money instead of players, obviously.
$10 mil though? For one year? What will you really get back for that…considering how many free agents OFers there are going to be next offseason, and the state of the market.
Crawford! I remember playing with him in MVP 05 (and 06, 07, 08 & 09). I’d love to see him in pinstripes
I’m not a huge Holliday fan, but Crawford is significantly overrated. Just look at his wOBA.
Carl Crawford is a much better player than Matt Holliday? False.
Who said he was better? I said he was more well-rounded (true) and likely to be cheaper (true).
He can hit out of a park not called Coors field(True).
Considering that signing ANYONE to play LF prevents us from moving Jeter out of the infield, I think it’s a horrible idea.
Who says Jeter is moving out of the infield?
I really don’t see that happening until his current contract is up.
A horrible idea is moving an above-average offensive short stop to a position that requires more of a bat with no guarantee that he can actually play that position. So you’d have a below-average offensive bat and potentially a below-average defensive player clogging up a spot in your lineup.
You go with the better player. That’s roster construction.
And yet, Jeter’s defensive skill-set (good overall footspeed for ranging on popups but poor lateral movement for getting down on grounders, good strong arm but somewhat inaccurate) profiles well for the outfield.
Meaning he may well turn himself from a good offensive SS/bad defensive SS into an average offensive LF/good defensive LF. I don’t think he’d be an overall negative in the OF.
It all depends on whom we can get as replacements either at SS or LF who would be playing in whichever position he’s not in. But, independent of the rest of our team’s roster construction, Jeter moving from SS to LF is probably a positive, because the detriment of moving his bat down the defensive spectrum to a more offense-intensive position may well be smaller than the gain of turning him from a poor-defender into a good defender. Jeter may be a -10 player at SS and a +10 player in LF.
Right, he may be a plus outfielder. May.
True. This is not fact, just my educated guess.
Unfortunately, as Jeter ages, this argument makes less and less sense. A 35 year old SS is less likely to turn into a plus defender in the corner OF than a 30 year old one.
Sure, Jeter’s skill set tends to make sense for an outfielder, but when was the last time he actually played a game out there? High school? Little league? This isn’t to suggest that the Yankees shouldn’t consider moving Jeter if the opportunity arises, just that him becoming a plus defender isn’t even close to a guarantee.
If Crawford his the market, how much is reasonable in terms of years and money? And now separately of course, what would the Yankees spend?
Marte has to throw him down on the 0-2 1-2 pitch.
Wrong thread sorry.
I hope your fun fact doesn’t bite us in the ass
Only two players have come out and said they’ll never play in NY.
One was John Rocker and the other was Johnny Damon.
We all how those stories went.
we all know*
wrong – you forgot the punk Schilling
And Ken Griffey Jr
Carl Crawford is not a free agent this year..so why even bring his name up??
His contract has a team option for next season. It’s worth $10m, which is looking a little expensive compared to the deals signed this past offseason.
Because he as a $10m option for 2010 which might be expensive for the Rays?
Please no more Boras clients.
Damon
Tex
Nady
Al
Besides, Holliday might want a BIG contract. Let the Mets get him although they prefer latinos.
All of this is batshit insane.
the guy fields like Manny also.
Pass he is a very good hitter but a terrbile fielder with zero speed and is about 30 yrs old.
JUST SAY NO.
I prefer for the Yankees to not sign Holliday but to say hes a terrible OF is wrong. Hes has above average range and how does one steal 28 bases if they have 0 speed?
Holliday’s career UZR in LF: +27.6
Manny’s career UZR in LF: -61.7
Holliday defensively >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Manny defensively
wait, are you talking about Holliday?
Holliday not only has far better range than Manny, he had a 28-2 SB-CS ratio last year. That’s not 0 speed.
I’m not saying I want him, just your points are incorrect
Crawford to replace Damon in left and bat leadoff..sign me up!
i’d be willing to play in ny, too; i’m 75 with no perceptible power
no way, holliday
Swisher,AJax,Bay is the OF for next year with ManRam the DH for one year and an option ofcourse.
Matsui,Nady,Damon all waiving bye bye.
Meanwhile in the real world…
How is that out of the question?
AJax will be ready
Swisher is here
Jason Bay is a free agent.
ManRam has a player option that he would likely drop.
Bay will not command a crazy contract like Holliday would.
http://i435.photobucket.com/al.....tton-1.jpg
You are forgetting there are 29 other teams.
AllMost of this is batshit insane.The swish we saw over the first 15 games of the season isn’t the real swish. he started off hot. great for him. greater for us. i wanna see swish’s numbers after 500 at-bats before yelling REBOUND.
Here comes the curse of Mike Axisa.
you lucked out Axisa.
No no no Mr. In Sunny Daytona, you are the one who lucked out.
No, Mr. In Sunny Daytona… I expect them to DIE!!!!!!!!
The Melk Mannn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is no question that Boras wants to get the Yankees involved with Holliday. Boras will be looking for dollars in the Teixeira range, and he may very well get it, because every other just about every other possible quality free agent (Lackey, Nady, and Vlad), are currently injured, or there is a team option on them like Crawford.
I think that waiting until after 2010, when you clear quite a bit of salary space (Nady, Matsui, Damon, and yes, Jeter and Rivera), they will be in position to land a prime A free agent or 2. Here are some of the players who could be available: Lance Berkman, Albert Pujols, Jimmy Rollins, Jose Reyes, Joe Mauer, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Webb (Cot’s Baseball Contracts). Does this mean that all will be available? Of course not. But the idea of Joe Mauer in the Bronx would be really appealing.
I say … if Holliday’s talent comes through (its early , so i think he’ll still hit 25-30 hrs), then the Yanks should be suitors.
Holliday will likely hit .300. He’ll likely get on base at a +.350 clip. These are very good numbers for a corner man. Since we’re devoid of corner OF talent in the minors, Holliday makes sense.
I’m not saying we give out a 150 million dollar contract. No way. Recession + foreseeable disappointing revenue from stadium seating sales = no mega contract. But we should kick the tires on this one.
Of course they’ll be cheaper alternatives in FA ..
Let’s be real: Carl Crawford is consistently one of the biggest underachievers in baseball, while Matt Holliday has put up some of the best numbers of any OFer in the past 3-4 years. With presumably Damon on his way out, I can see why someone would want Crawford, but to say he’s more well rounded than Holliday? Well, Crawford is more well rounded than Manny, too, I wonder who would’ve helped us more over the past half decade?
Carl Crawford had one bad year.
2008.
Before that, he was a well above average player who put a lot on the table, took nothing off the table, and had all his trendlines pointing up. He’s entering his prime.
Yes, he’s not as good as Holliday, but to call him “consistently one of the biggest underachievers in baseball” is inaccurate.
Hey TSJC, for my history final paper im writing about the ’68 olympic games sooooo, do u know any good books about that black power salute?
well this isnt the open thread
Crawford is one of the biggest underachievers in baseball…ask anyone who has owned him in fantasy over the past 5 years how much they like him
He has very little power and he doesnt draw many walks, but he’s got god-like speed, amazing range and a cannon. Not a fantasy stud, but definitely worth a look as our left fielder
I think it’s a bit early for that.
a. Holilday have been pretty darn bad so far. let’s see a full year of no Coors Matt before making a decision.
b. Crawford’s also been pretty bad so far. while that might help in Tampa not paying him the option, it doesn’t bold well for his next suitor if he’s comming off two strait bad season.