The prize of this year’s Major League Baseball free agent crop, is All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday.

Holliday began the ‘09 season with the Oakland A’s and as the summer evolved it was clear that Holliday was not suited to the American League, plain and simple.

Many players who go from the NL to the AL tend to struggle...and Holliday is a prime example.
Matt was simply an average player in Oakland, but after a trade back to the NL (St. Louis) the star re-emerged.

By The Numbers

In 93 games and 346 ABs with the A's Holliday put up a stat line of: 52 runs, 99 hits, 11 HRs, 54 RBIs, .286 average, .378 OBP and .454 SLG.

In 63 games, 235 ABs with the Cards he put up: 42 runs, 83 hits, 13 HRs, 55 RBIs, .353 average, .419 OBP, .604 SLG.

For Holliday's performance sake, it is safe to say he would be better off in the NL, but most players follow the money.

The question is: Where will the money be in 2010? Scott Boras, Holliday's agent, is a GM's worse nightmare and has inked the most lucrative contracts in baseball.

The combination of Boras and Holliday could demand a contract in excess of $100 million for 6-7 years.

Who’s Interested: Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Angels Cards.

The defending champion New York Yankees are facing some questions in the outfield next spring.

Entering the off-season, outfielders Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui and Xavier Nady are all free agents. Nady was in-jured for the majority of the year, while Damon and Matsui were a big part of the Yankees championship run.

This leaves the Yanks with some holes, but fortunately New York has the luxury to be able to afford any player on the market.

The other Big Apple team is coming off a rough year.

When the season began, the Mets were considered World Series contenders. But, after a slew of injuries and some unfortunate bumps in the road the Mets ended the season under .500 and fourth in the division.

What makes them best for Holliday? They are an NL team. They have a lot of money to spend and they could use a little more power in their line-up.

The Red Sox more likely to re-sign their own free agent, Jason Bay.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are always looking to make a big splash, but every year they are like that kid who talks and talks but never seems to back it up. The Angels usually find an in-house option to fill out their team and stay competitive from year to year.

The Cardinals seem like the least likely destination. St. Louis appears unable to sign Holliday. The Cards are like the Angels, but with even less money.

My prediction: Happy Hollidays in New York.

“Lack” of Pitching
A thin pitching market “lacks” in every sense of the word.

This year’s group of free agents is very weak, but pitching-wise it’s even worse. The pitching market has only one diamond in the rough and that is Angels pitcher John Lackey.

The Angels star was 11-8 this season with a 3.83 ERA over 176.1 innings helping lead the Angels to the ALCS where they fell to New York.

After being beaten by the Yanks, it only makes sense that they would now be interested in Lackey's services.

John would probably be the best signing the Yanks could make this off-season. He would be the perfect guy to slot right behind Burnett as their number 3 starter.

This could give the Yanks a starting rotation of: C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Lackey, Pettitte and either Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain.

This has the potential to be the best rotation in the AL and could help New York bring a 28th championship home.

Seattle has also shown some strong interest in Lackey. The Mariners made huge improvements last season and could be just a few years away from de-throning the Angels.

Lackey could help speed up this process by signing with the Mariners. Imagine a 1-2 punch of Felix Hernandaz & Lackey.

Once again, the Angels seem to be the the least likely choice. LA just doesn’t seem to have the money it would take to land the best pitcher on the market, even though he pitched for them last year.

Lackey may be another player who goes where the money goes as are many others.

Baywatch
In this episode of Baywatch, ‘prized’ free agent Matt Holliday is the star of the show (like David Hasselhoff) and John Lackey is the eye-candy (think Pamela Anderson).

However,  Jason Bay is waiting in the wings to do some serious damage to teams...like the shark that ruins a beautiful day on Baywatch.

Jason Bay is the second best bat on the market and in my eyes is more valuable than Holliday.

Why? Well, the guy is a proven AL and NL player. He’s performed for Boston and he’s succeeded in Pittsburgh.

Last season, he was one of Boston’s top bats, clubbing 36 HRS and 119 RBI. He is older and a statistically worse fielder than Holliday...but, in my eyes he’s more proven for a AL team looking for a bat.

The best part? He’ll be a bit cheaper than Holliday.

The wealthy Yanks seem to top the list of teams willing to pay Bay. A Bronx-Beantown bidding war is very possible here, and it is said that Bay may be looking for 4 or 5 years at 14 or 15 million per season.

The Mets are also rumored to have interest. The White Sox and Giants could shock everyone, though.

While both NY teams and Boston fight over Holliday, it is very possible that one of these two teams could swoop in and sign Bay.