One of the first things we heard yesterday upon the Cardinals signing of Matt Holliday was that “the Cardinals had paid too much” and for “too many years.”
People are concerned that the Cardinals won’t be able to extend the contracts of pitchers Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright, or worse yet won’t be able to afford Albert Pujols as they talk to him about a new contract.
Before we get to whether or not the Cardinals gave Holliday too much, lets address the initial concern. Carpenter is signed through 2012, and Wainwright through 2013.Carp will be 37 at the end of that contract.Wainwright will be 33.Worry about extending those pitchers later.With this deal, do people honestly think Bill DeWitt is going to put himself in position to lose money?Bill DeWitt was able to buy the Cardinals because he knows how to MAKE money.
Nobody knows the mechanics of the Cardinals economic picture better than Bill DeWitt.If he thought it was too much money for too long, DeWitt wouldn’t have agreed to this deal.No chance.We won’t need to hold any benefits for Mr. DeWitt.Secondly, if signing Holliday would preclude the Cardinals from signing Pujols, the Cardinals wouldn’t have signed him.The club has an idea of how much it’ll cost to sign Albert.Take this to the bank-there is no way that signing Holliday will prevent the Cardinals from offering Pujols a massive deal.Additionally, the club has addressed one of El Hombre’s concerns.He wants a competitive club every year.Holliday helps insure that the Cardinals will remain competitive, and at the least shows their commitment.
Now, about the deal.The hitters in Holliday’s annual pay neighborhood are Torii Hunter, Ichiro, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Todd Helton.
Here are all of those players’ 162 game averages…
SalaryBAHRRBIOPS
Holliday$17 m.31829112.933
Hunter$18 m.2752595.801
Ichiro$18 m.3331059.811
Wells$18 m.2802595.799
Ramirez$16.65 m.28630109.847
Helton$16. 6.32829107994
Carlos Beltran, Carlos Lee and Magglio Ordonez all make more, and I think we can all argue that because of his numbers and durability, Holliday is their equal as an offensive force.Granted, Ichiro is a completely different kind of hitter, and Hunter gets points for his great defense.But the point is, as far as hitting is concerned, Holliday got fair market value.
Even though we as fans hate to hear a player is insulted by an offer of millions of dollars, if the Cardinals had offered Holliday a five year deal for $70 million