The New York Yankees needed someone to fill a hole in the team’s DH spot for the short term, and they appear to have found their man.
A number of different outlets reported Sunday that New York has signed former St. Louis Cardinal Matt Holliday to a one-year, $13 million deal. As a team with a lot of young talent coming up, Holliday is the perfect fit.
Yanks have deal with Holliday. 13M
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 4, 2016
During his final two years in St. Louis, Holliday played just 183 games due to injuries to his quad and thumb. With the Cardinals looking for any way to catch up to the Chicago Cubs, Holliday didn’t seem like a logical part of the plan.
But while St. Louis might not have felt the need to retain Holliday, he still brings some offensive prowess to the table. This past season he hit 20 home runs in 110 games with the Cardinals. This went along with his line of .246/.322/.461.
Though Holliday will be 37 years old during the 2017 season, his numbers might have a chance to go up. Yankee Stadium is definitely a hitters’ park, so there’s a chance Holliday could at least recreate his 2016 numbers. This could only help New York, who could have a chance to move up in the American League East with a potential drop-off from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Carlos Beltran might have been the better overall pickup, but that wasn’t an option for the Yankees after the Houston Astros brought back the slugger. Either way, Holliday seems like a perfect fit for a New York team needing some short-term fixes.
