St. Louis Cardinals Will Not Pick Up Matt Holliday’s Option
The St. Louis Cardinals will reportedly not pick up veteran outfielder Matt Holliday’s 2017 option, spelling the end of his time with the club after eight seasons.
On Friday the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they are unlikely to pick up Matt Holliday‘s $17 million option for the 2017 season. Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was one of several writers to record a conversation that took place between St. Louis GM John Mozeliak and Holliday. Reportedly Mozeliak told Holliday regarding the option, “The probability of us picking it was probably low.”
The 36-year-old Holliday is in the midst of his worst offensive season since his rookie campaign in 2004. Up until last night he had not appeared in a major league game since August 11. Holliday broke his right thumb in a game against the Cubs when he was hit by a pitch from Chicago reliever Mike Montgomery.
There was some question as to whether or not Holliday would play again in 2016. When the team revealed this would likely be his final season as a Cardinal, they decided to activate him. Last night Holliday hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates. He entered Saturday’s game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth, and drove home Brandon Moss with an RBI single.
Holliday spent eight seasons as a member of the Cardinals (2009-2016). Over that period of time the team reached the postseason six times and won one world championship. Holliday made four All-Star appearances as a member of the Cardinals (seven for his career), and he hit .292/.379/.494 during his time in St. Louis.
Overall, Holliday’s career has spanned 13 seasons. He was a seventh round pick of the Colorado Rockies in the 1998 MLB Draft, and he spent his first five big league seasons in Colorado. Following the 2008 season, Holliday was traded to the Oakland A’s for Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and Huston Street. Oakland dealt him in July of 2009 to the Cardinals in a trade for Clayton Mortensen, Shane Peterson and Brett Wallace.
While the Cardinals have said they likely won’t pick up Holliday’s option, that doesn’t mean he won’t be on a major league roster next season. Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com noted earlier today that Holliday definitely intends to play somewhere next season. Holliday said, “I have a lot of good baseball left in me.”
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Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors suggests that Holliday could be particularly attractive as a DH option for an American League team. He has never had a below average offensive season by OPS+, and even with his injury this season he hit .244/.320/.459 with 20 home runs. Fans might have seen the last of Holliday in a Cardinals uniform, but they likely haven’t seen the last of him in Major League Baseball.