The comment, “Boras doesn’t want us to make a bid” is a joke. Boras knows what the Cardinals are doing. He will play along as long as they are players for a client. That client now is Lopez, not Holiday.

Sounds plausible, but if Boston’s offer to Bay is high enough, why would he want to leave?

There are a lot of variables, competing teams, competing agents, competing players. Even if there is some collusion among the players, as teammates within a union, there are so many variables, its hard to keep track of them all.

MLBTradeRumors pulls together rumors from all over the media at one convenient site. So this web site can probably play a little bit of a role in helping teams and players better understand some of the goals and options for teams and players alike. Through the Web, there is better information about the market as a whole, which in the past must have been very hard for individual teams to know.

The Yankees are happy with the balance between themselves and Boston. Why wouldn’t they. If Boston doesn’t go after Holliday, the Yankees won’t. Boston doesn’t want to because they know the Yanks and Boras would just pull another Tex. That’s why Scottie is rattling cages with the second tier teams like SF. Somehow, behind the scenes, he is working to get Bay out of Boston so as to get the big boys in the MH game.

Whereas the Cards pay the piper, sometimes. The fiscal year has peaks and valleys. Now is a peak time. The Cards will pay peak prices, as they did when Mo signed Pineiro after 2007. There was no end of wailing from fans at the time. Last September, Mo inked Lohse to a 4 year deal, since we like his professionalism; Kyle had some injury problems in 09, but he could bounce back next summer; lets hope so. This winter, the Cards ponied up for Penny; they like him. And the Cards will have outlined serious money for Holliday.

Now for his part, Boras likes to try to fight the fiscal year peaks and valleys. Sometimes this works out for him and sometimes Boras has to cave come March. Boras figures with an uber player like Matt Holliday, the dollars will be there from somebody in March, if they are there for him now. This is not unreasonable for Boras to think.

For their part, the Cards may not want to wait around as long. They will need to drop out of the Holliday competition so as to make alternative moves, instead of waiting around to see what Boras decides in March. If they do this, then Scottie B. is running your team. And it does not help Boras for the Cards or any other team to drop out of the Holliday competition, so he wants to keep them in the game as long as possible. Its a balancing act. At some point, we tell Boras we are dropping out and see if he wants to deal then. If not, so be it, we do some other things.

“He struggles…..the Cards are just playing charades.”
On this, we do not. Boras is having a ball, doing his thing, no struggle at all. The Cards sit back and let him strut and fret his hour upon the stage, as a cynical Bard penned.

“I understand what teams say publicly and what they privately” Boras said.
Snore. DeWitt understands too. Charades are played every winter, indeed all four seasons, and the Cards are not rookies.

“Will the Card match DeRosa offers?”
Why would they want to do so?

Boras is just an agent. He struggles to stay connected to ownership and his clients. The Cards are just playing charades………..right now that suits Boras just fine……….as it suits the Cardinals in cloaking there business plan. Last year the decisive move was Lohse…….this year it Penny. Will the Cardinals match the DeRosa offers? ………………. In the Car business its planned obsolescence. Parts engineered to fail at the right time.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13965920?source=most_emailed

Thats fine with me, Brian.

The Red Sox are big spenders and Boras has a lot to sell at high prices. The two sides are going to find one another, sometimes.

Varitek was a Boras client who made a ton of moola with the Sox. Why they stuck with him so long, it beats me. The Sox caught Boras client J D Drew’s shoulder problem in a pre-signing physical, but still signed him.

After all the hot air and handwringing about Texeira and Manny, there are rumors the Sox want Boras client Beltre. If Beltre were to sign with the Sox, how can this be explained?

I disagree. Boras stuck the Red Sox when he went to the Yanks with Teixeira and earlier on the Manny behaving badly incidents that were investigated by MLB.

Holiday isn’t in that position. Holiday likes the Cardinals, but they are just blowing smoke about wanting to sign him. Thats why there isn’t an offer. Boston knows JB isn’t going anywhere. The Yanks know Holiday isn’t going anywhere. They are completely taking advantage of this knowledge in their bargaining positions. Boras isn’t loved in Boston because they put up 160 million only to watch the Yanks take MT for 180. They aren’t playing that game again.

Lets pray that Scottie’s ridiculous 3yr demand for Ankiel doesn’t mean that he is holding him for the Cards in some late breaking deal 1yr, just for some back scratching at this point. Boris disposed of Lopez in a 1yr deal to Arizona last year at this time without even blinking. This is interesting theater.

Regarding Jukich, in my haste to post, I went shorthand. I suspect he is initially spring insurance for Miller and Reyes. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Cards try to work a deal with Cincy to keep him and move him down at the end of March to continue as in-season insurance, hoping he will never be needed, like MacLane and the three relievers this year. It would be unusual for StL to break camp with three lefties in the pen.

Meyer most likely would have to out pitch either Norrick or Fiske to end up at Memphis – no certainty,

This year, teams with pitching…….Cards..Cubs..Yanks..Red Sox…ect.. could all make an investment that would increase there playoff hopes by 40%. If the Cubs shed Bradley, and go a little crazy and grab Holiday, we’re history. They will destroy the 3 weak links in the division and take it. Yanks and the Sox wouldn’t mind seeing that as it keeps some parity in they’re arms race. If Holiday is left, he will go to the Yankees for 6/120. Red Sox will sign Bay, he is just looking for an extra year and + 20 million from them. It looks to me, through all the turbulence of current distractions, that what we thought 6 weeks ago is still true. The Cards make a show signing and retreat to lick they’re wounds. If they would have made a formal offer as I said, everything would look differently. All the Boras hype in the Cardinal press might be aimed at one person, Matt Holiday, who I would guess would like to come back. Boris knows that Holiday in ST Louis wouldn’t bother NY or Boston.