Cardinals sign Greg Holland, 1-year, $14M

[reillymcshane]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/03/cardinals-close-sign-greg-holland.html

 

1-year, $14M

[KeithStone53151]

I think he gets a 2-3 year deal at roughly the same AAV as Davis. My call is 2/32 with a vesting option.

[KeithStone53151]

 

$14 million, I'm guessing that's a 1 year deal then.

[coolhandluke121]

Not bad for the Cards I guess. They needed him. Just not a fan of paying such a premium for a "closer" because talented relievers are coming out of nowhere to fill that role all the time. I still think the Cards were a fluke last year, but obviously this isn't great for the Brewers because the bullpen was arguably the Cardinals' biggest weakness.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

$14 million for a 1-year deal, and have to surrender a high pick. I get why they did it, but it screams "desperation move". Looking at Holland's numbers, it's easy to see why he was still available. He was downright bad in the second half of 2017.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Lordy. I mean, they need this, but that price makes me gag.

[MrTPlush]

You could argue this just made them worse...he was horrendous in the 2nd half. If that continues, great for us. Regardless his days as a really good closer may be gone and an okay relieve doesn’t add much value.

[reillymcshane]

He was downright bad in the second half of 2017.

Yeh, he was awful. 6.38 ERA after the all-star break. Had a 1.62 ERA before the break. Tale of two seasons for the guy. He was coming off missing an entire year, so it may have simply been fatigue. Who knows - but it is a red flag.

 

St. Louis is a great spot for him as he'll get lots of save chances.

[wildcat83]

Wasn't the qualifying offer that he turned down work 17 mil + ??

 

I wonder how this off-season will change how players approach those decisions at the end of this season.

[MrTPlush]

Wasn't the qualifying offer that he turned down work 17 mil + ??

 

I wonder how this off-season will change how players approach those decisions at the end of this season.

 

Like usual I would guess. This isn’t some unprecedented happening. There was legitimate risk to turn down the QO and he knew that. It isn’t shocking he could not find a multi year deal. The worst possible scenario happened and he still got $14mil for one year.

[bill hAll Star]

Holland got rocked 4 times in August and then did great in September and October (his best stretch of the year in terms of OPS against). Sure, his 2nd half was "bad" but I would be more concerned if he continued to not pitch well and it wasn't probably just a little blip or bad stretch.

[Eye Black]

Regarding the draft and international bonus pool ramifications for the Cardinals...

 

@JoeTrezz: Greg Holland rejected a qualifying offer from Colorado, meaning the Cardinals must sacrifice the No.59 pick in next years draft, plus $500,000 in international bonus pool money, to sign him. Plus whatever player cost comes in a corresponding roster move. #STLCards

The MLB draft pool value for the #59 selection was $1,140,600. The Cardinals compensation for Lance Lynn signing elsewhere was the #76 draft selection and $787,200 in draft pool money.

[coolhandluke121]

Yeah, giving up the draft pick is head-scratcher. But in a way, I'm glad so many rival teams made moves that they could regret. Still think the Brewers' best window is a few years away, and wild card contention this year and last was just a bonus. The division favorites are really strong right now and I think teams like Philly, Colorado, NYM, SF, and St. Louis made a lot of sacrifices for a pretty questionable chance to close the gap significantly. I guess SF has no farm anyway so I can't blame them, but I wouldn't like this if I was a Cardinals fan. Anything that puts the Brewers in a better position to be one of the dominant teams in a couple years is fine by me.

[A Swing and A Drive]

Really don't understand how Brewer fans just rationalize that any big moves the Cardinals and Cubs make are somehow bad for them. lol

 

This move certainly makes the Cardinals a better team this year.

 

I'm starting to think of this season as the last true year of a Brewers rebuild and not having expectations of us finishing higher than 3rd in the NL Central.

 

If we overachieve like last season, than it will just be a pleasant surprise rather than expected.

[MadThinker88]

Really don't understand how Brewer fans just rationalize that any big moves the Cardinals and Cubs make are somehow bad for them. lol

 

This move certainly makes the Cardinals a better team this year.

 

I'm starting to think of this season as the last true year of a Brewers rebuild and not having expectations of us finishing higher than 3rd in the NL Central.

 

If we overachieve like last season, than it will just be a pleasant surprise rather than expected.

 

That is a good way to look at it... Hold back on the expectations and be thrilled if/when those expectations are surpassed.

 

Personally I think the rebuild (even if 2018 is the last year of it) has been cut dangerously short. The club had all of 2 top 10 picks & only 1 was in top 5 (at #5) during this rebuild. Yes last year was exciting and fun to follow but it also cost the Brewers another bite at the top 10 draft pick apple.

 

My fingers are crossed that DS and his team have done a better job than people realize stocking the farm at the lower levels so once the Brewers are truly competitive again it is not for a short window of 3 or 4 years but rather a sustained "St. Louis" type of run - year in, year out for a decade plus...

[danzig6767]

Lordy. I mean, they need this, but that price makes me gag.

Holland and Boras earlier turned down the 3yr/52 million from Colorado that they then gave to Wade Davis because Boras reportedly wanted a 4th year.

[Thurston Fluff]

Not bad for the Cards I guess. They needed him. Just not a fan of paying such a premium for a "closer" because talented relievers are coming out of nowhere to fill that role all the time. I still think the Cards were a fluke last year, but obviously this isn't great for the Brewers because the bullpen was arguably the Cardinals' biggest weakness.

 

Exactly. They would have had about the same chance of having an effective closer signing a few lower level pitchers and a few NRI's and seeing what stuck. I get the idea of needing a closer for a team that has playoff hopes but throwing money at someone just because they did it once upon a time doesn't automatically fill the void. Nor is it the best way to attempt to fill it.

[danzig6767]

Not bad for the Cards I guess. They needed him. Just not a fan of paying such a premium for a "closer" because talented relievers are coming out of nowhere to fill that role all the time. I still think the Cards were a fluke last year, but obviously this isn't great for the Brewers because the bullpen was arguably the Cardinals' biggest weakness.

 

Exactly. They would have had about the same chance of having an effective closer signing a few lower level pitchers and a few NRI's and seeing what stuck. I get the idea of needing a closer for a team that has playoff hopes but throwing money at someone just because they did it once upon a time doesn't automatically fill the void. Nor is it the best way to attempt to fill it.

I don't like the draft pick part for the Cardinals, but as we saw last year, playoff berths can be decided by a single game.

 

If Holland comes in and is very effective for them and they get into the playoffs, that 14 million is nothing St. Louis will care about vs rolling the dice on some NRI's who could blow a number of games, and cost them a playoff berth.

 

Now, if this was a multi-year deal at big money, then i'd hate it if i was a Cardinals fan.

[Thurston Fluff]

I guess if you have the money it's better to both pay one guy to be the guy and stock up a bunch of NRI's with in AAA and see what shakes out. I just don't think throwing a lot of money at him is any more a guarantee of it being fixed than scouring the waiver wire or trading for someone would be. Overpaying for something just because you need it doesn't mean you bought something that fixes the problem.

[coolhandluke121]

Really don't understand how Brewer fans just rationalize that any big moves the Cardinals and Cubs make are somehow bad for them. lol

 

 

In the long run, it's worse for them and therefore better for the Brewers. What's hard to understand about that? Is it hard to understand why it was good for the Pirates, Cubs, and Cardinals when the Brewers signed Garza and Suppan and kept a bunch of washed-up guys on 8-figure salaries so long that they ended up negative WAR players, instead of trading them when they had the chance?

 

I don't just think about this year. That's the kind of thinking that puts you in the situation the Brewers have been in for most of Mark A's time with the team. If the Brewers' peak was this year, I'd be more concerned, but this just makes it that much more likely that the Brewers will be the dominant team in the Central in 3 years.

[MadThinker88]

....

Now, if this was a multi-year deal at big money, then i'd hate it if i was a Cardinals fan.

 

While Holland is now immune from the QO, I would not be surprised if Holland pitches well during the 1st half that the Cardinals approach him around the all star break with a 2 or 3 year deal (in order to minimize the loss of draft pick & other monies).

 

Holland would then be in a very interesting situation - sign a deal & get some security (likely for less then what MIGHT happen on the open market) & remove the uncertainty of the market or decline the deal and try the market again.

 

While Holland will not have a QO to deal with, there will be some better relievers getting to the free agent relief market (as well as other big FA names) after the 2018 season.

 

Among the relievers he would be going against in the market: Cody Allen, Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, David Robertson, Craig Kimbrel, & Jeurys Familia

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/2018-19-mlb-free-agents.html

[adambr2]

He was downright bad in the second half of 2017.

Yeh, he was awful. 6.38 ERA after the all-star break. Had a 1.62 ERA before the break. Tale of two seasons for the guy. He was coming off missing an entire year, so it may have simply been fatigue. Who knows - but it is a red flag.

 

St. Louis is a great spot for him as he'll get lots of save chances.

 

Hmm, our guy also had a 1.62 ERA, but his was over a full season and we only paid 2/5.