Baseball

It's finally official: the St. Louis Cardinals have retained All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday.

Holliday and the club announced today that they've agreed to terms for a 7-year/$120 million contract that will keep the sweet-swinging slugger in St. Louis through 2016.

The deal comes complete with a no-trade clause and a vesting option for 2017 that will kick in if he finishes in the top 10 for the 2016 National League MVP voting.

I think we can go ahead and throw out the sexy trade rumors that we've all heard (and which I promoted here and here ) since the Vazquez trade.

It’s truly happy “Holliday” in St. Louis, though us Cubs fans may not enjoy our New Year's quite as much now.

For the Cubs division challenger and long-time bitter rival St. Louis Cardinals put a dagger into the rest of the division by announcing the team has re-signed free agent outfielder Matt Holliday to a seven-year, $120 million contract.

Dear Hollywood Elite,

How many of you have been to a Dodgers game? (Yes, Alyssa Milano and Larry King, I see you.)

How many of you have dated a Dodgers player? (Yes, Alyssa Milano, you can stop waiving your hand now.)

Lastly, how many of you are interested in an intriguing business opportunity that could potentially save the Dodgers and help resurrect Los Angeles' dying economy? (Please step to the front, Kardashian family.)

Hollywood Elite, I offer you a simple proposal: buy the Dodgers from Frank McCourt.

I am a New York fan, plain and simple. I despise the Red Sox and absolutely hate everything they stand for. So why would I be writing a piece trying to diagnose Red Sox front office miscues?

Because the Red Sox are beginning to look a lot like the Yankees of a few years ago.

ESPN released some 2010 predictions for both football and baseball today, and I’ve been reading them over for a little while. I thought this would be a good time to get the conversation going between the self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader In Sports,” Baseball Professor, and everyone else who wants to get involve. So what did ESPN’s crew of experts have to say?

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The St. Louis Cardinals and outfield free agent Matt Holliday have come to terms on a new contract making Mr. Holliday the highest paid team member for 2010.

Scott Boras, Holliday's agent, has confirmed it's a seven year, roughly 120 million dollar deal for the free agent outfielder. Holliday revealed those numbers late this afternoon on ESPN Radio. All were in agreement that the brawny baseballer wouldn’t have to “ever set foot into Aldi again.”

...I see that on their website, the Houston Astros are trying to hock their current hats, a patriotic version of their current hat and a sort of blue-collar version of their classic blue hat with white H superimposed over an orange star. Nice try. If you want me to buy Astros merchandise, Drayton McLane, please ditch the current ugly uniforms and return to the classic space exploration look. Blue and orange. Shooting star from the 1960s would do just fine. The 10-year railroad design and colors should've been ditched 10 years ago...

ESPN.com's Buster Olney is reporting that the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox are nearing a deal which will send 1B Casey Kotchman to Seattle in exchange for at least one minor league player.

Kotchman, a career .269 hitter, has spent parts of six seasons in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, and Boston Red Sox. His best year came with the Los Angeles Angels in 2007, when he hit .296 in 443 at bats, clubbing 11 home runs for 68 RBI.