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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.

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.

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.

Another Angel has been given his halo far too soon.

Rory Markas passed away at his home in Palmdale. He was 54.

Markas spent the last eight years as the primary radio and television play-by-play man for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He also called games for USC's men's basketball team and served as a reporter for FOX 11 KTTV in Los Angeles.

From 1994-97, Markas lead the radio broadcast team for the Los Angeles Clippers. Certainly, he was a true broadcasting veteran and lent his voice to several different sporting realms.

Pots atop the Hot Stove have been boiling furiously over the past few days.

Jason Bay signed with the Mets. Adrian Beltre signed with the Red Sox. Matt Holliday is nearing a contract with the Cardinals. The market’s best offerings are suddenly disappearing.

Lost in all this was the news about the Cleveland Indians.

After three months of ranking among the most stagnant teams in baseball, the Tribe has quietly signed two free agents in 24 hours.

Gerald Laird and his little brother were arrested in Arizona for getting into a fight after a Phoenix Suns game.  This just doesn’t seem right, does it?  Laird seemed reasonably mild mannered during his first season with the Tigers, but I guess I don’t really know the guy.

The Rawlings glove that resides in the back seat of my car all summer long has been replaced by the winter gloves, my Nike cleats still caked with dried mud and infield turf have been abandoned in favor of a pair of Cabela Snow Runners, and the Louisville Slugger has been packed away in favor of a snow brush.

As snow piles up outside the window of our Massachusetts home and hockey is being played at, of all places, Fenway Park, the thought of spring training couldn't be further from reality.

The Philadelphia Phillies have signed Danys Baez to a two-year contract pending his physical, which is expected to take place next week.

Baez, 32, went 4-6 with a 4.02 earned run average in 59 relief appearances with the Baltimore Orioles last year.

The addition of Baez means that the Phillies will not re-sign Chan Ho Park as the right-handed Cuban will replace Park as a late inning reliever for Philadelphia.

The Chicago Cubs took another outfielder from the Texas Rangers today (Thursday) when the club signed Marlon Byrd to a three year 15 million dollar deal.

This time, things should be vastly different then the Bradley experiment.

In addition to the signing of Byrd, the Cubs also signed Byrd’s old hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo who is said to have a hand in convincing the club to grab Byrd before it’s too late.