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As soon as Gary Sanchez took the league by storm, it was clear that Brian McCann’s days as the Yankees’ catcher were numbered. There was some chatter at first though that he could stick around as the team’s designated hitter since the departures of Carlos Beltran and Alex Rodriguez left a void. Brian Cashman, however, had other ideas. He said his final “dale” and shipped McCann to the Astros for two pitching prospects. All of the sudden, the Yankees needed someone to fill in at DH.
While some have pointed out that the spot could have been used as a revolving door for the older players on the roster, and even Sanchez when he needed a break from catching, that’s not a great plan. As 2013 and 2014 showed us, the revolving door at DH can get quite frustrating. As 2015 showed us, having a dedicated DH who can hit can be exciting. Now the 2017 Yankees have their DH in Matt Holliday, who comes over on a one-year deal after an extremely successful seven-year stint with the Cardinals. Is there anything else we can learn about this deal?
Holliday will DH offer some 1b insurance for Bird. Means #Yankees are out on Encarnacion.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 5, 2016
Well this makes sense. If the Yankees signed Encarnacion, he would have also served as insurance for Greg Bird, who spent the entirety of the 2016 season recovering from shoulder surgery. Bird played in the Arizona Fall League and came out of it healthy which is the most important thing (yes, he showed rust there, but that’s not important) but it’s still good to have insurance for him.
Holliday gives Yankees some insurance at 1B for Bird, though he's only started nine career games there, all last season. #Yankees
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) December 5, 2016
One thing to note, however, is that Holliday’s experience at first base is quite limited. One can choose to look at that with a grimacing face, but there’s potentially a good thing about Holliday’s limited experience there. It shows that the Yankees seem pretty confident in Bird’s ability to come back and regain his top form.
If they had any serious doubts about Bird, one would think they’d pursue a someone with more experience at first. Sure, it helps that the Yankees do also have Tyler Austin on the roster, but when the Yankees are actively rooting for one candidate over the other that has to tell you something: first base for the Yankees right now is Bird or bust.
It’s nice that the Yankees have faith in Bird, but that still doesn’t answer “Why Holliday?” There were still better hitters available on the market, so was he the best choice for them?
It is hard to tell what the Yankees or Matt Holliday will be next season, which is why he made sense for them https://t.co/3is4s01Kn0
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) December 5, 2016
It would’ve been nice to see someone like Edwin Encarnacion hit dingers for the Yankees rather than against them, but a transition team doesn’t have a “need” for a long-term DH. A bridge player on a short deal makes sense for a team that’s rebuilding and trying to steer themselves in a certain direction.
1 other item with Holiday: #Yankees retain some hope of going under luxury tax threshold in 2018 and 1-yr deal with Holliday helps a bit
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 5, 2016
Holliday a good fit for yanks. Terrific hitter. 1-year deal leaves room for big moves 2 yrs from now (machado? Harper?)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2016
The Yankees under Hal Steinbrenner have long had a desire to get under the luxury tax threshold. While Plan-189 failed miserably in 2013, with the new CBA and the rising threshold, it seems like a real possibility in the next couple years. If they do decide to spend like the “good ol’ days” then, resetting their tax (which they can do if they get under the threshold) will go a long way in the future.
Yankees are excited about possibility they'll keep No. 17 overall pick, very high for them. No choice attached to aroldis.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 5, 2016
Personally, I believed that this is one of the best times to actually sacrifice a draft pick. The Yankees acquired so much in terms of prospects between July and now that one lost draft pick would be easy to bear. Although they were able to select James Kaprielian 16th overall and Blake Rutherford 18th overall in their respective drafts, it’s hard to blame the Yankees for wanting to hold onto that pick in the attempt to strike gold once again.
Joel Sherman goes into a bit more detail on both the draft and the luxury tax threshold below:
It’s easy to see why the Yankees went after Holliday rather than one of the bigger names in the free agency market. But what kind of hitter are the Yankees getting?
Matt Holliday's 2016 spray chart overlaid at @Yankees Stadium pic.twitter.com/YjsjkTEP1a
— Daren Willman (@darenw) December 5, 2016
Matt Holliday had an average exit velocity of 94.7 MPH last season... That would have been the highest of any @yankees player.
— Daren Willman (@darenw) December 5, 2016
Holliday BABIP was only .253 last year
— James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) December 5, 2016
2016 Avg Batted Ball Speed Leaders (200+ balls in play)
N. Cruz 95.9 MPH
Stanton 95.1
Holliday 94.7
Even though he may not be in-his-prime Matt Holliday, his bat still shows some life. He’s still hitting the ball quite hard, and his low BABIP could indicate that he was just a victim of some bad luck. Hopefully he can turn that luck around and bring some much needed power and life to a Yankees lineup outside of Gary Sanchez.
Matt Holliday moving to the Bronx. Will host #Cardinals on their first road trip of 2017 #Yankees #MLB https://t.co/EnKunN9tUb via @stltoday
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) December 5, 2016
In addition to the potentially good player the Yankees have added, he also seems like a great guy. It’s always nice when the team you root for signs a person that’s easy to root for. With all the charity work he does, especially with children, it should be quite easy to root for him.
Matt Holliday's grandfather, Don, signed with #Yankees but never played, instead fought in WW1, but stayed a lifelong NYY fan
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 5, 2016
While there’s some speculation about his grandfather fought in WW1 or WW2, what there’s no speculation about is this: Holliday also has a pretty cool Yankee connection!
However the most important takeaway is yet to come:
BREAKING: Matt Holliday and his glorious forearms are headed to New York as he signs with the @yankees ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/8aDphnlgVG
— BaseballRealest⚾️ (@BaseballRealest) December 5, 2016
If nothing else, at least we have this.