Former big league GM Jim Bowden now has a radio show on XM and occasionally “tweets” his thoughts about free agency. Today he brought up the possibility the Yankees are indeed in on Matt Holliday despite popular opinion. Obviously Bowden must have sources since he was a league insider, but all reports to date are to the contrary.

Now that it reports came out the Red Sox offered Holliday five years and $82 million dollars his market value may start to crystallize. Holliday is going to command $16-17 million dollars per year and the only question is length of contract. I just don’t buy the Yankees lurking on Holliday because all reports indicated they are just not enamored with him. Could it be a ploy to drive the market down and pounce late? Perhaps, but I would be surprised.

The bigger question is why does it feel like the Yankees lineup is light right now? They lost 50 homers and 170 RBI when Matsui and Damon became free agents. Now that Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson are on board you very well could argue they matched that production and added additional elements of OBP and speed.

Perhaps it’s the fear of Johnson’s injury history and Granderson’s failures against LHP. Maybe it’s the greed of the Yankee lovers who want a star at every position and don’t like a below league average hitter like Melky Cabrera in a corner outfield position. Actually, it may be neither and I have a theory. There always is concern about Robinson Cano, and Nick Swisher, although he had a great year, didn’t exactly “tear it up” in the playoffs. What if both of them regress to their 2008 levels when they were below league average hitters? That would be a huge problem and could present the Yankees with similar offensive issues as was the case in 2008.

Damon and Matsui were clearly candidates for regression over the next three years due to age. In the past the Yankees replaced stars past their prime with new stars in their prime (see Sabathia and Teixeira). This winter they are going a different route and adding complementary pieces around their offensive core of A-Rod, Jeter, Teixeira, and Posada.

The Yankees still have a great lineup, better than most big league ballclub’s, but the reality is they are not immune to question marks like everyone else. Holliday would fit very nicely as a right handed bat in a lineup that could be susceptible to LHP, but Cashman has his eyes on keeping the payroll under $200 million for the opportunity to pounce on a future free agent star (see Joe Mauer). Replacing Posada with Mauer makes a ton more sense than adding Matt Holliday, especially when the starting rotation looks questionable at this point. Cashman did say “pitching, pitching, pitching” when he addressed reporters at the winter meetings.

In the end, despite the glimmer of hope, I believe Matt Holliday will not be in pinstripes.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

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Tags: Boston Red Sox, Brian Cashman, Curtis Granderson, Joe Mauer, Jorge Posada, Matt Holliday, New York Yankees, Nick Johnson, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano