Buster Olney and Ken Rosenthal were on the same page with their Hall of Fame voting pieces this morning. They’re likewise on the same page in passing along disdain for the Matt Holliday deal too. First was Robo talking about Boras’ bluff and now here’s Buster passing along two quotes regarding the Cardinals’ overpayment, the first from an MLB official:
“Given what was in front of the Cardinals, that will go down as one of the worst deals in major league history. I have to give [Scott] Boras credit -- he managed to get them to bid against themselves. After the Mets signed [Jason] Bay, everybody pretty much knew who was in and who was out. No Yankees, no Red Sox, no Mets, no Dodgers, no Angels -- and he still got $120 million. Incredible.”
And then one from a “veteran agent":
"[When the Mets signed Bay] the Cardinals should have called [Boras] and said, ‘You know that other offer we had on the table? Well, it’s obsolete. We’re now offering you $80 million for five years, and you’ve got 48 hours to make a decision.’ I don’t think Boras would have had a choice but to make a deal.”
I agree that the Cardinals overpaid, at the very least in terms of years. I wonder, though, whether other teams would have come back into the bidding if a five-year, $80 million take-it-or-leave-it offer was on the table.