New York Yankees and Matt Holliday Are a Perfect Fit For Each Other

The New York Yankees and Matt Holliday have made their signing official. Are they are a perfect fit for each other?

It has been a busy offseason for the New York Yankees. To start things off, the Yankees traded catcher Brian McCann to the Houston Astros to clear some money, and also the designated hitter position.

With a need to acquire a right-handed bat, the Yankees were able to accomplish that when they signed Matt Holliday. In his long career, Holiday has earned a lot of respect as a great player for the last decade. As a seven-time All-Star, the Yankees will be getting a player that is certainly someone for the young players to look up to. After spending the last eight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Holliday is excited to join another historic franchise.

“The opportunity to play for a historic franchise and then to put on a New York Yankees uniform, this was something that was really appealing to me,” he said Wednesday to ESPN.com.

While the fit was good for Holliday, it was also very good for the Yankees. The one-year deal that Holliday signed is very team-friendly for the Yankees. With a desire to build for the future, the Yankees were able to avoid giving a multi-year contract to some of the other hitters they were targeting.

“He makes us better and at a very cost-effective rate in terms of a one-year deal,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “We hope he’s going to be a very significant addition.”

After playing in Colorado to start his career, Holliday is once again excited to be playing in a hitter’s park. With the short porch in right field, Holliday believes that he will be a great fit with his ability to hit the ball to the opposite field.

“I think my strength of driving the ball to the right-center field gap lines up pretty well,” he said. “I think I have some, at times, some mis-hits in the air to right field that could potentially be rewarded with the shorter porch.”

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Due to Holliday coming off a down season, there are obviously some concerns. At 37-years-old, Holiday is not in his prime anymore, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be an effective player for the Yankees. The New York media can be harsh, but Holiday isn’t worried about having a slow start with his new team.

“I don’t pay too much attention. I never really have in my career,” he said. “I’m sure in New York it might be a little harder not to pay attention to it, I guess just ’cause there are so many media and things going on.”

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While Holliday doesn’t make the Yankees anymore of a playoff contender this season, he is a good addition. Avoiding long and expensive contracts have been the goal for the Yankees in recent years, and signing Holliday accomplishes that and also gives them a pretty solid player.

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