MLB: New York Holliday

By Nathan Grimm for Yahoo Sports.

The Yankees needed a designated hitter.

Matt Holliday needed an American League club with which to ride into the sunset of his career.

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Both problems were solved Sunday when the team and the slugger agreed in principal to a one-year, $13 million contract. The deal is pending a physical.

For the Yankees, Holliday is a cheaper alternative to other options such as Edwin Encarnacion and Carlos Beltran, who signed a one-year, $16 million deal with the Astros on Saturday. Encarnacion is expected to receive not only a large, multi-year contract, but the first-round draft pick compensation required to sign the free agent was a negative Yankees general manager Brian Cashman publicly acknowledged he would like to avoid.

“Our preference is to retain a draft pick if we can. We have a certain amount of money we want to allocate to allow us to do a number of different things,” Cashman told the New York Post. “Trying to get a bat, an arm and maybe more.”

By saving some money on Holliday, the Yankees retain that flexibility to pursue an arm, and by holding onto that first-rounder they could be more willing to part with prospects in a trade to acquire that arm.

For 36-year-old Holliday, a move to Yankee Stadium and the AL should benefit him. Holliday’s defense in left field has long been a negative, and Busch Stadium is notoriously unfriendly to power hitters. Yankee Stadium, which is above average for sluggers on both sides of the plate, could help Holliday rebound after a down 2016 at the plate.

Marlins Targeting Bullpen Splash

Blueprint for postseason success laid, the Marlins have decided they want to build the next great bullpen.

The club is committed to signing one of the preeminent free agent closers on the market — Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon — and have entered this week’s Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland, with just that intent, according to MLB.com Marlins writer Joe Frisaro. Frisaro suggested Chapman, a Cuban pitcher who would appeal to Miami’s large Cuban population, could be the club’s “top priority.”

But Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports said late Sunday that it’s Jansen who some rival executives believe is on the Marlins’ wish list. Rosenthal tweeted that other execs think the team is willing to offer Jansen a five-year, $80 million contract, a deal that would also lead the Marlins to forfeit the No. 14 overall pick in next year’s MLB Draft. The Marlins, per Rosenthal, are still discussing the idea.

If they are able to land a top-flight closer, the team’s bullpen would rank among the best in the league. Incumbent closer A.J. Ramos saved 40 games in 2016, and Ramos, David Phelps and Kyle Barraclough all had earned run averages below 2.86 this past season.

Nats Aiming For Cutch, Sale

Some teams want Andrew McCutchen. Others covet Chris Sale.

The Nationals want both, simultaneously.

The club is attempting to put together deals for both the Pirates outfielder and the White Sox ace, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. And, per Nightengale, the team believes it has the prospects to do both.

That’s hard to imagine, given what we think we know about the asking price for Sale and the fact that the Nationals almost certainly won’t part with Trea Turner to make any deal. The Bucs are reportedly motivated to move McCutchen, but the team certainly won’t just give away the former league MVP, regardless of their desire to move him.

The Nats do have some highly regarded prospects, including Lucas Giolito and Victor Robles, around whom to build a package. If the team is to make some major moves this winter, both — and many more — will likely be former Nationals prospects before spring.