Holliday too costly for Cards?

Joe Strauss had an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today discussing the costs of re-signing Matt Holliday, as well as inking Albert Pujols to an extension and what those signings would mean for the rest of the team. Here are some of the quotes from the article:

GM John Mozeliak, on the direction the club takes regarding payroll-

“To me, it’s about putting together the most competitive club. You can’t just look at it in the vacuum of 2010. It has to be in a broad sense. Whatever contract Matt ends up signing, it’s going to be a long-term deal. From where we sit, we have to understand with Albert coming up, such a deal’s ramifications for long-term planning.”

Owner Bill DeWitt III, on what a large commitment to Pujols would do to the rest of the payroll -

“…there’s a question about what percentage of your payroll you can give one guy. That’s the fundamental question with (Pujols).”

Mozeliak, on the projected payroll-

“It’s not just that it’s static. Historically, that’s not proven to be a successful model. That doesn’t mean there can’t be an anomaly or an outlier about how this looks. There is a way to make it work where you may not be that far above 40 percent (of payroll). But keeping it below that would be impossible.”

DeWitt III, on a potential extension for Pujols-

“We’ll definitely push, scratch and probably get beyond our comfort level and try to make something work with him. I’m hoping that’s good enough. He knows the iconic players of any generation typically stay with one team if you look at the history of baseball.”

DeWitt III, more on what a large commitment to Pujols would do to the rest of the payroll-

“We can pay Albert $95 million per year and give $5 million to the rest of the guys, but how good would we be? We’d have minor leaguers out there and Albert. We can make it work. It’s just at what point does it become counterproductive at a competitive standpoint in terms of one player. That’s the balancing act. That’s not a set number. But we do know at a certain kind of range on an annual basis it gets beyond a rational decision. I’m hopeful. I think he understands.”

Mozeliak, on the trade for Holliday-

“We put a lot of eggs in the basket and it didn’t work out. A lot of people applauded those deals during the time they took place. Now it seems like so much second-guessing. We understood the risk at the time.”

Mozeliak, on the approach to negotiations for Holliday-

“not a black-and- white call … it’s a tough business decision.”

Mozeliak, on Holliday, Pujols, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright potentially making up as much as 70 percent of the payroll-

“Those are very real concerns.”

Call me pessimistic, but it sounds to me like Mo and DeWitt are preparing us for the inevitability that Holliday will not be wearing a Cardinals uniform next year.

Sigh.

Tags: Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday