Yankees Predicted $54 Million Star Urged To Cut Ties With NY For Cardinals

Should the Cardinals look into signing the Yankees star?

Aug 17, 2020; Bronx, New York, USA; A general view of rain falling on the New York Yankees logo on the first base dugout roof during a rain delay in the game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees clearly have a well-built roster but they could lose some important pieces this winter.

New York is four wins away from winning its first World Series since 2009. The Yankees will face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. It should be a very good series featuring plenty of star power.

Once the World Series ends, though, changes could be on the way for the Yankees. New York has a handful of key free agents heading to the open market led by slugger Juan Soto. Retaining Soto will be New York's top priority and he will land a historic contract. If he re-signs with New York, that will leave less money to retain other stars.

One All-Star this could impact is reliever Clay Holmes. There was a lot of negative chatter about him this season, but he still finished with a 3.14 ERA in the regular season across 67 appearances. He hasn't had an ERA above 3.60 in a season in which he appeared in more than one game since 2019.

Holmes will be a hot commodity on the open market and FanSided's Zach Pressnell suggested that the St. Louis Cardinals should consider a deal.

"Building a competitive team means building a dominant bullpen," Pressnell said. "Having a bad bullpen almost eliminates your chance of being World Series champions. Having a dominant bullpen helps boost the World Series odds tremendously. The Cleveland Guardians build their entire pitching staff around how dominant their bullpen was in 2024, successfully shortening games down to seven or eight innings for most of the regular season. This happens by having multiple dominant relievers.

"St. Louis already has their dominant closer in Ryan Helsley. Helsley will handle all the closer responsibilities for the foreseeable future. But if the Cardinals looked to add an elite eighth inning guy like Clay Holmes from the Yankees, they would be that much better...Adding him as the setup man in St. Louis would be huge for shortening games on the back end."

The Cardinals may not want to spend heavily, but Holmes still could be a very good fit. He is projected to get a $54 million deal over four years. Shortening the game with Holmes and Helsley as Pressnell could be a perfect way to do so.

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