Cards Offer Most Lucrative Deal In Team History To Holliday

1:30pm: ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Cardinals don't believe many teams are competing for Holliday on the level they are. Olney says the Cards intend to stand by a five-year offer – that's considerably short of the eight-year deal hinted at yesterday.

The Yankees have no intention of bidding on Holliday, according to Olney's sources.

TUESDAY, 11:19am: A source familiar with the talks tells ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that "nothing is imminent." The source says Boras and Holliday "are still looking for something that they're not finding."

MONDAY, 11:10pm: The Cardinals have offered Matt Holliday a deal which would pay him $16MM per year and could extend through eight seasons, writes Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  It's unclear at this point how many of the seasons are option years – if any.  As St. Louis is anxious to reach a resolution, those familiar with the talks believe it possible that Holliday could reach a verdict before Christmas. 

This proposal dwarfs the average value of the 7-year, $100MM contract Albert Pujols inked in the winter of 2004.  Of course, the average value of Pujols' next contract will likely overshadow the pitch made to Holliday.

Strauss writes that the Yankees may be the most dangerous variable to the Cardinals, despite their insistance that they are not pursuing Holliday.  With Jason Bay pointed towards signing with the Mets and the Red Sox inking Mike Cameron, two potential suitors are presumably off the chase.

Do you believe that the Yanks are seriously considering throwing their pinstriped hat into the Holliday ring?  Could Scott Boras be overplaying his hand on what seems to be a titanic offer?  Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section.