According to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals are ready to pursue the A's outfielder Matt Holliday.
The Cardinals appear to be very frustrated with their outfield production (rightly so) and believe Holliday might be the answer.
Holliday, at first glance seems to be the best available bat on the market, and would be a major upgrade for the Cardinals.
As we have reported it appears the price tag will not be cheap. A's GM Billy Beane is notorious for demanding a high return value on his players. It is believed that the A's are looking for major league ready pitching, to go along with additional prospects.
The Post-Dispatch reports, "Such a package would probably include right fielder Ryan Ludwick and either reliever Jason Motte, Chris Perez or Kyle McClellan, plus a prospect."
Holliday, who is a former batting champion, is currently batting .274 with eight homers and 39 RBIs.
St. Louis certainly appears to be a good fit for Holliday, the main question is whether the package they present will be suffice for Billy Beane.
In the end I certainly think Holliday will be moved, however, look for Billy Beane to try and get several teams involved to drive up the price. I'm not saying this deal won't get done, but I wouldn't expect it to happen overnight.