Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about the St. Louis Cardinals plans regarding Matt Holliday.

Manager Tony La Russa Tweeted last week:  Giants were smart to sign 1st class winner Mark DeRosa. Soon the Cards will be smart too

LaRussa did not go into any specifics regarding his Tweet, only promising that the move would be “smart”.  The Cardinals and Holliday have been discussing a contract ranging from five to eight years, with the average salary going down as the years go up.  This type of offer by the Cardinals gives Holliday the guaranteed security of a long-term deal in exchange for a discounted rate.  The numbers discussed averaged to $17.5 million per season.  Last week, a source on each side described how there could be resolution as early as this week.

“We’re getting ready to move,” La Russa told The Post-Dispatch. “I know they’ve been talking a lot with Matt. I know we have a really smart Plan B. … (It) could be on Plan A, or it could be our Plan B. The point is, we’re not going to get stuck.”

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports believes that Holliday will sign a seven-year contract for about $120 million.  Holliday would fall $60 million short of Mark Teixeira’s contract, a player that Scott Boras compared Holliday the most.

You can see Matt Holliday’s contract history and statistics here.