ST. LOUIS • For almost a decade, the Cardinals avoided paying sticker price for a closer, preferring to find, develop, or invent their own than pay the salaries commanded by brand-name ninth-inning options.
Like an impulse buy while in line at the supermarket, the Cardinals saw the closer they needed and agreed to a one-year, $14-million deal with Greg Holland. The deal made the former All-Star closer the fourth-highest paid player on the Cardinals, though the team also satisfied its model by committing only a year to the righthander. The cost also included a draft pick, a pinch the Cardinals had previously avoided.