The St. Louis Cardinals and free-agent relief pitcher Greg Holland reached agreement on a deal, a source close to the situation has informed FanRag Sports.
Holland is coming off an All-Star season in which he led the National League with 41 saves as a member of the Colorado Rockies. He finished the 2017 campaign with a 3-6 record and 3.61 ERA, but struck out 70 opposing batters in 57.1 innings pitched.
His lone season as a member of the Rockies was his comeback year from Tommy John surgery that held him out for all of 2016. Prior to the injury, Holland had been one of the most dominating arms in the game, reaching the All-Star Game in back-to-back years with the Kansas City Royals in 2013 and 2014. As a result of those All-Star seasons with the Royals, he appeared in 133 games in relief en route to posting a 1.32 ERA alongside 93 saves.
The Cardinals were linked to Holland throughout the offseason, but with the start of the 2018 regular season beginning on Thursday, the team finally found that it was time to act. Projected closer Luke Gregerson will open the season on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, opening the door for Holland.
According to FanRags, the deal is for one year at $14 million. Holland and his agent, Scott Boras, turned down a three-year, $52 million contract that would have kept him in Colorado. He also refused a $17 million qualifying offer. The Rockies, in turn, signed Wade Davis away from the Chicago Cubs.
Holland, who injured his right elbow in late 2015 and sat out all of the following season while recovering from surgery, was the closer for Kansas City through most of 2014 and 2015, when the Royals made back-to-back trips to the World Series.
Before the injury, Holland was considered one of the most dominant closers in the game, posting a 1.21 ERA in 2013 and a 1.44 ERA in '14.
