Holliday ready to rip for Yankees in any role

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Clean-shaven and wearing the pinstripes for the first time, Matt Holliday stood in the runway to the home dugout at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, looking out at the field while posing underneath Joe DiMaggio’s famed words thanking the Good Lord for making him a Yankee.

This could be, Holliday thought, “a really good fit.” Holliday officially became a member of the Yankees on Wednesday, as the seven-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger Award winner finalized a one-year, $13 million agreement that will install him in the heart of the Bombers’ lineup.

• Hot Stove Tracker

“I was excited about the opportunity to be a Yankee,” Holliday said. “I think this team has got a chance to be very competitive, which was very important to me. I think understanding some of my opportunities and where they might be, this was one that really appealed to me and what I enjoy doing.”

Holliday, 36, agreed to the contract on Sunday. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that Holliday was appealing because he was willing to accept a short-term contract, would not cost the Yankees a Draft pick and should not block the progress of any of the Yanks’ rising prospects.

Cashman added that, if healthy, a combination of Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Holliday projects to outproduce what the Yanks squeezed from the heart of their lineup in 2016, when they banked heavily on Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira repeating their performances of a season prior.

Wearing No. 7 as a tribute to fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle, Holliday batted …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com