The New York Yankees today announced they have signed seven-time All-Star (2006-08, '10-12, '15) and four-time Silver Slugger Award-winning (2006-08, '10) outfielder Matt Holliday to a one-year contract extending through the 2017 season.
Holliday, 36, batted .246 (94-for-382) with 48R, 20 doubles, 1 triple, 20HR and 62RBI in 110 games with the Cardinals in 2016, hitting at least 20 doubles for the 12th time in his career and at least 20HR for the 10th time. Holliday missed 44 team games on the disabled list from August 13 through September 30 after being hit by a pitch on August 12 and fracturing his left thumb. He returned for the Cardinals' final three games of the year, going 2-for-2 with a solo home run and an RBI single in two plate appearances. In eight games as a designated hitter last season, he hit .368 (14-for-38) with 4 doubles, 5HR and 12RBI.
Among batters who had least 100 batted balls in play in 2016, Holliday ranked third in the Majors with an average exit velocity of 94.7 mph, trailing only Nelson Cruz (95.9) and Giancarlo Stanton (95.1) according to MLB.com's Statcast. Holliday hit the ball at least 100 mph 42.5% of the time, marking the fourth-best percentage among the 247 hitters to put the ball in play at least 200 times.
During his 13-year Major League career, the right-handed hitter has batted .303 (1,995-for-6,538) with 1,104R, 448 doubles, 32 triples, 295HR and 1,153RBI in 1,773 games with Colorado (2004-08), Oakland (2009) and St. Louis (2009-16). From 2006-14, Holliday was the only Major Leaguer to record at least 20HR, 30 doubles and 75RBI each season, and he is one of just 19 players in Baseball history to have at least nine such seasons in their careers. Since 2013, he has batted .349 (148-for-424) with 33 doubles, 16HR, 202RBI, 66 walks and a .442 on-base percentage with runners in scoring position. Holliday has appeared in 72 career postseason games, advancing to the World Series three times (2007, '11 and '13) and winning a World Series championship with the Cardinals in 2011. His 13 career home runs during the playoffs are tied for the 14th-most all time.
With the Rockies in 2007, he won the National League batting title and ranked second in National League MVP voting, hitting .340 (216-for-636) with 120R, 50 doubles, 36HR, 6 triples and 137RBI in 158 games and setting career highs in runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs and RBI. He scored the game-winning run in the 13th inning of Game 163 vs. San Diego to send the Rockies to their first postseason appearance since 1995. He hit a Major League-best 5HR during that postseason and won NLCS MVP honors en route to leading Colorado to its first-ever World Series appearance.
A native of Stillwater, Okla., Holliday was originally selected by Colorado in the seventh round of the 1998 First-Year Player Draft. Among Oklahoma-born players in Major League history, he ranks fifth in home runs behind only Mickey Mantle (536), Willie Stargell (475), Joe Carter (396) and Johnny Bench (389). In 2006, he appeared in three games for Team USA in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.
The Yankees' 40-man roster now stands at 40.