Matt Holliday has agreed to the richest contract in the illustrious history of the St. Louis Cardinals.

On Tuesday, the free-agent slugger announced on The Doug Gottlieb Show on ESPN Radio that he is re-signing with the team for seven years. The deal is worth $120 million -- Holliday will make $15 million a season, plus another $2 million a year in deferred payments -- with a vesting option for 2017. If the option doesn't vest, then the Cardinals can either pick up the option at $17 million or take the buyout for $1 million.

The contract is contingent on Holliday passing a physical.

"Well, I think first of all going into free agency I had in the back of my mind that I really liked my time in St. Louis and felt it was a good fit for me and my family," Holliday said on the show.

"At the end of the day we decided that was best for us."

General manager John Mozeliak said in a text message to The Associated Press that he planned to address the media Thursday once Holliday undergoes his physical.

St. Louis acquired Holliday from Oakland in July and he helped lead the Cardinals to their first NL Central title since 2006. They sent several top prospects to the Athletics and justified that expense by retaining a player who hit .353 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs in 63 games for St. Louis.

A three-time All-Star, Holliday was a perfect fit batting cleanup behind star slugger Albert Pujols, though he was the goat in a first-round playoff sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers after dropping a sinking liner to left field that would have been the final out of Game 2.