Oakland A's Officially Acquire Matt Holliday

[Little Slide Rooter]

I thought there was an old Holliday thread, but I couldnt find it, so here gos.

 

Matt Holliday-OF-Rockies Oct. 24 - 3:37 pm et

 

According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, the Rockies have begun talking to teams about Matt Holliday and are very likely to trade him this winter.

 

We don't know about very likely, but it's clearly a possibility. Holliday is one year away from free agency, and the Rockies don't expect to be able to sign him beyond 2009. The Rockies will target a top young starter in return for Holliday. Heyman reports that small-market teams are involved, even though they'd probably have Holliday for only a year.

 

I know other teams have more to offer, and would love to have him, but Hendrys worked miracles before. Time to earn that extension of yours Jim. Do what you gotta do.

[PrimeTime]

I would love to replace Soriano with him but I don't see it happening since theyre so fixiated in getting a left handed bat.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

he was much better in 08, but he has some pretty drastic home/road splits over the course of his career.

[daske17]

I would hope if Hendry were looking at the Rockies, he would see what it would take for Brad Hawpe. He's a much better fit for what he is looking for.

[OleMissCub]

The Rockies have a bunch of outfielders.

 

I'd say get Seth Smith from them for cheap. He's a left handed hitting 25 year old right fielder with pretty good defense (young guy who tripped over the bullpen mound this past season)

 

His past two years in AAA he's put up:

 

.317/.381/.528/.909

.323/.426/.524/.950

[Jehrico]

I would love to replace Soriano with him but I don't see it happening since theyre so fixiated in getting a left handed bat.

Yeah, but he's "fast" (28 SB, 2 CS), so wouldn't that make him "toolsy," and more desirable?

[tfarks]

I would hope if Hendry were looking at the Rockies, he would see what it would take for Brad Hawpe. He's a much better fit for what he is looking for.

 

this would be nice, hes still cheap too isn't he?

[OleMissCub]

I would hope if Hendry were looking at the Rockies, he would see what it would take for Brad Hawpe. He's a much better fit for what he is looking for.

 

this would be nice, hes still cheap too isn't he?

 

Yes, he is. He's 29 though. I'd imagine that Seth Smith at 25 could put up similar numbers as Hawpe if he were allowed to play a full season...although Smith's age might make the Rockies not want to part with him. Unlike Hawpe, Smith can steal some bases too (11 SB, 0 CS, in just 68 games in AAA this year).

[Guest]

I would love to replace Soriano with him but I don't see it happening since theyre so fixiated in getting a left handed bat.

Yeah, but he's "fast" (28 SB, 2 CS), so wouldn't that make him "toolsy," and more desirable?

 

Holliday is extremely toolsy.

[Mephistopheles]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I wonder if we could get either of those guys for a Marshall, Pie/Colvin, Fontenot/Theriot/Cedeno, Atkins/Veal/Hart type of package if were willing to pick up a nice chunk of the contract.

[nilodnayr]

The Rockies have a bunch of outfielders.

 

I'd say get Seth Smith from them for cheap. He's a left handed hitting 25 year old right fielder with pretty good defense (young guy who tripped over the bullpen mound this past season)

 

His past two years in AAA he's put up:

 

.317/.381/.528/.909

.323/.426/.524/.950

2 words... colorado springs

i know he hit better on the road this year, but still his #s need to be taken in context.

 

2007 mle was 265/330/421/751

2008 mle was 254/365/391/758

 

Lets trade Lee and replace him with Koshansky! Screw Roberts, lets go after Nix! Both of those guys out OPSed Smith this year. That said, if we are really cash strapped, he wouldnt be a bad guy for the meaty part of a platoon in RF, he did have some pretty big splits. Of course we could always just use Hoff.

[Jehrico]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

Are you saying his numbers are as good as they are because he had a bad team in his division? You could say the same thing about DeRo, Theriot, Geo, Aramis, et al, playing the Reds and Pirates so many times. Or are you simply saying that you don't want him because he only had 19 SBs against teams not named the Padres?

Edited October 25, 2008 by Jehrico

[Jehrico]

The Rockies have a bunch of outfielders.

 

I'd say get Seth Smith from them for cheap. He's a left handed hitting 25 year old right fielder with pretty good defense (young guy who tripped over the bullpen mound this past season)

 

His past two years in AAA he's put up:

 

.317/.381/.528/.909

.323/.426/.524/.950

2 words... colorado springs

i know he hit better on the road this year, but still his #s need to be taken in context.

 

2007 mle was 265/330/421/751

2008 mle was 254/365/391/758

 

Lets trade Lee and replace him with Koshansky! Screw Roberts, lets go after Nix! Both of those guys out OPSed Smith this year. That said, if we are really cash strapped, he wouldnt be a bad guy for the meaty part of a platoon in RF, he did have some pretty big splits. Of course we could always just use Hoff.

Quick dump on Colorado Springs...the elevation on the N side of Colorado Springs ranges from 6800-7200 feet (significantly higher than Denver, which is around a mile high, or 5280 ft), and I don't think they keep their balls in a humidor there (could be wrong, I'm not 100% sure). If you believed that Coors/Mile High added to guys numbers before they instituted the humidor, that affect is increased significantly in Colorado Springs. Take CS home numbers with a big helping of salt.

[rawaction]

Holliday is another good move if Soriano is gone. With one year left on his deal and money tied to Zambrano, Soriano, and Ramirez for the very long term, I don't see Holliday as a likely option. The Cubs would have to sign him to a longterm deal, and he's looking like a $20M+/year player at this point.

 

Holliday's away splits have gotten progressively better each year and was just under a .900 OPS on the road this year. Even if you take Holliday's career best .892 road OPS and project over a full season everywhere, I think you can get similar production for a fraction of the cost from guys like Dunn or Bradley who wouldn't cost prospects. Or from potential trade targets like Beltran, who would come at a fraction of talent it takes to bring him in.

[Moises a loo]

I don't have a link but supposedly when the Reds asked about Holliday, they were told Cueto and Juan Francisco (A ball 3B) would be deal-breakers. I don't think the Cubs could get him even if they wanted to.

[ELCABALLO45]

I think Holliday could still be a .900 OPS player outside of Coors.

[Rob]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

 

Just worried that we'd be paying so much extra for that speed? 9 SB against those "arms" the Padres catchers had this year... jeebus.

[Jehrico]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

 

Just worried that we'd be paying so much extra for that speed? 9 SB against those "arms" the Padres catchers had this year... jeebus.

He was 19-2 against everyone else, which shouldn't be ignored. At the same time, I don't think anyone will confuse Holliday's smart baserunning with speed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wait...Bowden and Colletti still have jobs as GMs, so I take that back.

[Athletics36]

I don't have a link but supposedly when the Reds asked about Holliday, they were told Cueto and Juan Francisco (A ball 3B) would be deal-breakers. I don't think the Cubs could get him even if they wanted to.

 

Cubs don't have enough in their farm system to get this trade done. Face it folks that management has made some bad decisions in deals that they have signed. Nobody is going to be willing to take on Soriano's contract let alone all the stipulations that go with him, ex has to bat leadoff. Now you have Fukudome and its not a good thing when you get in Lou's doghouse but again folks management had to have this guy and now your stuck with him. There are deals that the Cubs could make but it would pretty much over haul their current roster.

[Clem Fandango]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

 

Just worried that we'd be paying so much extra for that speed? 9 SB against those "arms" the Padres catchers had this year... jeebus.

He was 19-2 against everyone else, which shouldn't be ignored. At the same time, I don't think anyone will confuse Holliday's smart baserunning with speed.

 

Exactly. Albert Pujols stole 16 bases in 2005 despite battling his plantar fasciitis (which I still don't think he has or ever had). I'll take a guy who steals 25-30 bases and gets caught 2 times over a guy who steals 50 and gets caught 20-25 times. Especially if that guy can hit .300 and have 20+HR and a .375+ OBP

[SweetZombieJesus]

I don't have a link but supposedly when the Reds asked about Holliday, they were told Cueto and Juan Francisco (A ball 3B) would be deal-breakers. I don't think the Cubs could get him even if they wanted to.

 

Cubs don't have enough in their farm system to get this trade done. Face it folks that management has made some bad decisions in deals that they have signed. Nobody is going to be willing to take on Soriano's contract let alone all the stipulations that go with him, ex has to bat leadoff. Now you have Fukudome and its not a good thing when you get in Lou's doghouse but again folks management had to have this guy and now your stuck with him. There are deals that the Cubs could make but it would pretty much over haul their current roster.

 

What a ridiculous thing to say.

[Keener98]

I don't have a link but supposedly when the Reds asked about Holliday, they were told Cueto and Juan Francisco (A ball 3B) would be deal-breakers. I don't think the Cubs could get him even if they wanted to.

 

Cubs don't have enough in their farm system to get this trade done. Face it folks that management has made some bad decisions in deals that they have signed. Nobody is going to be willing to take on Soriano's contract let alone all the stipulations that go with him, ex has to bat leadoff. Now you have Fukudome and its not a good thing when you get in Lou's doghouse but again folks management had to have this guy and now your stuck with him. There are deals that the Cubs could make but it would pretty much over haul their current roster.

 

What a ridiculous thing to say.

 

Yea its becoming quite apparent that Athletics36 holds a grudge against Cubs management for trading away his son. Id love to see his proof of all these "stipulations" regarding Sorianos contract. Im about 99.99 percent positive they are all media fabrications and are nowhere near the truth. As for the Fukudome comment, not only did Cubs management have to have him, but alot of other teams wanted him badly as well. Its not the Cubs management fault that he struggled in the 2nd half.

[SouthSideRyan]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

 

He stole about 3x as many bases as he averaged over those many PAs. He also hit about 1/3 the amount of HRs.

[nilodnayr]

holliday had nearly a 30-30 season because he played the padres. i dont want any part of a holliday trade.

 

He stole about 3x as many bases as he averaged over those many PAs. He also hit about 1/3 the amount of HRs.

 

What he meant was that without the padres terrible arms behind the plate he wouldn't have stolen as many bases and people wouldn't be talking about Holliday being such a "speed threat".