Monday, November 10, 2008

I Guess the Line Is....Boom, Outta Here!


This is still kind of sinking in, even with time to mentally prepare for the inevitable trade of Holliday. The twist that he will be going to the A's, a famously frugal and seemingly less-contending team than the Rockies, is also taking me a bit of time to get my head around. Gallego reunions aside, if Holliday had to go, I couldn't really have scripted a less damnable destination. One has to think that it is just Stop #1 for him before either a midseason or end of year trade to a team willing to invest more money in a single player. The A's certainly have been the anti-Boras among MLB teams.

If this hunch is incorrect, then, all the best Matty. I can understand to some degree being fed up with the cheap-ass Monforts. But, they did actually offer a decent deal last offseason that was probably as good as they were going to lay on the table at any point. Maybe this will lead to more post season appearances in Matty's career, maybe not. I still have to think he ends somewhere else before the '10 season. For a short period in Rockies history, he was the best player and a huge part of the '07 World Series. It's tough to think of how much more embarrassing that series with the Red Sox would've been without him in the lineup.

It will be interesting to see how he performs away from Coors. Not to say he was merely a beneficiary of Coors Field (if that can even be claimed anymore) or totally unclutch, but his numbers were better at home than on the road, and even then, much of his hitting seemed to come at inconsequential times (nobody on and two outs seemed to be a trademark). That said, I expect he will do well in Oakland and/or elsewhere if he doesn't stick in the East Bay. As much as it sucks to lose such a premier homegrown talent, part of me thinks getting saddled with a long term Boras contract probably isn't in the best interest of the Rockies. It's painful and if other teams can afford to do it (like say, the D-Bags), I think we should be able to as well. But, if it means we're handcuffed from signing other good players down the road, this might be the best choice. Good luck Matty! Say hi to Super Gallego for me!

So, where does that leave the Rockies? Unfortunately, I saw the stretch of games last year when Holliday was injured, and it wasn't real pretty. It's a big hole, for sure. I guess it means that if we are going to be decent next year, others are going to have to step it up bigtime (I'm looking at you Tulo and Hawpe), the pitching has to be way better (I'm looking at you Francis, Ubaldo, and Corpas), youngsters are going to have to ripen quickly (looking your way Morales, Stewbag, and maybe even Fowler), and management is going to have to either keep G-Dog, make a great trade for G-Dog, or acquire a free agent (Dan Uggla would do).

As far as who the Rocks picked up, it could've been worse. Street should help replace Fuentes in either a setup or closer role (depending on which Manny shows up this year) and I hear Gonzales has some hitting potential. Will it come close to replacing Matty in the short-term? Absolutely not.

The most painful part of this whole thing is that the Rockies tried selling fans on the notion that they had to grow their own talent and reap benefits later. Seems like if the talent blossoms too much, that promise is broken. If less than two of the three acquisitions turn out to be regular, productive players, then this deal is a net loss and strictly a money issue. However, you have to bear in mind, most people hated the Jennings deal when it went down too and that turned out to be a very good move by the Rockies. Wait, did I just defend Rockies management and cheapness. Better put down the crack pipe....

Keep the faith Blake Street brothers and sisters......

12 comments:

Sonic Tooth said...

An articulate analysis...very well said.

Got to give this deal time to completely shake down and sink in. One thing, we all know Holliday was not going to be in Denver past next July and if things went well in the first half of '09 (jesus, wouldn't that be nice? especially now?) he still would have been gone by the end of next season. Now it is just speculation about what other deals might have been possible for him instead of what O'Dowd agreed to with Beane.

Seriously, best of luck with the A's...odd that he'd land with my preferred AL club.

TroutDog said...

Really wishing that series the Rocks has on the schedule with the A's this summer were in Denver. Might have to go stay at Ryebread's crib and take in those games. I hope one, or both teams are actually in contention.

My regards, ST, on that 9ers pick. I was just watching the highlights (after beginning marathon Casino, the movie, viewing) and it looks like they suffered a similar fate as the Chiefs, Packers, Eagles, and Steelers in this whacky week of the nfl.

Young Bear said...

ST, it just sucks that you know the "Holliday was not going to be in Denver" line to be true with the current owners.

TD, is this the week you get the invoice for next season's tickies? Great timing.....

This sucks. Arguably the league's best PLAYER. Like trading Iginlan for some dudes from the Colorado Eagles or LeBron for a couple D-Leaguers. Don't be content, Rockies fans.

Young Bear said...

OBVI, IGINLA. spelling.

GUYS, great work on both sites. TIME TO MAKE THIS GLOBAL!!!!
or at least known around the city.

TroutDog said...

We need some promtion from Irv & Joe! Or at least Irv Moss. I think I will be spending my Vets Day working on some screening printing. Maybe that'll get me motivated for next year's Opening Day t's.

Haven't seen anything in the mail yet, but knowing this ownership, that's probably true that they go out this week. I'm not really down with the the boycotting thing for this cause. Why I'm hella pissed that Holliday is gone, I generally don't support salaries of this size.

There should be a salary cap. I'm all for players getting their fair share and not funneling more money to owners, but if there were a salary cap, I would think it would force more reasonable salaries, ticket prices, and tv contracts. Maybe that's wishful thinking. But, I will still go to the games. I like baseball and my teams (ownership issues aside) more than individual players.

Sonic Tooth said...

my Niners broke my heart last night. but made for an entertaining game...no one gave them even a remote chance to compete, much less almost win one.
as I said, my poor record in pickemslies has changed my philosophy for the rest of the season...i'll be pretty much only picking teams that I want to win. if there is not rooting interest then I will go with what makes the most gambling sense.

Sonic Tooth said...

what are you screening? Das Boot stuff? or Fuck L.A. shirts?

Young Bear said...

What about the Das Boot youth line?

Irv and Joe's backing would be nice.

I'll be spending my vets day commenting (my huge Big East preview is headlining at www.slamonline.com)and dorking around the house (ie cleaning)

NikB said...

TD, I believe your Matt Holiday essay was to have a minimum of 1000words, that's an automatic 10 point reduction... sorry grading papers this veteran's day Holiday. Pun totally intended.

Pretty funny reading all of the comments on denverpost.com. Everyone kind of had the same clever remark, i wish we could trade the Monforts and/or O'Dowd.

One question I ponder is how will these new aquisitions work their way into those goofy spring training commercials? They might have to do some brown-nosing to Spilly to get into them ads.

TroutDog said...

Trust me, you won't see any posts that long again....

But, you raise a great point, DT. Spilly might have a hazing period for these new guys before they're allowed in the commercials. Will really miss Fuentes and Matty's fine acting skills. I see some of the DP commenters referring to Bay Area readers lamenting this trade. That's probably a good sign. All three dudes are pertty young, so I'm starting to like this trade to some degree. I never thought of that, why don't we just trade the Monforts?

The Das Boot youth line should be available by Christmas. I should have photo emulsion to use, so if anyone has any good screen ideas, let me know.

Young Bear said...

TD, an occasional "long" post like this one is much needed and especially called for in a situation like this one.....

Well done.

I was picturing the Hulkster reading that last line of the post..... along with some jab about saying prayers/taking vitamins.

TroutDog said...

Yeah, the keeping the faith line was part plea, part jab at the Monforts.