Dissecting the Matt Holliday Deal

There's no sense in living in denial anymore.

Matt Holliday is no longer a member of the Colorado Rockies.

It's not that we didn't see this day coming. It's just that we didn't think it would happen so soon (or that his future team would be so surprising). Though the deal has not been finalized as of yet, the trade with the Oakland Athletics is said to involve three young players with varying ceilings of potential:  left-handed starting pitcher Greg Smith, former closer Huston Street, and outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez.

Though those names won't assuage the hearts of Rockies fans across the nation, there is at least some hope that Dan O'Dowd wasn't completely blindsided by the crafty and cunning Oakland general manager, Billy Beane.

Now, I am as heartbroken as anybody that Matt Holliday will no longer be donning the purple pinstripes, but there's no sense living in the past anymore. We have to make the best of a bad situation and try to rationalize our owners' impossible lack of baseball sense when it comes to running a professional baseball team.

This was obviously not a popular move with any fan who calls Coors Field home, but the Rockies will not come away from this deal empty-handed. Here is a bit of analysis on each player the Rockies are reportedly going to receive in this blockbuster deal.

Greg Smith, LHP

Though his numbers weren't exactly eye-popping in his first full season in the big leagues (7-16, 4.16 ERA in 32 starts), his minor league stats showcase a bit more promise for the Rockies next season. His strikeout to walk ratio in the majors was not impressive in the slightest (111/87), but in the minors, he struck out three times as many batters as he walked (309/105.) 

A 31-15 record with a 3.27 ERA in the minors won't exactly instill pride in the Rockies faithful, but it shows that he's able to be effective, if not dominant at times. The left hander, in the vein of Tom Glavine, has a biting cutter and a big-league curveball with a changeup that can alter the hitter's timing when used effectively. 

He also has one of the better pick-off moves in the game as he tallied 15 in his rookie season.

His minor-league record and his repertoire of pitches have him projected to be a solid back-of-the-rotation arm behind Francis, Cook, Jimenez, and possibly De La Rosa, and give us a more polished option at this point than Franklin Morales or Jason Hirsh.

My guess? He's a Josh Fogg type, but with actual talent and not just guts.

Huston Street, RHP

Street is an enigma that the Rockies could either use to their advantage or trade away for additional talent. An All-Star closer before the 2008 season, Street fell out of favor with the A's once he started to to falter in the late innings (18/25 in save opportunities) and was passed over in favor of rookie Brad Ziegler who compiled 37 scoreless innings to start his big-league career.

In his career, Street sports a 2.88 ERA with 94 saves and a 3.5/1 strikeout to walk ratio. Street won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2005 when he went 5-1 with a 1.72 ERA and 23 saves and continued his closer success until the 2008 season. His fastball lost a bit of velocity this year, but his strikeout number stayed nearly the same as it has been throughout his career (69 with a career average of 68.) 

That tells me that his nasty slider is still befuddling batters and his numbers are bound to increase as he switches to the "weaker" league (see Sabathia, CC.) 

He might be in the running to be the Rockies closer come 2009 with Manny Corpas and Taylor Buchholz being his competition as Spring Training begins, but only time will tell if he even stays with the Rockies as mlb.com reports that Street may be a bargaining chip for other ballclubs.

If he remains with the Rockies, one might look at his play down the stretch in 2008 as a building block for his confidence where he went 5-0 with a 1.37 ERA in his final 17 appearances.

My roommate, both a diehard Oakland A's and Rockies fan, wasn't exactly sold on Street being the answer for the Rockies' bullpen woes and believes that O'Dowd had too much of a crush on the bullish right-hander. With the mlb.com report, however, perhaps O'Dowd is using other GM's infatuation with Street to use as a bargaining chip for a future trade to strengthen our rotation.

Carlos Gonzalez, OF

This is the one player that I feel could be a boon to the Rockies' future plans. Though his minor and major league numbers don't exactly scream future-Hall-of-Famer, the rocket-armed 23 year-old has shown flashes of brilliance during his minor-league career.

He has some notable minor league seasons to put on his Major-League resume. His 2006 season in Lancaster of the California League showcased his power (.300 average with 21 hrs and 93 RBI), but that league is notorious for its propensity to cater to hitters. His year with Mobile in 2007 verified his potential when he hit .286 with 16 homers and 75 RBI in 120 games with the Bay Bears. 

He has solid range in the outfield, which bodes well in Coors Field's cavernous gaps and sports good speed on the basepaths.  Though he's appeared a bit gun-shy in his limited Major-League experience, he's projected to develop into a very productive player. An outfield of Hawpe, Dexter Fowler, and a polished Gonzalez could be a formidable force for years to come.

I realize that I'm trying to rationalize this trade in an effort to boost the home team's return in this deal, but I do honestly believe that the Rockies weren't solely given spare parts in this trade. 

I hate that I'm trying to defend the Monforts and their penny-pinching ways, but as a Rockies fan, I try to make the best of the bad situation. After all, I have sat through 13 of our franchise's 15 years of futility. I've watched nearly every single one of our high-profile players depart for greener pastures and higher salaries. 

We as Rockies fans have to resign ourselves to the fact that we're nothing more than a glorified Kansas City Royals. Sure, we have the talent to support a winning ballclub, but once those players become too popular i.e. too "productive" we ship them off to the highest bidder, or in this case a wily general manager. 

This falls squarely on the shoulders of the Brothers Monfort, who are no more qualified to run a professional baseball team than Gary Busey is to run a rehab clinic. With those two maladroits at the head of our organization, the Rockies are destined to wallow in mediocrity for the entirety of the Monforts' tenure because they refuse to break the bank anymore to sign either high-profile free agents or homegrown superstars within their own organization.

The 2009 season could be successful, but that acquiesces more to the futility of the National League West than it does to the Rockies supposed progress. 

Though our outlook looks grim at the moment, there is still a pot of cubic zirconias at the end of the rainbow. Trust me. It can't be all bad...I hope.