Holliday would be a great addition to any team. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Colorado Rockies left fielder, Matt Holliday is officially on the trading block as reported by Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. The usual suspects, Angels, Red Sox, Yankees and Mets, are interested. Even the Twins, Royals and the Nationals are considered to be in the running for the premier outfielder.
Mr. General Manger sir (Dan O'dowd), let me show you this 25 year old left handed model. It’s got a deceptively good fastball, and the Jonathan Sanchez has a strong off-speed pitch when you need to shift gears. We’ll even throw in a free power train warranty, or at least a Randy Winn.
While it could be all for not, the Giants need to make a push for Holliday. Their offensive woes have been well documented, but let's revisit the holes Holliday could fill all by himself.
Home Runs. The Giants ranked dead last in home runs with 94. The league average in '08 was 163. For comparisons sake the two teams still playing this late into October combined for 394 round trippers. Holliday would have easily lead the Giants with his 25 from last season.
Runs. Yes this was one of the stronger categories for the G-Men. They only finished second to last in this category with 640 runs, three better than the Padres, but more than one hundred below the MLB average of 753. Holliday was personally responsible for 195 of the Rockies runs in 2008.
Batting average. The Giants finished 20th in the majors in batting average. Holliday hit .321, which also would have been a team high.
Stolen bases. Fred Lewis and Randy Winn were largely responsible for the teams 108 stolen bases. Holliday had 28 in the 139 games he played in; could have been another team high
Holliday also has a career slugging percentage of .552 an OPS of .938, an on base percentage of over .400 the last two seasons. He would easily be able to switch to right field if Winn is a part of any off season dealings, or can stay in left if Fred Lewis becomes the fourth outfielder sparring Rowand, Winn or Schierholtz in center and right.
It may be hard to rationalize the Giants demoting Lewis being that he's one of the few young bright spots they've had the past several seasons. But keep in mind he's not even a full year younger than Holliday. The bigger question would come down to contracts. Lewis makes about $400,000 and Holiday is slated to make $13.5 million next year. The Giants will also need to be sure they can resign Holliday to a long term deal before they pull the trigger on a trade.
I know giving up a guy like Cain will hurt, and Sanchez may too turn out to be a great pitcher. And the likelihood of the two teams making this kind of a deal within the division may not be very high, but the Giants cannot afford to stand by as one of the best hitters in baseball is up for grabs.
Not sold Giants fans? Watch this sweet video tribute to Matt Holliday
Comments
Indeed, a holiday would "be so nice". But with the economy being what it is, maybe the Giants could get a good deal on some upper middle tier veterans, where there may actually be some bargains.
Some suggestions:
SS Orlando Cabrera or Furcal
3B Chipper Jones
C Jason Varitek (young staff sees increased W's)
OF Rocco Baldelli
What do you think? If you were the GM, which you should be, what moves would you try to make via trade or free agency?
I like the idea of trading Cain and I think Sanchez is underrated. Do you think that Barry Zito would be interested in going moped riding with Monta?
Doesn't the lemon law somehow apply to the '07 Zito? What a clunker.
Of the names you mentioned, Ghost, the only one that jumps out is Baldelli. Burriss can be a good ML SS. Chipper is too far past his prime, but a nice stop gap, but for how much? Tek may be on his last leg and with Boras as his agent I imagine he's looking for a Posada type deal. But Baldelli is still young and has a ton of talent. I'd take a flyer on him.
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