Matt Holliday: Well, this one came out nowhere, as the Oakland A's have reportedly traded for Rockies OF Matt Holliday. There had been talk of Holliday being traded to the Cardinals and even the Yankees, but there was no discussion at all of Holliday going to the A's. I'm not really sure what Billy Beane is up to with this trade, because Matt Holliday is a free agent after 2009, and you would think the A's don't have the money to spend to be able to re-sign Holliday. Maybe Beane thinks his team can compete in 2009. If you're thinking that Beane will trade Holliday at the trade deadline in 2009, the rumor is that move will not happen . Right now the only name to be officially in the deal is pitcher Greg Smith. Smith was a rookie this season and finished with a 7-16 record and 4.16 ERA. While he did pitch a solid 190 innings, the A's can afford to give up some pitching especially with the four young starting pitchers they have in the minor leagues: Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, James Simmons, and Brett Anderson, although Anderson has also been rumored to possibly be included in the trade. Other names rumored to possibly be in the trade include relief pitcher Huston Street and outfielders Ryan Sweeney and Carlos Gonzalez. At this point, indications are that the trade for Holliday will send Greg Smith, Carlos Gonzalez, and Huston Street to the Rockies.
It's now possible that Beane has shed enough payroll that they have targeted Holliday as the player they want to build their offense around and they will attempt to sign him to a long term deal. Rumor has it that the A's will have about an extra $20-$30 million to play with this season. If Oakland adds another quality bat, like Jason Giambi, then I can definitely see them competing in the AL West in 2009. The only concern you have to have with Holliday is if he is really a great hitter or if he is just a great hitter because he plays his home games in Coors field. Throughout his career, Holliday has hit .357 AVG/.423 OBP/.645 SLG/1.068 OPS at home, but just an unspectacular .280 AVG/.348 OBP/.455 SLG/.803 OPS on the road. This season Hollidays stats on the road were much better where he finished with a line of .308 AVG/.405 OBP/.486 SLG/.892 OPS. Still, there definitely has to be some concern over what kind of hitter Holliday will be away from Coors Field.
Rookie Of The Year: Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto were named AL and NL Rookie Of The Year respectively. No surprise or debate here from me. Both Longoria and Soto played a huge part in getting their teams into the playoffs. Longoria finished the season batting .272 with 27 HR/85 RBI/.874 OPS/130 OPS+, while playing outstanding defense at 3B. Meanwhile, Soto was one of the most productive catchers in all of baseball with a line of .285 AVG/23 HR/86 RBI/.868 OPS/122 OPS+.
Other MLB News:
- San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy will most likely be traded before the winter meetings next month. Things have seemed to cool off with the Braves of late and now the Cubs may have jumped ahead in the race to acquire Peavy. The common belief is that the Braves have put together a better deal than the Cubs, so it's still possibly Peavy could land in Atlanta, which should make Braves fans happy.
- Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte filed for free agency, which leads some people to believe that he might not be re-joining the Yankees. However, I think he is just doing due diligence and trying to get some leverage against the Yankees, who will probably try to bring him back at less than the $16 million they paid him last year.
- The Brewers hired Willie Randolph as their bench coach, which at first I thought was a bad move for Willie, but once Ken Macha gets fired halfway through the season then Willie will be managing once again.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
It's now possible that Beane has shed enough payroll that they have targeted Holliday as the player they want to build their offense around and they will attempt to sign him to a long term deal. Rumor has it that the A's will have about an extra $20-$30 million to play with this season. If Oakland adds another quality bat, like Jason Giambi, then I can definitely see them competing in the AL West in 2009. The only concern you have to have with Holliday is if he is really a great hitter or if he is just a great hitter because he plays his home games in Coors field. Throughout his career, Holliday has hit .357 AVG/.423 OBP/.645 SLG/1.068 OPS at home, but just an unspectacular .280 AVG/.348 OBP/.455 SLG/.803 OPS on the road. This season Hollidays stats on the road were much better where he finished with a line of .308 AVG/.405 OBP/.486 SLG/.892 OPS. Still, there definitely has to be some concern over what kind of hitter Holliday will be away from Coors Field.
Rookie Of The Year: Evan Longoria and Geovany Soto were named AL and NL Rookie Of The Year respectively. No surprise or debate here from me. Both Longoria and Soto played a huge part in getting their teams into the playoffs. Longoria finished the season batting .272 with 27 HR/85 RBI/.874 OPS/130 OPS+, while playing outstanding defense at 3B. Meanwhile, Soto was one of the most productive catchers in all of baseball with a line of .285 AVG/23 HR/86 RBI/.868 OPS/122 OPS+.
Other MLB News:
- San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy will most likely be traded before the winter meetings next month. Things have seemed to cool off with the Braves of late and now the Cubs may have jumped ahead in the race to acquire Peavy. The common belief is that the Braves have put together a better deal than the Cubs, so it's still possibly Peavy could land in Atlanta, which should make Braves fans happy.
- Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte filed for free agency, which leads some people to believe that he might not be re-joining the Yankees. However, I think he is just doing due diligence and trying to get some leverage against the Yankees, who will probably try to bring him back at less than the $16 million they paid him last year.
- The Brewers hired Willie Randolph as their bench coach, which at first I thought was a bad move for Willie, but once Ken Macha gets fired halfway through the season then Willie will be managing once again.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
No comments:
Post a Comment