Sports Illustrated’s John Heyman said on WFAN’s “Mike and the Mad Dog” this afternoon that Colorado outfielder Matt Holliday could very well be on the trading block as soon as next winter. Recently, Holliday commented that the 4 year, $60M the Rockies offered him would not cut it.
Holliday is arbitration eligible for 2008 and 2009 and becomes a free agent before the 2010 season. Heyman speculates that the Rockies will not be able to pony up the large dollars that it will take to sign Holliday long term and may be willing to move him in a mammoth deal after this season. Heyman even hinted that had the Rockies not won the NL pennant, they may have put Holliday on the market this winter.
The best response to this was from Heyman’s interviewer, Chris Russo, who stated, “If you can’t sign Holliday, why even have a franchise?” It’s true. What is the state of baseball if a team based out of a large city like Denver with a beautiful ballpark like Coors Field is forced to trade it’s home grown superstar in his prime because of lack of resources? If Colorado does move Holliday, it will be a shame. The residents of the state of Colorado would be the ones wearing the fleeces.
Note: In this interview, Heyman also predicted that the Royals may be able to sign Andruw Jones to a 1 year deal, and that Johan Santana will be traded this off-season.
Filed under: Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins | Tagged: Matt Holliday |
MLB FLEECE FACTOR: Providing MLB rumors and deciding who gets FLEECED. 
Kinda like the Marlins trading Cabrera though, no?
The difference is that the marlins play in an old stadium in a city that is not an ideal baseball town. Their fire sales are more of a “hold-up” of the local government in an effort to fleece tax payers for a new stadium.
Thhe rockies, on the other hand, have a great, modern stadium, draw good crowds and denver has always been a great sports town.
Name one time a Scott Boras client ever signed early, and not on the free agent market?
Shouldn’t have a franchise? Welcome to the bigs….Denver is not New York, nor LA. They and teams are not on the same level when it comes to revenue and spending. Denver, Minneapolis, Oakland, Cleveleand all have to play with a different set of restrictions then do large market teams with deep pockets.
Worse yet, this money difference is starting to effect the amatuer draft.
I tend to agree, RedHawk. Chris Russo of WFAN radio in NY seems absent minded at times, and does not think what he says through. Boras always takes his clients to free agency. Russo should think before he speaks.
People who do not know the Rockies well are taking Holliday’s words out of context. The Rockies have not even formally offered Holliday anything, its just a rumor about a 4 year deal. And thats just the starting point. When was the last time you were in a negotiation and the other party gave you their best offer right up front. Holliday never said he wouldn’t sign with the Rockies, he just wants a longer deal. There is no indication that the Rockies won’t offer him a longer deal. There is no reason on the planet the Rockies would trade Holliday. Its not happening, its a non issue.
I tend to agree with the above posts. The Rox can’t let this guy go, and Boras knows that. He is gonna get Holliday a monster deal… I’m thinking 7 years at around $120-135M.
[…] apparent bid for Hunter (in the range of 5 years $70 million), fell well shy. Despite being linked to Andruw Jones by SI’s John Heyman, the only other “true” option in this year’s free agent […]
Can I ask though – how did you get this picked up and into google news?
Very impressive that this blog is syndicated through Google and is it something that is just up to Google or you actively created?
Obviously this is a popular blog with great data so well done on your seo success..
The baseball greats you should write about next!