This was a topic we discussed on the 9:00 P.M. broadcast last night, but it is worth revisiting. Only in professional sports, can somebody earning $11.5 in salary be seen as a bargain.
That figure is what Matt Holliday will make in 2008 and 2009 for hitting home runs and patrolling the outfield for the Rockies. That is, unless, he is traded and performs those baseball tasks for some other team.
The chances of that being the case seem to be getting a little greater each day. The reason is simple. Holliday wants to win and he wants to play for a team that is a title contender. The Rockies proved that they could contend for a World Series last season, though they have taken a big step backward on the progression scale in 2008 so far.
Holliday has said before he would like to stay here and there have been indications that he would take a little less money to remain in Denver-----provided the Rockies were fielding a consistently competitive ballclub with a chance to make a postseason run. Holliday saw how close they came a year ago, so to see the depths to which they have fallen this season, has to be a shock to his system.
Is there any way the team's front office can convince Holliday this ship can be righted? Well, perhaps, though does it really matter?
Those questions need to be asked since Holliday is represented by agent Scott Boras, known for squeezing the most amount of dollars out of any team looking for his client's services. You don't hire him to negotiaite anything other than money. I am not saying Holliday is greedy but having Boras on your side draws a clear line in the sand on where you stand on matters finanacially. Speaking of finances, it seems unlikely Colorado could win a bidding war for Holliday. Their history of being burned on term signings seems to indicate not only will the Rockies not win a bidding war, they may choose to not even partake in one, if they feel Holliday is gone after 2009 on his own volition when he becomes a free agent.
To me, the mere idea that Holliday would ever be allowed to file for free agency seems remote. If the Rockies feel they can't sign him, they almost have to trade him or risk getting no compensation for a player that could have gotten them some solid value on the trade market.
To that particular end, the question becomes, when do you trade him? If you trade him now or rather quickly, you are telling the fans to give up on 2008 and that 2009 may not be much better since Holliday is likely to be traded for high level prospects not yet ready to make an immediate impact.
If they wait until the offseason, Holliday's trade value is still high but will be lowered slightly because whoever gets him will have him for one year before Holliday can opt out with a new team. Any team that goes after Holliday, would most likely want his services as long as they can at the $11.5 million per year clip because he may attract up to $20 million a year on his next deal. So if that is the case, trading for him now gets you 1.5 years of Holliday at a "bargain" rate instead of just one year of Holliday if you wait until the season ends.
The one spot the Rockies cannot put themselves in is trading him when it becomes far too late. Sure, the longer the Rockies hold on to Holliday, the more production they can squeeze out of him. However, if it starts to get to the point where they know they have to trade him, teams are going to drastically lower what they will offer in return, full well knowing the Rockies would be better accepting a lowball bid than simply letting Holliday walk away.
To me, somebody is going to get a short term bargain on Holliday. I just hope that team is the Rockies. See you on Wednesday.
-"z"
