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.)
comments (0) write a comment »
write a new comment
This article has no comments.