Though Benny Francisco has done extremely well since his call up to the bigs, there is no denying the fact that the Indians need to make a move on the offensive side of things. We’re in the midst of some of the best pitching in recent years, and to not capitalize would be a huge blown opportunity. To expect zero earned runs over the rest of the season is just silly, so why not move while we have the upper hand?
We’ve seen the names Xavier Nady, Jason Bay and Ken Griffey Jr. tossed about these parts as possible acquisitions. But how about adding a new one into the mix: Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday. Yes, the runner-up NL MVP, currently sporting a .925 OPS Matt Holliday. You have to be a pretty big fan of the game to know of this guy’s history as a player, but he has quietly been one of the best in the bigs for the last several years. Oh, and his name would look excellent in an Indians jersey – even if he couldn’t wear his #5 (Lou Boudreau).
But why would one of the best players in the league be up for grabs? Well, after losing the World Series to the Red Sox last season, the Rockies have struggled out of the gate and could be one of the first teams to enter the market with some talent for sale. And talent this is. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal has the goods.
Among the clubs that could pursue Holliday:
Cleveland. The Indians need to inject offense. They might prefer to upgrade in their infield, but their production in both outfield corners is poor.
Of course, Cleveland wasn’t the only team listed. The usual suspects (Yankees, Tigers, Mets) were also in the mix – which means that we could shy away at the first sign of actually having to spend money. And if we would want Holliday’s services beyond the year-plus on his deal, it would likely take an eight-year extension. That’s quite the price for a guy who is already 28, but with Mark Teixeira rejecting a similar deal last season, the bar has been set.
As it has been mentioned around these parts not long ago, Rosenthal tossed Garrett Atkins’ name into the mix, but claims that the Rockies would prefer to move Holliday as he is a year closer to free agency. You can’t deny the fact that Holliday has put up serious numbers. You have to wonder how much of his production has been aided by playing in Colorado, but even if you take away some of the power numbers, the guy has improved his batting average year-over-year since 2004. How nice would it be to have back-to-back .325 hitters in the middle of our lineup?
Of course, this could all just be another tease; you know, the big-named bats that we could be in the hunt for? I can’t help but get the hopes up, even though this is all pure speculation.
Rockies could be in market to trade Holliday [Fox Sports]
Author: Scott
Scott is a co-founder/editor of Waiting For Next Year who resides in Cleveland, Ohio. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or email him at scott@waitingfornextyear.com.Scott has written 1701 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
I’m so not even going to think about this. Seriously, what are the chances this happens ? 5%? 10%?
What would it take to get this deal done? Gutierrez and Miller? Francisco, Sowers and Laffey? Nevermind…I’m not thinking about it…
Haha. Busted. Word on the street is Laffey-plus.
What street do you get your word from? I’d do Laffey and whatever outfield replacement they wanted…if I was thinking about it…which I’m of course not…
I’d do pretty much whatever they want. Obviously, Sizemore and Martinez are off the table…..but they can have Laffey plus their pick of any of the other position players.
The Garrett Atkins rumos is pure speculation on Buster Olney’s part, but it makes sense. Holiday would be tough. I’m all for acquiring either one, though.
Atkins name has been floating around the rumor mill for at least a week. Bruce Drennan mentioned something about it a couple days ago on his show. I’d trade for you Rock if you could hit…
How about Atkins and Holliday for Laffey, Gutierrez, Barfield, Dellucci, Blake…am I missing anyone?
Francisco, Shoppach, and Hafner!
But I’m not thinking about it…
…do you think they would want Peralta?
I don’t even really care if he would only be here a year — I’m so starved for a title thats all I really care about. I’d throw in Miller (every team wants him), Laffey, Francisco, AND Cabrera (or maybe Sowers instead of Cabrera). Overboard? Perhaps, but putting Holliday in our lineup would transform our lineup from “meh” to “SWEET MOTHER OF GOD THATS AMAZING”. Just imagine, 1. Sizemore 2. I don’t even care 3. Martinez 4. Holliday 5-9 I don’t even care. You could switch Martinez and Holliday if they wanted. This guy can even steal bases if we need him too. I’m not even too worried about him being at Coors Field, I’m pretty sure that he has pretty even home/away splits, but I’d have to look up actual numbers
.364, 5 and 18 Home, .283, 2 and 7 Away. 3 year totals- .370, 59 and 212 Home, .281, 30 and 126 Away. Those are somewhat significant actually. Although we don’t have many guys that sniff .280 on the road…
When Drennan mentioned the Atkins rumors, he attributed them to Buster Olney, although he said Olney worked for USA Today instead of ESPN. The rumors started on Olney’s ESPN blog when he wrote, “Down the road, one possible move that might make some sense (and to be clear, this is pure speculation): If Colorado eventually turns the page on 2008, the Indians and the Rockies could match up well in a deal built around Garrett Atkins. The Rockies have a third baseman waiting in the wings, in Ian Stewart — although he is not faring well so far — and the Indians, as they look for ways to improve their offense, are flexible at first and third base.” http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3385023&type=blogEntry
There’s absolutely no meat behind the Atkins rumors yet. Like I said, a deal still definitely makes sense, but it’s not like the teams have had talks or expressed interest in any way.
Rick, thanks for clarifying the home/away splits. I thought that since they started storing the game balls at Coors Field in a humidor or something like that they got rid of some of the advantage given to hitters, but maybe not
You are correct that the impact of Coors Field has been minimized since they made some changes. Here are their recent Ballpark Factors (Runs at home vs Runs Away):
2001 – 1.458 (2nd)
2002 – 1.440 (1st)
2003 – 1.243 (4th)
2004 – 1.412 (1st)
2005 – 1.285 (1st)
2006 – 1.149 (2nd)
2007 – 1.160 (3rd)
2008 – 1.262 (2nd)
So you can see from 2005 on the impact of Coors Field on runs scored declined, but their relative ranking stayed the same (coinciding with the reduction of scoring in the NL, perhaps?). So while the impact of Coors Field on aggregate runs scored is reduced, based on relative ranking compared to other stadiums you might still expect a reduction in performance away from Coors. I would say both Holliday and Atkins’ road splits are a little concerning, but both are still better players than anyone the Indians currently have not named Victor Martinez, so I would still trade away for them if possible.
Honestly, getting Holiday wouldn’t be a bad idea, but if was going to take 8 years and about 20 dump trucks filled with loot to keep him after giving up good youngsters wouldn’t it make more sense to resign C.C. then rent a slugger for a year and a half??
Agreed we need some help for the offense, but you can’ over pay, which is what the Expos did when we sent them Colon all those years ago. Which would have been the most lopsided of the last 10 years, at lesat in my opion, besides when the Twins got Boof Bonser,Nathan, Lirano from the Giants for Persynzki. So I’m all for getting offense as long as it doesn’t cost us too much
Yea, Bay or Nady might be more likely options, but the Pirates have to start losing first
CBus, why would it take 8 years and loads of dump trucks? We’re talking about renting him for this year and next, and that wouldn’t effect our signing of Sabathia a bit IMO. Not that we’re going to get Sabathia…