Matt Holliday Traded to Oakland

Hopes to bring face-plant sliding techniques to the Bay Area. Billy Beane already rumored to be shopping him now in advance of the July 31 2009 deadline.

In a move that seems completely out of left field (no pun intended), the Oakland Athletics are about to acquire Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday. The return for Colorado has not yet been announced, but Billy Beane has certainly stockpiled young talent recently via trades. So, it is conceivable that this move didn't put much of a dent in the A's surplus of young talent. The first name to emerge in early reports is Greg Smith, a lefty who made 32 starts for the A's last year and posted a decent (7-16, 4.16 ERA 169 hits in 190 IP, 111::87 K::BB, 1.35 WHIP) rookie campaign, although walking way too many people and giving up 21 home runs (which would translate terribly to Coors Field).

This removes one of the biggest names of the offseason's trade market very early in the game. It has also completely ruined Bill Madden's stupid Fantasy Baseball lineup for the 2009 Yankees already, a mere week deep into the offseason! The idea of the Yankees being hot for Holliday was flawed from the start, considering they refused to trade prospects and sign a huge extension to land that guy who now pitches for the Mets. Holliday would have required the same type of scenario, or he would have been a one-year rental, something the Yankees don't do.

So, from the Bronx perspective, this should be a non-story, although you can guarantee the local media will spin it as Brian Cashman being too slow to act and getting out-maneuvered by that genius Billy Beane. At least, that's what I'm predicting now before any stories are written. I'll be sure to update this post when the specifics are finalized.