Hey! Great news out of St. Louis for Astros fans this morning, as the Holliday-for-Anyone-But Pujols talks appear to be, in its present form, dead.
You would think that if St. Louis dealt for the (as of Opening Day 2009) 29-year old 6'4" 230 lb slugger, that would make Skip Schumaker expendable. It would be a definite upgrade at the position for the Cardinals, whose 174 home runs were 4th in the NL Central. Schumaker did play in 153 games in left field for the Cardinals, hitting .302 (.314 after the All-Star break) but only popping eight home runs and 46 RBI.
Holliday had 25 home runs in only 139 games for the Rockies in 2008 after missing some time with a strained left hamstring but his contract expires following 2009, signing a two-year $23 million contract last January.
On the roster now, the Rockies have three left-handed outfielders and the financial situation would make sense for the Rockies as well. Schumaker made $396,000 in 2008, while another name bandied about - Ryan Ludwick - made $411,000 in 2008. You can imagine Holliday would test the free-agent market, so the Rockies might as well see what they can get now.
Which, as Elias has determined, the Rockies would get some significant draft picks as compensation if they held on to Holliday and lost him in free agency...
With the Cardinals-Rockies in a stalemate, it looks as though the Phillies and Braves have the best chance as of now to land Holliday.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
