The Rockies have reached an agreement with Matt Holliday on a minor-league pact. Thomas Harding of MLB.com was first to report that a deal was a “distinct possibility”, while Jon Heyman of Fancred later tweeted that Holliday was going to sign the deal.
The 38-year-old veteran certainly has had a storied career, first coming up with the Rockies (and making it the World Series with them in 2007), and also playing with the Cardinals during some of their best seasons in recent memory. All told, the outfielder owns a .299/.378/.511 batting line across 14 major league seasons.
It’d be unreasonable to expect any semblance of that production this season, of course, and in fact it remains to be seen whether or not the veteran has anything left in the tank. He’s a particularly curious fit in the National League, where his outfield defense will be exposed since the Rockies won’t have the luxury of deploying him as a DH. Then again, it’s entirely possible that he’ll simply be used mostly as an extra right-handed bat off the bench.
Although his 2017 season with the Yankees was unspectacular, his .231/.316/.432 slash to go along with 19 homers in 427 plate appearances netted him a 98 wRC+, or just a tick below league average. If he’s able to replicate that alone, he could certainly be a useful weapon. But the most interesting element of his recent performance is a .267/.366/.477 slash against southpaws. That could make him a great asset in pinch-hit situations late in games, or even a viable starter against the many intimidating left-handers in division-rival rotations.
Despite interesting upside in this or a similar role, Holliday went unsigned throughout the entire offseason (though clearly he wasn’t the only casualty of a slow winter). He told reporters at the end of spring training that he still intended to continue his player career if an opportunity came up, and MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted at the time that it would almost assuredly come in the form of a minor-league deal and some reps at Triple-A, if at all. Holliday will presumably head to Albuquerque for the time being, and be recalled when and if he can get into game shape.
I hope he gets back to MLB!
Same
I was really surprised no one took a flyer on him earlier. He put up a good first half to the 2017 season and then had the second half plagued by illness and injury. He also posed as a good role model for Aaron Judge so he can provide as a good mentor for younger players.
Yes, I like this signing
Good move by the Rockies. Holiday can spend August the Colorado Springs club getting into shape and then be called up in September to provide a bat off of the bench
Colorado Springs? Did the Brewers sign him?
First half: .262/.366/.511 with 15 home runs.
2nd Half: .179/.225/.300
Ended Season: .231/.316/.432, 19 HR, 64 RBI (105 games)
The 2nd half almost forced Matt to end his career. Other than the fact he’s a great person, role-model, ambassador to the game. Finally!
Good comment xabial….I was just going to comment that his 2017 stats were almost all created in the first half of the season….in the second half he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat he was that bad.
Supposedly good guy though.
He was hurt for a good deal of the second half last year. If he were healthy he probably would’ve been able to contribute more.
X,
I enjoyed your post..and of course felt so awful
when Holliday got ill.
So glad he’s back and he deserves to do good again!
Great way to cap off a career. Hopefully they bring him up in September and get some at bats and he can call it a day.
Can definitely see him as a September call up when rosters expand.
Awesome. I didn’t even think about Holliday coming home. He could easily fill the old Jason Giambi role on the bench and be an excellent veteran mentor to David Dahl. Nothing will ruin my smile today now.
I picked up up as a Free Agent om MLB 18 The Show. He’s having a productive season so far, very clutch. I hope this isn’t a sign & retire deal.
I didn’t know the Rockies were looking for a second baseman too. Way to start a trend, brew crew.
Why would Holliday go to Colorado Springs?
Albuquerque has been the Triple-A affiliate since 2015.
Colorado Springs is a Brewers affiliate boys.
Because nobody said anything… Oakland fans, KEEP AWAY
Whoa, Heyman got the scoop on a Boras client. That’s a shocker!!!!!
Probably picked him up just so he could touch home plate
Nice
This is AWESOME, I hope he rakes the rest of the year. Baseball is better with Holliday playing.
stan,
Ditto
♪♫ It’s a jolly Holliday with Matthew! ♫♪
I saw this headline and fully expected it to say that he signed a 1 day contract to retire with the Rockies. Good luck to him though.
Why not. Why the heck not.
Great deal. I loved him with the Yankees last year and he makes for a great low risk signing for Colorado. Power bat at coors field is always something Rockies fans like to see. Hope he does well in his return to where it all began.
Well, it’s about time! I have no idea why teams kept giving Jose Bautista a chance over this guy. It’s not like he’s been terrible with the bat in recent years. He’s just had some unfortunate injury issues over the last three seasons, but he’s hit well when he’s been healthy.
Cardinal
Maybe because you have “no idea”. Bautista last 30 days has been productive-30 days doesn’t make a season but he’s playing at & producing at the level he has his whole career-last 30 days 104 ab .368 OBP Slugging .471 Ops .839 6 HR 6 doubles 17 rbi -that’s why he gets a chance. plus he can play 3rd or the outfield.
Holliday deserves his chance and his stats in the second half were affected by major illness that had equivalent symptoms of glandular fever/mononucleosis. I think most people don’t understand what it takes to come back from a major illness eg mono/injury/accident – Sean Rodriguez is a good example.
As you said, Holliday’s 2nd half stats last year are extremely misleading, while his first half stats were great.
Meanwhile, Bautista was healthy and still sucked last year, and he sucked in his first minor league deal this year, yet he somehow got a second deal long before Holliday could even get his first. A month of small-sample excellence doesn’t make up for a season and a half of suckage.
He will probably mostly play first base. The Rockies hasn’t gotten much production from the position all season
Haven’t*