No such luck in this case, as the Rockies got three young players of dubious talent, according to the “Official” Colorado Rockies web site:

“The Athletics have agreed to send the Rockies relief pitcher Huston Street, left-handed pitcher Greg Smith and outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez.“

Current Rockies players couldn’t even wait until Holliday was out the door before trashing him:

Todd “Gramps” Helton: “How we’ll replace Matt, who is a great guy on a team and a good guy in the clubhouse, I have no idea.“

Troy “Turaluralura” Tulowitzky: “We are going to miss him because he is a great person, a great friend and a great player.“

Ryan “Rye Bread” Spilborghs: “Matt, in my opinion, is the best all-around left fielder in baseball — I can’t think of a better hitter and outfielder.“

The Rockies’ Owners, the unemployed former slaughterhouse operators Mel and Fred Monfort claimed they couldn’t afford Holliday because the franchise wasn’t making any money the last few years after paying the Monforts a billion dollars each as co-chairmen/presidents/poohbahs.

The Monforts, under the promise of anonymity, also verified rumors that they would be dumping the salaries of Atkins and Taveras and replacing them with low paid players currently on the Colorado roster or discarded by other teams. They guaranteed when the 2009 season begins, they would put 9 uniformed players on the field for every single game. After all, they said, after the opening day series with the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies, we will already have made a profit for the year because of the sweetheart stadium deal the citizens of Denver have given us. Suckers! Oh, did I say that out loud?

Other than that, it was a great idea.

Other players have had great, maybe even greater years, and didn’t get contracts even close to Tulowitzky’s. Take Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, for example. He had a pretty good year in 2005, hitting 22 homeruns in just 88 games and winning Rookie of the Year, but the Phillies didn’t offer him a multi-year deal. In 2006, Howard had an even bigger year, hitting 58 homers and winning the MVP. The Phillies still didn’t sign him to a multiyear contract, signing him instead to a one year, $10 million deal.

By signing Tulowitzki before he was eligible for arbitration, the Rockies accomplished a lot of things, all of them bad:

1. They set up the probability of a bad year in 2008. Once players sign big contracts, they almost always have a let down of some sort. In Troy’s case, he was probably not in top shape, causing him to start out poorly in the field and at the plate. Additionally, his conditioning may have played a part in the tearing of a tendon that will keep him out of the lineup until after the All-Star break.
2. They flew into the face of logic, baseball tradition, and their own history in giving players large contracts based on speculation. Tulo had a huge year in 2007, but there was ample evidence to believe that he could not repeat it in 2008. Ever heard of the “sophomore jinx”, Monforts? Nobody in their right minds would give a rookie with so little experience that kind of money based on a single campaign. The Rockies own Manager, Clint Hurdle, shoud be a great reminder of that fact. He had a great year in his initial season in the Majors and never approached that standard afterward.
3. They have incurred the wrath of all of the rest of baseball’s owners, who will now be pressured by agents of all successful rookies to give them Tulo-like contracts.
4. They created an environment whereby their other young stars will expect insane contracts like Tulowitzky’s, except the team can’t afford them.

So if you thought the Meatboys were learning from their experience or “No longer dealin’” Dan O’Dowd was now an older and wiser man, you were wrong. The longer these boobs run the team, dumber they get.

The Baseball Observer

The Rockies were exciting and they were also wildly popular, continuously selling out the cavernous Mile High Stadium through the first two years, then the smaller Coors/Molsen Field on Blake Street. You could feel the air start to leak out of the big purple balloon when they blew the playoffs in 1995 and Baylor arrogantly refused to learn from his boatload of mistakes. Crowds began to diminish until virtually the entire city became oblivious to the existence of baseball except on those rare weekends when the Nuggets, Avalanche, Broncos, Rapids, Mammoth, or Crush were not playing. Revenues began a steep descent as the brilliant management responded by relentlessly raising prices, changing managers, dumping the most popular star players, and finally killing the greatest feature of Coors/Molsen Field, the Monster Homer by soaking all the baseballs in brine. Then, all of a sudden, the Miracle of ’07 happened and people are excited about the Rockies again.

Through it all, though, the Rockies were an exciting team, even though they played horrible, undisciplined, losing baseball, primarily because they had a clueless front office, and with the exception of Jim Leland and Buddy Bell, the worst managers in the history of Baseball.

This year’s team will bring more excitement than any other, because there will be huge crowds of crazy fans eager to cheer the team on to the World Series. After last year, where the team was on the verge of being eliminated and yet held on for the Wild Card by winning 95% of their remaining games, the fans will believe the Rockies still have a chance in 2008, no matter how far behind they fall.

Unfortunately, this year’s group has nearly as many canyons as it has mountains. They may have the most potent offense in Baseball, and a great statistical defense. But they also have a pitching staff that is extremely suspect, particularly the starters, along with a starting catcher that can’t throw out runners, a rookie at second base, a leadoff hitter who can’t hit, a left fielder that can’t play left field, a buffoon for a manager, and a front office that thinks stumbling around in the dark is innovation. Also, other teams made sure not to waste their best pitchers on the Rockies in the past, but now they will all be gunning for them. Hitting may keep them from falling into the cellar, but unless the entire pitching staff has injury-free career years, they won’t have much of a chance of winning the division, although San Diego, Arizona, and Los Angeles have significant weaknesses as well. We won’t even mention the Giants. The Rockies may ride their offense into the playoffs again, but they won’t be as lucky as last year, when they got to face weak teams in the playoffs as a result of other miracles. In 2008, they Mets or whoever the Central division champs are, will probably beat the Rockies easily.

Staying close and making the playoffs is really all that is called for this year. Dropping low in the standings with no postseason will send the fans scurrying like rats to attend the aforementioned Denver Sports Teams.

As usual, they are both wrong. The Rockies did perform as a 4th place team up until the last three weeks of the season, and the stretch run was not so much a fluke as a series of fortunate events. As a result of the streak and the visit to the Fall Classic, the Rockies have finally moved to the next level. They have progressed beyond the perennial last or next to the last place team into the land of solid mediocrity. Last year, we compared them to the Montreal Expos of the 1980′s who had good teams because they recruited great young talent, but never moved into greatness because they couldn’t afford to sign their stars to long term contracts. The Rockies are in the same boat. They have managed to sign the current group of stars, but they won’t be able to sign the next group to fill up the holes they need to plug to move into the dynasty role. So, the Rockies are will remain mediocre. They had their moment in the sun, and now they will settle into the annoying Chicago Cubs syndrome, coming close year after year, but never approaching the dizzying heights of 2007.

We believe Colorado will finish 2nd in the Western Division in 2008, and probably won’t be good enough to be the Wild Card.  Furthermore, 2008 will be a prototype year for many to come. Colorado fans will remain entranced by the team, and remembering 2007, they will spend the end of each season breathlessly waiting for another streak that will never come. What certainly will come are higher prices. They may even get to the playoffs one of these years, but probably won’t make it back to the World Series in any of our lifetimes.