Matt Holliday and the Rockies' case of premature ejaculation

The farewell-to-Matt-Holliday image from the Colorado Rockies' website.

Tough to shake the sense that the Colorado Rockies shot their wad too soon when it comes to Matt Holliday, who the team traded to Oakland for pitchers Greg Smith and Huston Street and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

Let's take it as a given that the Rockies had to move Holliday -- a questionable decision, since it means trusting the always unreliable management spin, but accept it for the sake of argument. As accurately pointed out by the morning teamers on Mile High Sports Radio, at 1510 AM, Major League Baseball's winter meetings, where much of the high-profile dealing is done each year, haven't gotten underway yet; in fact, they don't kick off until December 8. Why not wait? After all, it isn't as if Smith, Street and Gonzalez have "Future Hall of Famer" written all over them -- and Holliday just might. Plenty of squads have salivated at the thought of him joining their lineup, including the New York Yankees, the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies and more.

Is there something about the phrase "bidding war" that scares Rockies owner Charlie Monfort? Or is getting less than market value for a hot commodity the sort of Rockies tradition that can't possibly be broken? Dunno, but there's no doubt this climax feels a lot earlier than necessary. -- Michael Roberts