Ringolsby: Holliday's no-fault divorce

The worst part of sports is the way business butts in.And that reality hit Colorado Rockies fans in the face this week.Slugger Matt Holliday was dealt to Oakland.There is an initial emotional response from fans that feel cheated. The debate: Whether the Rockies are cheap or Holliday is greedy.The answer: neither.Both made business decisions.The Rockies did offer Holliday a four-year, $72 million extension last spring. He rejected it.The Rockies are leery of long-term commitments in light of past adventures. And Holliday wants the security he has seen players receive from other teams.Could the Rockies have offered more? Probably. But what was going to be enough? They never received a counteroffer from agent Scott Boras indicating what Holliday would take, and to be honest, nobody really expected one. That's not the way Boras operates.He allows teams to make an offer, rejects them, then lets the teams keep bidding against themselves.It has worked for him. When Alex Rodriguez got a 10-year, $242 million deal from Texas, the Rangers were the only team to offer him more than five years and more than $100 million. How'd the deal get so big? Boras kept saying no, and the Rangers kept offering more.It didn't work that way for Holliday.That's why general manager Dan O'Dowd went shopping, settling on Oakland's offer of outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, starting pitcher Greg Smith and closer Huston Street.If he hadn't acted, O'Dowd would've had to wait to see what transpired between now and the trading deadline next July, but it wasn't like O'Dowd was blindly walking into the market.He shopped Holliday in July, when teams could have acquired him knowing he had a full season remaining before free agency, and the offers weren't close to what Oakland gave up. There was no reason to believe that would change next July, with teams knowing they were acquiring Holliday for only two months.INFIELD CHATTER-- Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins has drawn interest from the Twins, Angels and Phillies, with the Reds and Indians peeking but not yet making a push.-- Colorado center fielder Willy Taveras could fill needs for the Reds, White Sox, Yankees and Marlins.-- Street isn't being shopped, but the Rockies have gotten inquiries from the Indians, Brewers and Tigers. And the Nationals have asked about Gonzalez.THE ROTATIONThe Hall of Fame will call some day, but for now, some future Hall of Famers are trying to keep playing:-- Closer Trevor Hoffman, 41, had a $4 million contract offer taken off the table by the Padres, prompting agent Rick Thurman to say Hoffman won't return to the team for which he earned 552 of his 554 saves. Hoffman is coming off the least-productive year of his career, other than 2003, when was limited to nine appearances by injuries.-- Left-hander Randy Johnson wants a shot at the five victories he needs to reach 300, but what's the price? The Diamondbacks were interested in bringing him back, but the team and Johnson's agents broke off negotiations Thursday and Johnson filed for free agency. One concern for the Diamondbacks was how committed Johnson would remain after he gets to 300.-- Outfielder Manny Ramirez was offered a two-year, $45 million deal by the Dodgers, but Boras is adamant that, despite being 36 and best suited as a designated hitter, Ramirez must get at least five years, possibly six.-- Right-hander John Smoltz, coming off his fifth surgery, says he isn't ready to join former teammate Greg Maddux, the veteran righty who says he currently plans to retire. Smoltz wants to play another season.-- Outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., dealt from the Reds to the White Sox down the stretch last season, could return to Seattle, where his career began.OUT IN LEFT FIELDDiamondbacks right-hander Brandon Webb, who finished second to Giants righty Tim Lincecum in the National League Cy Young voting, became the third pitcher to win 22 games in a season and lose the Cy Young to a pitcher with fewer than 20 wins.Lincecum had a 2.62 ERA, which ranked second in the NL, and an NL-best 265 strikeouts to go with an 18-5 record.In 1973, Ron Bryant of the Giants was 24-12 but had a 3.63 ERA and finished third behind Tom Seaver of the Mets (19-10, 2.08) and Mike Marshall of the Expos (14-11, 31 saves, 2.66).In 1999, Mike Hampton was 22-4 with a 2.90 ERA but finished second to Johnson, who was 17-9 with a 2.48 ERA and 364 strikeouts.CLOSING STATEMENTWhile the Rockies failed to sign long-term deals with Holliday and Atkins, they have received commitments in the past two years from five homegrown players binding them to the team through at least 2011.Including options, the Rockies control outfielder Brad Hawpe and lefty Jeff Francis through 2011, right-hander Aaron Cook through 2012, reliever Manuel Corpas through 2013 and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki through 2014.NUMBERS GAME-- 3: Baseball Writers Association of America members that voted Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez second in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting even though Volquez wasn't a rookie. They were Jeremy Cothran, The (Newark, N.J.) Star Ledger; John Klima, Los Angeles Daily News; and Jay Paris, North County Times in Southern California.HOW LOW CAN IT GO?Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo had the lowest batting average with runners in scoring position (.139) for a player who qualified for a batting title since Ron Gant hit .130 with the Phillies and Angels in 2000. Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton ranked at the bottom for NL hitters at .172.HE SAID IT"The fact that these are all first-year guys is probably a coincidence. . . . I was open to anybody. But these guys come from winning organizations. They have been very successful where they've been, either as players or coaches at the major league level."-- Jack Zduriencik, Mariners general manager, on having no former major league managers among the seven candidates he is interviewing for the managerial vacancy. The candidates: Boston coaches Brad Mills and DeMarlo Hale, Class AAA Portland manager Randy Ready, White Sox coach Joey Cora, Diamondbacks bench coach Chip Hale, Cardinals third-base coach Jose Oquendo and Athletics bench coach Don Wakamatsu.(Tracy Ringolsby writes for the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colo. E-mail ringolsbyt(at)RockyMountainNews.com.)