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Ahead of the 2009 season, the Oakland Athletics made a big swing, acquiring one of the best hitters in baseball in Matt Holliday from the Colorado Rockies. A's fans have seen this deal as a huge flop and rank this deal up there with some of the worst of the Billy Beane era.
That's especially true because of the cost it took to acquire him. While some may be up in arms about losing Greg Smith, the main two pieces of the deal were closer Huston Street and a young outfielder by the name of Carlos González. With the Rockies, he would turn into the man they called "Car-Go," being named to three All Star teams, winning three Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers, and one batting title.
Funnily enough, González came to the A's with Smith in a big trade that sent Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and also brought along Chris Carter and Brett Anderson among others.
In retrospect, the trade with the Rockies was a huge price to pay for what ended up being a few months of Matt Holliday. Most fans remember him not playing terribly well, but his OPS+ was still at a 120 (100 is league average) while hitting .278 with a .378 OBP. He also added 11 home runs and 12 stolen bases in 93 games before getting dealt to St. Louis.
All of this brings us to today's Daily Walkoff, which you can play here.
The board above is the scrambled up version, not the finished one.
One of the names on that board stuck out today, and that was Johny Damon, who came over from the Kansas City Royals in a time period when the A's were snagging big-time outfielders from the Royals. First it was Damon back in January of 2001, followed by Jermaine Dye in July of the same year. According to Baseball-Reference, Dye was technically traded to the Rockies first, then flipped to Oakland on the same day.
Damon was with the A's for the 2001 season, his only year with the club before reaching free agency. In that lone year he hit .256 with a .363 OBP and put up an 83 OPS+, his lowest in four seasons. In other words, Damon's production was a lot worse for the A's in his time with the team that Holliday's.
The reason that fans view the two trades differently is because of the packages it took to land each of them. Holliday's deal resulted in a haul for Colorado, yet the Damon package, even though he didn't necessarily produce as hoped, also brought Mark Ellis to Oakland, along with Cory Lidle. Both were solid for the A's, especially Ellis, who is arguably the most underrated player in Oakland history.
It's also worth noting that the feeling with Holliday and the A's fans is in some ways mutual, with the outfielder putting a clause in his contract with the New York Yankees that he could be traded to any team--except Oakland. When he visited the Coliseum in 2017, NJ.com did a piece on his time with the A's, and he was actually fairly complimentary of Oakland and the coaches, he just said that going to work everyday at the Coliseum was rough for him.
"I think if they had a nice facility this would be a good place to play," he said. "There were a lot of things that I liked about my time in Oakland. I liked Billy Beane a lot and I liked the coaching staff, which I thought was really good. I lived in Danville ... the East Bay. It was beautiful. We rented a nice place there. Again, outside of the stadium ..."
With that, here are the answers to today's Daily Walkoff:
More must-reads:
- Three offseason trade targets for Blue Jays to add an impact bat
- Dodgers' Miguel Rojas is this generation's Hal Smith
- The 'World Series single-game K leaders' quiz
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D-backs Pitcher Enters Free Agency
As the World Series comes to a conclusion, the MLB offseason officially commences. That means three of the Arizona Diamondbacks pending free agents have officially entered free agency, One such free agent is left-hander Jalen Beeks. Beeks, alongside former ace Zac Gallen and veteran backup catcher James McCann, were listed among the 137 players hitting free agency, in a statement released by the MLB Players' Association. For more on Gallen's free agency, check out the below article: Related Content: Zac Gallen Takes First Free Agency Step The D-backs are among the teams with the lower free agent departure totals. With the five-day "quiet period" following the World Series, teams will have the option to re-sign their own players without competition. Unlike Gallen, Beeks is an arm that seems like a much more reasonable re-sign for Arizona. Arizona Diamondbacks' Jalen Beeks Enters Free Agency The 32-year-old veteran left-hander was a last-second pickup for GM Mike Hazen and the D-backs, joining the team just prior to Opening Day. He quickly became one of the few arms trusted to take on a workhorse load out of the bullpen, as Arizona's relief corps suffered injury after injury. And he certainly did take a large share of the innings. Beeks tossed 57.1 innings, and likely would have been used even more if not for an IL stint (followed by careful usage) in the latter third of the regular season. Still, the lefty posted a solid 3.77 ERA, inflated somewhat by a few blowup outings. He's also had generally solid, if not eye-popping peripheral metrics, even during some of his uglier ERA seasons. Finding quality left-handed relief pitching is no easy feat. Considering Beeks made only $1.25 million with Arizona in 2025, even a slight increase in that amount would likely be money well spent. Related Content: Diamondbacks Have to Address This Bullpen Need Again The Diamondbacks already face an uphill battle with regard to bolstering their bullpen and starting rotation. An in-house option with a history of stability would be a beneficial return, even if regression is a distinct possibility. Regardless, the Diamondbacks absolutely must make an attempt at acquiring a closer (as well as another legitimate leverage arm) if they want to weather the storm before Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk return. Beeks does not necessarily fill that type of role, but he does have leverage experience, and would likely perform well in a middle-relief role without the pressure of having to serve as the setup man or closer in 2026. Related Content: Should the Diamondbacks Bring Back this Veteran Reliever? Arizona Diamondbacks Latest News
Mike Vrabel responds to accusation that Patriots simulated Falcons' snap on key fourth-quarter play
With under two minutes remaining in regulation of Sunday's game between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots, Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. committed a costly and curious intentional grounding penalty after he seemed not ready to receive the snap of the football. Following the 24-23 loss that dropped Atlanta to 3-5 on the season, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris accused Patriots players of "clapping" to simulate Penix asking for the ball to be snapped. During a Monday appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, first-year New England head coach Mike Vrabel responded to Morris' comments. Mike Vrabel "didn't see" Patriots players simulating the snap "I mean, I didn't see anything," Vrabel said, per Tom Carroll of Audacy. "Like, is that fake? I don’t know. Quarterbacks, when they want the ball, it’s like [clap] [clap] [clap] [clap]. I mean, I didn’t see anybody doing that. And then, like, we don’t do the clap…I can see, like, when the quarterback, like it’s the silent count, it’s like [softer claps], but I didn’t see anybody do that." The CBS broadcast of Sunday's contest didn't show a single New England player clapping before the ball was snapped for what became the intentional grounding play. As Marc Raimondi of ESPN noted, a team guilty of simulating an offense's snap count or snap is supposed to receive a 15-yard penalty. No flag was thrown before the ball left Penix's hand, and the Falcons eventually had to punt on fourth down of that late drive. From there, New England was able to run the clock out. Mike Vrabel names latest Patriots-related controversy The Patriots were previously part of "Spygate" and "Deflategate" scandals. On Monday, Vrabel named the latest alleged New England controversy. "'Clapgate,'" Vrabel added during the segment. "That was new. I didn't see that. I just know - and maybe that's a testament to our fans. You know what I mean? It got loud, and I could hear the energy, and so thank them for that. But that's a good point. I did not - I didn't see anything, and I’ll let you guys go investigate." The 7-2 Patriots next play at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2) on Nov. 9. Perhaps it's fair to wonder what New England players will and/or won't try to get away with at Raymond James Stadium during that Sunday afternoon matchup.
The 'NFL franchise TD-catch leaders' quiz
Happy 37th birthday to three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver and 2012 PFWA Most Improved Player award winner, Dez Bryant! The Oklahoma State product played in nine NFL seasons, eight of which were with the Dallas Cowboys. In his time with Big D he caught 531 passes for 7,506 yards and a franchise-record 73 touchdowns. He also served as an important bridge for Dallas in the Tony Romo-Dak Prescott transition, catching 50 passes for 796 yards and eight scores in Prescott’s 2016 rookie campaign. His time in Dallas ended with an achilles injury in 2017, but he did catch on for six games with the Baltimore Ravens in 2020 before hanging up his cleats. Which brings us to today’s quiz. How many of the players with the most receiving touchdowns for each NFL franchise can you name in five minutes? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
'SNF' takeaways: Seahawks dominate Commanders; who lose QB Jayden Daniels to serious injury
The Seattle Seahawks dominated from start to finish in a 38-14 win over the Washington Commanders, who lost star quarterback Jayden Daniels to a serious left arm injury late in the game on "Sunday Night Football." Here are four takeaways from Sunday's NFL nightcap: Sam Darnold was near-perfect in blowout win Darnold could not have started any better in Sunday's win, going a perfect 16-of-16 for 282 yards, four TDs and a 158.3 passer rating in the first half. Darnold finished 21-of-24 for 330 yards, four TDs and one interception. Two of those strikes were to rookie Tory Horton, who had four catches for 48 yards and two TDs. Jaxon Smith-Njigba put up eight receptions for 129 yards, giving him at least 100 receiving yards for the sixth time this season. It was a dominant effort all around for Seattle, but Darnold's success distributing the ball with ease showed how dangerous the Seahawks (6-2) can be when he is at the top of his game. Scary injury to Jayden Daniels compounds injury-plagued season The Commanders QB was 16-of-22 for 153 yards and one interception, with an additional 51 rush yards and a TD on the ground. However, the bigger story was a brutal left arm injury to the star signal-caller in the fourth quarter that resulted in him leaving the field in an air cast. Daniels had only played in five games this season before Week 9 due to a sprained left knee and a right hamstring injury, but returned to action on Sunday night. After his latest injury, the Commanders are staring down a lost season unless something changes quickly. Too many miscues for the Commanders A disastrous first half was too much for the Commanders to overcome on Sunday night. Aside from a late TD from Daniels before halftime, Washington punted twice, threw an interception and fumbled the ball on a kickoff return. That followed a Seattle TD on the previous drive and led to another score on the next play to make it a 21-0 lead in favor of the Seahawks. The Commanders gave up 418 yards and committed eight penalties for 87 yards. For a team coming into Week 9 with three consecutive losses and battling through key injuries already, it never gave itself a chance and only ended the night on a worse note with Daniels, who had no reason to even be in the game at that point. Seahawks defense dominates again For the seventh time in eight games this season, the Seahawks allowed 20 points or fewer and had their way once again defensively. After blanking the Commanders through the opening quarter, safety Ty Okada recorded a sensational interception when he picked off Daniels early in the second quarter. The dominance only continued as the Seahawks allowed an average of 4.7 yards per play and forced a pair of Commanders turnovers. Seattle has not gotten the recognition it deserves this season, but if it keeps putting these kinds of performances together, that will change.
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