We Are Hot Chicks Wednesday: Slavin' over the Hot Stove

Well it's that time of year again, when the Yankees shell out chunks of Fort Knox to free agents like CC Sabathia, and the Cleveland Indians acquire the Kerry Woods up from the National-League Chicagos. Orlando Hudson might be tabbing a new zip code as well, and Rafael Furcal -- the guy that gets you free lap dances if you draft him in our fantasy league -- has narrowed his desirable-teams list to four, one of which is the Kansas City Royals. I'm sure Milton Bradley's name's being thrown around a bunch, too, but whatever. And all of this, somehow, we've come to know as the hot stove of baseball's off-season. I have a vague understanding of why this terminology was selected, but as usual, I needed the assistance of some life forms that bear higher intelligence. This brings us to today, where we've procured a panel of experts. Said intelligencia, after the jump.

Hillary Fisher



Miss Fisher knows how warm it can get around the stoves, what with checks being signed at scorching velocities, so she keeps things cool in the wardrobe department.

Michelle Panzarella



Michelle thinks the theory derived from the notion that these signings often happen in pairs, like two electric burners nestled side by side.



She's impressed with the holding out of the now-richest starter in baseball history,



and is glad he bent the Steinbrenners over.



She's also holding out for the all-powerful, New York-style Rod of K, whatever that is.

Mina Morgan



Miss Morgan knows that free agents are fickle.



She expects them to waffle one day,



and return to their previous form the next.

Evelyn Lory



Evelyn suggests that all owners watch their backs,

Jana Cova



while Miss Cova prefers to face the negotiations head on.

Jessica Jey



The lovely Double J likes to harness a griddle over the burners of said talks.



With such an implement in place, she can keep her lazy eye on potential shenanigans,



semi-watchful for any slips or slides.

Kate Jones



Kate just puts the goods on the table, take them or leave them.

Katie Fey



Miss Fey, on the other hand, finds the trade talks tiring,



troubled to think of anything she'd like to be a part of less.

Nicole Violet Albright



Nicole keeps the items atop her stove at a simmer,



confident that such a decision exudes a sense of welcome,



a back-door-friends-are-best sort of mentality seldom found anymore.

Veronika Fasterova



And Veronika? She doesn't deal with any of the fluff; If an agent wants to put something past her, it'll have to be slid through on the down low.

That's your stove top for today. Thanks to the Masks and the Niners for keepin' us in the trade loop.
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Holliday Interest

We try to refrain from open civil war here at the House of Georges. While we often vehemently disagree with one another over a given topic, every effort is made to keep our debate polite and mature. Because as everyone knows, we are nothing but polite and mature.

And so, in the interest of respectful, erudite sports discussion, I must take mild exception to the piece penned by Cecil earlier in the week covering the trade of Matt Holliday. It's not that I disagree with his assertions that the Rockies are incompetently run (they certainly are) or that Colorado received less than full value for Holliday (they did) or that Scott Boras is a slimebag who ruins baseball teams (he certainly is). It's just that, well, there's more to this trade than that.

Join with us, dear reader, for some of what Sarah Palin calls that "inside baseball stuff."

First off, although Oakland GM Billy Beane came out the clear winner in this deal, there are some positive things for Rockies fans to focus on going forward. Greg Smith is a legitimate big-league lefty starter who should evolve into a No. 3 type, a poor man's Jeff Francis. Huston Street, while injury-prone and not as overpowering as you might like a closer to be, is a name-brand reliever with value. His pitching style is not the best fit for Coors Field, so he'll most likely be dealt, but that eventual swap could net a top prospect.

The key to the deal, in my eyes, is Carlos Gonzalez, who was the centerpiece of the package Oakland received from Arizona for Dan Haren a year ago. He's a legitimate five-tool guy and a significant upgrade from Holliday--who's not a graceful outfielder--in the field. It's possible that he could eventually put up comparable plate numbers to Holliday with the deep power alleys and flat sliders that Coors Field provides.

It's also possible, of course, that he could suck balls, and that Greg Smith could be horrible and Huston Street could blow out his elbow in Spring Training. All while Matt Holliday wins AL MVP in Oakland and leads the A's to a division title. There's certainly risk involved, and the Rox could have definitely squeezed more out of the Holliday situation than they did.

My personal preference would have been to let Holliday and Boras go to free agency and make them a respectable but not bank-breaking offer. The left-fielder and his agent would have refused, allowing Colorado to come off as righteous while painting Holliday and Boras as greedy. More importantly, the team would pick up two first-round picks once Holliday inked a long-term contract elsewhere, and even Dan O'Dowd can turn a haul like that into big-time help down the road.

But that would have meant paying Holliday his one-year, eight-figure tender this season, an option that became more loathsome to the Rockies every day. You may have noticed that we're adrift in some pretty fucked economic waters. Folks are looking for ways to trim spending, ways like not buying sports tickets and catching the game on the tube instead. Hell, the Yankees can't even sell out all the suites in their new stadium, and the Red Sox have frozen ticket prices. If those teams are feeling the pinch, how do the Rockies--arguably dead last in fan demand among Denver's four big pro teams--feel about revenue expectations?

Gonzalez, Smith and the chips acquired via Street all share one quality--they're cheap. We all hate teams that act first and foremost out of financial self-interest, but ask yourself: How many Rockies games did you attend last year? For me, it was one. That makes 2008 yet another year in which I attended more games at Invesco than I did at Coors, even though the latter are cheaper and ten times more prevalent than the former. Until a legitimate baseball tradition is established in Denver, these money decisions will tend to go this way.

Rockies fans, watch what Billy Beane does now with Holliday. He'll hold him as long as he needs to, then either trade him or let him walk, either way netting future stars. As inevitable as this week's trade was, it's a source of legitimate frustration to see a superstar slugger vacate and see so little frontline pitching come back. The Rockies always hit, and even if they trade Garrett Atkins before March they'll hit in '09. What they can't do is either develop ace starting pitching or convince an established ace to sign here. Until this is fixed all the Matt Hollidays in the world won't make this franchise a consistent winner.
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