Offseason Rumblings and Grumblings: Nov 11th

Yesterday was an unusually busy day in baseball, with some big names being shipped out of town, and a face of a franchise being let go.

Oakland and Colorado agreed in principle to trade Matt Holliday (.321, 25HR, 88RBI) for A's starter Greg Smith (7-16, 4.16 era), closer Huston Street, and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.

Holliday moving to Oakland is a Fantasy Baseball owner's worst nightmare; shifting from hitter friendly Coors Field to a pitcher's dream in Oakland. ESPN.com projected Holliday's stats, based on the change in venue:

Category In Colorado In Oakland
Avg. .321 .311
HR 25 24
RBI 88 75
OPS .947 .921

The Washington Nationals acquired catcher Josh Willingham and left handed starter Scott Olsen from Florida in exchange for Emilio Bonifacio and two minor leaguers.

The traded begs to ask the question "How much did Florida cut off in payroll with this move?"

Acquiring Bonifacio might indicate that Dan Ulga just became available to teams interested in trading for him.

Finally, San Diego withdrew their contract offer to longtime franchise face Trevor Hoffman, all but severering ties with their old closer. They were believed to had offered Hoffman $4 million (Hoffman earned $7 million last season).

Now with Hoffman on the market, the closer free agent pool gets a little deeper this offseason. The All-Time leader in saves will join Fransisco Rodriquez and Brian Fuentes in the search for a new team.