Will The Giants Acquire Matt Holliday?

With the Oakland Athletics going nowhere in 2009 it appears that Matt Holliday's tenure there will end after less than one season. The Athletics acquired Holliday from the Colorado Rockies in the offseason for relief pitcher Huston Street.

I have a hunch that he will end up across the Bay in San Francisco and finish the season as a Giant.

The Giants are abundant in pitching but are in need of offense. Specifically, they need a right-handed power hitter and Holliday fills that bill. The Giants rank at or near the bottom of the NL in several offensive categories. They rank last in the NL in both walks (211) and on base percentage (.307). No surprise there. They are next to last in the NL in OPS (which is a combination of on base and slugging percentage) at .690, in runs scored (379) and home runs (63). In fact, Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina account for more than 40% of the Giants home runs this season.

Yet they made into the All-Star Break leading the NL Wild Card. But now they've slipped 1½ games behind the Colorado Rockies in the NL Wild Card race and they will be facing off this weekend in Denver. Wouldn't Matt Holliday love an opportunity to face his old team in a pennant race? After a slow start with Oakland, he is hitting a respectable .287 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI. The question is what are the Giants willing to give up in exchange for Holliday especially since he is a free agent at the end of 2009 and might be inclined to sign elsewhere.
Then again Holliday is 29 and in the prime of his career. If the Giants want to reach the postseason this year then this is the time and the player with whom to take a roll of the dice.

Holliday's best season came in 2007 when he nearly won the Triple Crown leading the NL in batting average and RBI during the Rockies improbable run to the NL Championship. He would finish runner up in the NL MVP balloting to Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies.