Colorado Rockies sign Matt Holliday to a minor league deal

In a bit of a surprising move, Thomas Harding of MLB.com and Jon Heyman of Fancred are reporting that the Colorado Rockies will sign outfielder and former Rockie Matt Holliday to a minor league deal, pending a physical.

Thomas Harding of MLB.com recently reported that the Colorado Rockies and Matt Holliday coming together to sign a minor league contract was a “distinct possibility.”

Jon Heyman reported a few moments later that the deal was done.

As Heyman also noted, Holliday was a big reason in why the Rockies made it to their first (and thus far, only) World Series appearances in 2007.

Holliday spent the first five years of his career of his career with the Rockies from 2004 through 2008. He was also drafted by the Rockies in the 7th round of the 1998 draft right out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma.

Here’s a look at his stats as a Rockie.

Holliday has not played at all in 2018 as he last played for the New York Yankees last season. For the Yankees, he played in 105 games and had 18 doubles, 19 home runs, 64 RBI, with a .231/.316/.432 slash line and a 95 OPS+, which is the only time in his major league career that he has been under 100.

This year, he has actually filled in a few times on Sirius XM’s MLB Network Radio a few times as a co-host/analyst.

As Thomas Harding later noted in a tweet, this move seems to be like the Ryan Howard signing from last year.

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Holliday, who will turn 39 in January, could possibly have some juice left in the tank to help the Rockies off the bench down the stretch or in the postseason.

Currently, the Rockies have 13 pitchers and 3 catchers on their roster so if the roster makeup changes up a bit to a more tradition 12 pitchers and 2 catchers soon (like many fans have expressed that they have wanted), there’s a possibility that Holliday could find himself on the roster as a backup outfielder.

He would also provide the Rockies with a veteran with extensive playoff experience as he has played in 73 postseason games between his time with the Rockies, Cardinals, and Yankees.

Overall, he is another low risk signing for the Rockies for some depth. He probably won’t bring the highest reward considering the point that he’s at in his career but at worst, he can officially retire as a Rockie and at best, he can help them out in their stretch to provide fans what Holliday and company did 11 years ago.