Colorado Rockies sign All-Star closer

The Colorado Rockies have signed relief pitcher Greg Holland, a source is telling BSN Denver. The contract is a one-year deal with a vesting option.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports is reporting the deal is for “one year, $7M guaranteed. Non-closing incentives take it to $10M. Could get $14M as closer.”

We have also come to learn that Holland was offered deals from multiple teams, including postseason regulars, the Washington Nationals.  His agent, Scott Boras, claims that “well more than half the teams in baseball” inquired about the former Kansas City Royals closer and two-time All-Star. But however many teams were interested in Holland, he chose Colorado over all of them. Pitchers who want to pitch in Colorado are a rare commodity in and of themselves.

We first reported on the Rockies interest in Holland back in late December, noting:

The 31-year-old has spent each of his five years in MLB with the Kansas City Royals, posting a 2.42 ERA over 319.2 innings. He had Tommy John surgery in August of 2015 and missed the entire 2016 season. Before that, he had pitched over 65 innings each of the last two seasons. Holland’s advanced statistics (xFIP, RE24) go right along with his ERA in suggesting he has been both incredibly consistent and remarkably clutch. He also has a career 12.11 K/9 rate and 3.52/9 walk rate.

His 95.5 average mph fastball and wicked slider kept him at the back end of the Royals ‘pen working as both a closer and setup man, accumulating 145 Saves in his career. If signed, he would be the Rockies leader, by far, in that category. He has the talent and the pedigree to be as good as any of the relief pitchers who have been signed in free agency this offseason.

Holland will be rejoining pitching coach Steve Foster, with whom he achieved his highest levels of success in Kansas City.

The money in this deal means that instead of committing $62 million over four years on one late-inning reliever (Mark Melancon) the Rockies opted instead to bring in two late-inning relievers (Mike Dunn, Holland), one a lefty, at $40M over the next three years with an options for more if the deals work out in the club’s favor.

The Rockies have spread out both the risk and the reward and while it’s easy to see any number of scenarios in which this move is another forgotten overpay to a veteran reliever, guys with career 2.42 ERAs don’t exactly grow on trees.

Concerns have been raised over Holland’s lackluster showcase, in which he failed to display his signature fastball velocity, normally 94-96 mph, the right-hander sat instead around 89-91 mph. But if Holland can return to the pitcher he was in Kansas City — or even just something close to it — this move goes a long way toward helping the Rockies push for the 2017 postseason.

The worst case scenario for Colorado is that Holland becomes the pitching version of Gerardo Parra; a sunk cost, but not a crippling one. The best case scenario is that the Rockies have just added one of the best relievers in baseball to a suddenly very high-ceiling bullpen that desperately needed attention.

The Rockies will certainly have egg on their face if Melancon is the real deal in San Francisco while Holland and Dunn become the new Jason Motte and Chad Qualls. But such an eventuality would still set Colorado back less than the larger investment in the single player not working out.

Holland immediately factors in to the back end of the Rockies bullpen and may even challenge Adam Ottavino for the closer role, though the normal recovery tables for Tommy John suggest he won’t be back to fill strength until after the first month of the season. As long as Ottavino stays healthy and effective, it’s his job but it must be noted that in addition to coming in with a team-high in Saves by a lot, Holland also brings postseason and World Series experience.

We can’t say for sure that this move pushes the Rockies anywhere, let alone over the top, but it is safe to bet that if the Rockies do surprise the national pundits (and plenty local ones, too) in 2017, Greg Holland will be right in the middle of it.