Are The Rockies Better Off With Wade Davis Than Greg Holland As Their Closer?

I find it fascinating that Wade Davis has essentially replaced Greg Holland as the closer for the Colorado Rockies after Davis signed a three year, $52 million contract with the Denver based team. The deal makes Davis the highest paid closer in MLB history.

Of course what is so fascinating about this development is because Davis and Holland were two-thirds of one of the best bullpen triumvirates in MLB history with the Kansas City Royals. Without Davis, Holland and Kelvin Herrera, the Royals would not have won back to back AL pennants in 2014 and 2015 and the 2015 World Series which was the team's first championship in 30 years. If the Royals led the game after six innings in those two seasons they were going to win the game 99% of the time with Herrera pitching the seventh, Davis pitching the eighth and Holland closing the game in the ninth.

Now it must be remembered that Holland tore his UCL late in the 2015 season requiring Tommy John surgery which meant Davis became the closer that post-season and into 2016. The Royals subsequently released Holland, but then would also trade Davis in the last off-season to the Chicago Cubs in a deal which brought outfielder Jorge Soler to Kansas City. Meanwhile, Holland signed a one year deal with the Rockies.

Both Davis and Holland had great seasons in 2017 and helped their clubs get to the post-season. Davis appeared in 59 games and over 58.2 innings pitched he struck out 79 batters while walking 28 earning 32 saves. Holland appeared in 61 games and over 57.1 innings pitched he struck out 70 batters while walking 26 earning 41 saves which tied him for the NL lead with Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers. I'm sure no one was surprised at Davis' performance in 2017, but few could have expected such a big rebound for Holland. To boot, Holland was part of a Rockies team which made the post-season for the first time since 2009.

It's true that Davis had a better won loss record and ERA than Holland (4-2 2.30 vs. 3-6 3.61). But let's keep in mind that Holland had to pitch much of his games at Coors Field. I suspect that Davis' ERA will elevate as he moves west.

Holland had a player option for 2018 which would have saw him make $15 million, but he elected to become a free agent. As it stands now, Davis will earn $17.3 million a year over the life of his contract. I'm not sure why the Rockies were't prepared to offer Holland the sort of  money they offered Davis. Both men are 32 and, in fact, Holland is younger by a couple of months. The only reason I can think of is that they fear a second Tommy John for Holland. But I think all pitchers are a pitch away from tearing their UCL.

So are the Rockies better off with Davis than Holland as their closer? This, in part, will depend on where Holland ends up signing. As of this moment, the two most likely destinations are with the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals. To me, the Cardinals are the more logical destination. After all, the Nats already have an embarrassment of riches in this area with Ryan Madson, Brandon Kintzler and Sean Doolittle as their bullpen triumvirate. If Mike Rizzo isn't satisfied with this then I don't see how adding Holland to mix will help matters. I think Holland would be a very nice fit at Busch Stadium.

Could you imagine a 2018 NLCS between the Rockies and Cardinals with Davis and Holland as those team's respective closers? I certainly could.