A's complete trade for Rockies star outfielder Holliday

Beane said he's still focused on boosting the A's farm system from the bottom on up, and acquiring talented prospects only helps to pull off deals like this one. He's unsure whether Oakland will be able to keep Holliday long-term.

"I'm not Pollyannaish enough to believe you acquire one player and go from 75 to 95 wins," Beane said. "We'll focus on the whole year. Matt's a premium player. I guess we'll sort of cross that bridge when we get to it."

Geren spoke to Holliday by phone just after the deal became official.

"He is going to help us tremendously," Geren said. "We all know the kind of talent he has with his numbers, but I talked to him and you can tell the kind of person he is. It's a great fit."

New A's third-base coach Mike Gallego came from the Rockies and has thrown batting practice to Holliday the past three seasons -- so that's a positive for Holliday.

Oakland reached the AL Championship Series in 2006 before being swept by Detroit. This season, it finished with its worst record (75-86) since going 74-88 in 1998. The A's lost 44 of their last 68 games after being just four games out of first place on July 11.

Oakland was last in the major leagues with a .242 batting average and last in the AL with 646 runs. The A's also used eight starters in left field, so Holliday provides stability in that spot.

"First of all, we needed to upgrade our offense. That was obvious," Beane said. "Matt fills a much-needed spot in the order."

Holliday joins a roster featuring six-time Gold Glove third baseman Eric Chavez, who is expected to come back healthy from shoulder surgery. The team recently re-signed second baseman Mark Ellis and shortstop Bobby Crosby. Cust batted .231 with a team-leading 33 home runs and 77 RBI while drawing 111 walks in 2008.

"It's caused a lot of attention around these parts, the fact we got a big guy the Yankees wanted and a lot of other teams wanted," Cust said, speaking by phone from New Jersey.

"The last couple years we've had a lot of injuries and a lot of guys not doing as well as they'd like," he added. "They say hitting is contagious and I believe that. Once you get guys rolling and get the pitcher worrying about a few guys, they've got to really bear down in the middle of the lineup. I played with Matt in Colorado. We were in the minor leagues together and now we'll be in the big leagues together, so it's come full circle."

The 24-year-old Smith had elbow surgery last month. He went 7-16 with a 4.16 ERA in 32 starts and 190 2-3 innings during his first major league season.

The 25-year-old Street was demoted from his closer role last season and finished 7-5 with a 3.73 ERA and 18 saves in 25 chances. He joins a bullpen that includes Manny Corpas but is expected to lose closer Brian Fuentes in free agency. Street can become a free agent after the 2010 season.

Like Smith, the 23-year-old Gonzalez just finished his first big league season. He hit .242 with four homers and 26 RBIs in 302 at-bats.

Smith and Gonzalez, considered a top prospect, both came to the A's last offseason in the blockbuster trade that sent ace Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Also Wednesday, the A's claimed infielder Yung Chi Chen off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. He played last season at Triple-A Tacoma, batting .249 with three homers and 25 RBI in 69 games but was placed on the disabled list June 26 with torn meniscus in his right knee and sat out the rest of the year.