A's go Holliday shopping

Longoria, Soto presented with rookie awards

According to reports, Matt Holliday is headed from Colorado to Oakland in a four-player deal. (Barry Chin/File/The Boston Globe)

On a day when there was a predictable outcome to the American League and National League Rookie of the Year voting - Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria and Chicago's Geovany Soto won - the unpredictable Oakland A's apparently made a blockbuster deal with Colorado, acquiring slugger Matt Holliday in what is believed to be a four-player deal in which closer Huston Street might go to the Rockies.

As of last night, neither side was confirming the deal since it involved the completion of physicals, and it wasn't 100 percent that Street was included, though he had recently been dangled to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ryan Ludwick.

Last week, we caught word that the A's had money to spend, so it wasn't surprising that general manager Billy Beane and assistant GM David Forst were about to get involved in something big.

We guessed Manny Ramírez or maybe Mark Teixeira, but it was an even more intriguing prize in Holliday, the coming-into-his-prime slugger who recently rejected a five-year, $84 million offer from the Rockies.

We've often thought Holliday would be as devastating a hitter at Fenway Park as he is at Coors Field, but now the expanse of the Oakland Coliseum may dig into his numbers. The A's need to put people in the seats, and Holliday could be that draw.

The A's reportedly also had to give the Rockies exciting young outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and pitcher Greg Smith, both of whom were told yesterday to head to Denver to have physicals today.

The Rockies are slicing payroll, which is why closer Brian Fuentes probably won't be re-signed. If Street is involved in this deal, major league sources are saying, he could be flipped to a team such as Cleveland, Detroit, or the Mets, who are in dire need of a closer.

Where did the A's get this money?

Don't forget they whittled payroll last season by selling off Rich Harden, Joe Blanton, and Nick Swisher. At that time, Beane said he wasn't necessarily looking to move Street, and they rejected many offers for him. Then submariner Brad Ziegler came along and looked like a pretty good option in case they changed their minds. Street's name was in trade discussions during last week's general managers meetings.

Holliday hit .321 with 25 homers and 88 RBIs in 139 games last season. His career home/road splits are dramatic: .357 with 84 homers, 307 RBIs, a .423 on base percentage at Coors Field; .280 with 44 homers, 175 RBIs, and a .348 on base percentage on the road.

Meanwhile, Longoria became the first player since fellow St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) High grad Nomar Garciaparra in 1997 to win unanimous selection (28 votes) as AL Rookie of the Year.

"I met Nomar a couple of offseasons ago when he and Mia Hamm came to our school to give a soccer clinic," Longoria said. "We had a lengthy conversation then. When I was in high school, he posed for a photo with our baseball team, but I didn't speak to him then."

Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury finished a distant third in the voting, behind Longoria and White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez.

Longoria, who credited his 2005 Cape Cod League MVP season as the turning point of his career, hit .272 with 27 homers and 85 RBIs despite playing in just 122 games because he broke his right wrist Aug. 7 and missed five weeks. He also struck out 122 times. After hitting four homers against the Red Sox in the AL Championship Series, Longoria, the former Long Beach State star, had a dreadful World Series, going 1 for 20 with nine strikeouts as the Rays lost to the Phillies in five games.

"I knew I didn't play very well; everybody who watched the World Series knew that," he said. "Just being able to play in that situation, win or lose, I was going to have fun. If things happened to turn around, I would have loved to have played well and helped the team. It didn't happen that way."

Longoria is now in the vacation part of his offseason, though he'll likely be hitting the banquet circuit, having already received invitations to the Boston and New York baseball writers' dinners.

"Right now, I'm just trying to take my mind off the field a little bit," he said. "My one main goal is to get myself physically ready to play 162 games. This year my injury wasn't something I could have prevented, but I just feel if I can play every day, I can produce similar numbers to what I did this year."

Soto received 31 of 32 first-place votes (Cincinnati's Joey Votto got the other), becoming the first catcher to win the NL award since Mike Piazza for the Dodgers in 1993.

In a sport that's short of good, young catching, Soto, 25, stood out, hitting .285 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs while also doing a creditable job with the Cubs' pitching staff.

"I'm just so honored," said Soto. "I worked hard and I listened to some very smart people. Henry Blanco [the Cubs backup catcher] was so supportive of me, he was always there to answer questions about calling the game or situations. He helped me throwing out runners. I owe a lot to him."

Soto, an 11th-round choice in the 2001 draft, said he didn't want to put extra pressure on himself by thinking about the award, though teammates kept pointing out that he was a favorite for it.

"It was very emotional," said Soto. "I feel very special. It's a good moment in my life."

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.