"When outfielder Matt Holliday declined the Colorado Rockies offer of a four-year, $72-million extension a few years ago, he set in motion a domino rally that, last week, brought him to a coffee shop in West County to talk about his briefly nomadic career.

Since leaving his house in Denver at the end of the 2008 season, Holliday and his family have set up camp in the following areas: Orange County for an offseason, Austin for a moment, Arizona for spring training, Oakland for half a season, St. Louis for two months, Austin for an offseason, Florida for spring training, a new home in St. Louis, and then back to Austin for a few months.

For him, relief was settling into one address, which he discussed in a sorty for this morning's Post-Dispatch.

Like they once did to Holliday, the Rockies have spent this winter making extension overtures to its next generation of young stars: shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, the latter coming to Colorado in the Holliday deal with Oakland. On Tuesday, Gonzalez met with the media in Denver after finalizing his seven-year, $80-million deal with the club. Earlier this winter, the Rockies signed Tulowitzki to a seven-year, $134.5-million extension.

During the interview with Holliday for today's story, I asked him if he watched the Rockies lock-in their two stars with a sense of wonder, a sense of what-if, or even a moment of could-have-been-me.

"Out of general baseball interest," Holliday said. "I'm happy for Tulo. He's somebody who I think a lot of. I don't know Carlos Gonzalez as a person. ... Most of my friends have been weeded-out (in Colorado).

"It's a learning experience," Holliday continued, taking the conversation to the larger question of what rejecting the Rockies' offer meant for his career. "I learned a lot about the business aspect of baseball. I think people's true colors come through. I think you realize the business aspect of it can be ugly and unfriendly. You don't know how manipulative things can turn out. You see how they use things. Ultimately I ended up in a great baseball city in a great situation with an organization that has history and has a chance to win every year. All these things I was looking for -- Midwest city that Leslee and I are very comfortable in. All of the things that when you sit down and envision what you want if you ever get a chance to pick where you go, and what you're looking for."