The long No. 5 jersey hanging in the small spring training locker is now green and gold instead of black and purple.

"Sweet uniforms," Matt Holliday said Monday, asked for his sartorial verdict. "There's probably not one uniform in the league I'd complain about."

For a player who spent his entire professional career - more than a decade's worth - in the Rockies organization, the cord has finally been cut.

As in most divorces, there is disappointment and hurt on both sides. Holliday does not try to hide his.

When I asked if he had anything to say to his many Colorado fans, this was his reply:

"Obviously, I'm very grateful for the way they treated me. I think as a family we were, I'll say a little bit heartbroken that we had to leave Colorado.

"If I'm not going to play there, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to live there in the offseason, just because of the weather.

"I have a lot of admiration for the people of Colorado, the way they treated us. A lot of my friends live there; not just baseball people, people we met at our church. So it's hard when you've been somewhere and you're comfortable and you're treated so well, to try to move along and do something else. But it's part of the game; it's part of the business. But I'm very grateful for the way we were treated in Colorado."

Holliday made a lot of memories during his five seasons with the Rockies. The longest game ever played to determine a baseball playoff berth, the night of Oct. 1, 2007, was as memorable as any sporting event I've covered. It ended with Holliday lying on the ground at home plate, dazed and bloodied, having scored the winning run. Or not.

It was the beginning of a legend, now cut short - at least, for Colorado.

Why did it have to end? I'm still not sure. So I asked him this:

"What would you say to a fan who says, '$72 million for four years is a lot. That should be enough.' ?"

"I would say I agree with them, that that is a lot of money," Holliday replied evenly.

"But I think people have to, before they make a judgment on somebody, you have to walk in their shoes.

"For me, it's about stability with my family, and it's not moneywise. I want to live in a place where we can put my son in school for six, seven, eight years and not have to worry about taking him out of school if we get traded or moved. Four years with no no-trade clause was not necessarily that situation.

"And when it was put on the table, it was non-negotiable, 48 hours to make a decision. That just wasn't something that I was ready to do."

I mentioned that I had it on pretty good authority the Rocks would have given him a four-year no-trade clause - which would have gotten him to the 5-and-10 player's no-trade protection - if it would have sealed the deal.

"He said it was non-negotiable," Holliday said of Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd. The emotion came back into his face. Then he shook his head. "I don't want to get into it. What's happened, happened."

The one part of the breakup the two sides will never agree about was Holliday's decision to hire Scott Boras as his agent. From the Rocks' point of view, it was tantamount to a declaration of free agency. They were determined not to be manipulated into negotiating against themselves, a favorite Boras tactic.

Although many observers considered a trade inevitable once Holliday turned down the Rocks' offer last spring, he said he did not.

"I thought there might be some more conversation about an extension, but you never know what's going to happen," he said. "Honestly, at the end of last year, I didn't know. But I wasn't sure I was going to be traded."

Was he disappointed the Rocks did not come at him again?

"Disappointed? I was a little bit surprised, but I wouldn't say I was disappointed," he replied. "I didn't have a ton of expectation of what would happen, but I was a little surprised that there wasn't at least another effort. But that's the way it goes."

Oakland, with financial limits similar to Colorado's, is not expected to sign him long-term either, meaning he'll probably be looking at another new jersey this time next year, if not before. I asked if the continuing uncertainty wears on him.

"No, I think it's part of the deal," he said. "It's part of the job. Obviously, there's a lot of positives of being a baseball player and there's going to be a few negatives. And the uncertainty and moving your family around is definitely part of the negatives to it, but I wouldn't trade this job for the world."

Holliday admitted the A's were not the first team that came to mind when he thought of possible trading partners for the Rockies. Oakland general manager Billy Beane is known for trading established veterans for prospects.

"I didn't know that they would be interested in a guy that's one year away from free agency and making quite a bit of money," Holliday said.

"I was a little surprised, but I was kind of excited at the same time. Billy's got a long history of putting successful teams on the field, so after the initial little bit of sadness of leaving your teammates and your friends and the fact that I'm going to have to move my family and some of those things, the excitement set in."

His new teammates were a little surprised, too.

"That's not something that we're accustomed to doing, especially trading pretty good, young prospects," said third baseman Eric Chavez. "But it was definitely a pleasant surprise."

Holliday will rent, not own, in Oakland, but he will move his family there.

"That's one of the most important things in the world to me is my family and being around them, so we'll rent a house in the Bay Area and they'll be with me every step of the way," he said.

After hearing his numbers discounted because of his home park for the past five years, he's eager to prove he can hit somewhere else, too.

"I'm kind of excited just to go and play in a different stadium and see what I can do," he said. "I get a lot of the Coors Field stuff, so I think it's going to be a fun challenge to go and play in what's called a pitcher's park and see how it is."

His new manager, Bob Geren, has watched him take batting practice the last couple of days and has no doubt.

"The ball just keeps going off his bat," Geren said. "He hits line drives and you kind of look out in the outfield about where it starts to land and it just keeps going. He hits through the ball.

"It's not all Coors Field. He's just a big, strong, athletic guy that has a good swing. He's going to hit the ball a little harder and little farther than the average player, no matter where he plays."

Holliday remains close to a lot of his former teammates. When Josh Fogg signed to rejoin the Rocks as a free agent this year, Holliday texted him to say he was a year too late.

I asked about his former team's chances without him.

"I think Jeff's health obviously is important," he said, referring to Francis and his sore left shoulder.

"But there's a lot of very talented guys over there. I'm excited to see what 'Spilly' does with his opportunity. Hopefully, he gets a chance to play every day, and I'm excited for his chances.

"I think 'Tulo' will bounce back and have a great year. I think Todd's going to have a great season and I think Garrett is going to have a big-time season as well. And Chris Iannetta's on his way up, he had a great second half. They got a lot of talent. Pitching will be key, but if Jeff's healthy, they should be pretty good, I would think."

In order, that would be Ryan Spilborghs, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins. The crew that went to the World Series together will always be on a first name basis, even now that the cord's been cut.

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