Paid $93,000 in 1975 and one of nine Oakland players refusing to sign 1976 contracts, Holtzman sought a three-year $460,000 pact. With free agency imminent after the season and the expectations of higher salaries for which Athletics owner Finley was unwilling to pay, he was traded along with Reggie Jackson and minor-league right-handed pitcher Bill Van Bommel to the Orioles for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell on April 2, 1976. Eleven weeks later in mid-June, he was traded by the Orioles with Doyle Alexander, Jimmy Freeman, Ellie Hendricks, and Grant Jackson to the New York Yankees for Rudy May, Tippy Martinez, Dave Pagan, Scott McGregor, and Rick Dempsey.