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A major league ball club signs an all-star free agent. An NBA team recruits a big-name basketball coach. You really cant be sure how theyll perform.

The ballplayer could become an MVP or a bust. The coach could lead his team to the finals or be a bad fit. But odds are it was a good move.

Thats how to look at the Democratic-controlled Legislatures surprise signing last week of former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder to help it fight off the looming Trump administration and save many of Californias liberal public programs.

Holder certainly has Washington savvy and national gravitas. He knows his way around the Beltway.

Except for Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), a 12-term congressman chosen by Gov. Jerry Brown to replace new U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as state attorney general, Sacramento conspicuously lacks Holders knowledge of federal lawmaking and dealing.

Sacramento isnt a small Washington, after all. Its a big Carson City.

That said, does Holder understand California politics and public policy very well? Probably not. And it probably doesnt matter.

A law firm colleague of his, former Los Angeles congressman and state legislator Howard Berman, is a longtime master of California and Washington politics.

Will Holder really hustle for his new Sacramento team? Well find out.

But for now, his signing by state Senate leader Kevin de Len (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) seems smart.

It helps protect California public policy enacted by both Democrat Brown and his Republican predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Its a crisp political message: Californias no pushover for Donald Trump. And its good national PR, at least in blue states. State politicians love national attention.

Republicans immediately reacted with knee-jerk, predictable whining about wasteful spending.

Democrats should focus on solving real-world problems instead of wasting taxpayer money to score political points before the president-elect even takes office, declared Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes of Yucca Valley.

Fair enough. But that off-the-shelf wasting taxpayer money bit cheapens his argument.

My favorite came from veteran state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber): How can the state afford to pay for an out-of-state overpriced lawyer when we could be using those funds to help the poor and those in need?

Guess Ive missed all those Republican efforts to help the needy. Please.

The Legislatures three-month contract with Holder, Berman and a covey of attorneys from the Covington & Burling firm is for $75,000 plus expenses. Thats good for up to 40 billable hours per month. Do the math: Its $625 an hour high by most peoples standards, but a bargain compared with what many high-powered law firms charge.

If the three-month tryout works, theyll negotiate an extension.

Their normal rate is $1,700 per hour, says Dan Reeves, De Lens chief of staff. Were not paying that.

To put the $75,000 in perspective, the Legislatures annual budget is around $300 million.

Updates from Sacramento

Any lawmaker really worried about overspending could cut back on the introduction of frivolous bills. It costs roughly $20,000 an old estimate to run a bill through the Legislature. Last year, 1,059 were sent to the governor. He vetoed 159 and 900 became law. Obviously, were all much better off.

Or legislators could trim their generous expense allowance, their per diem. Its $176 per day, seven days a week while the Legislature is in session, whether members are in Sacramento or not.

But why, Republicans ask, should Democrats pay for any private counsel when theres a state attorney general to handle state legal work?

Heres a civics refresher: The Legislature and the attorney general arent one and the same. They constitute different branches of government, a separation of powers. The attorney general doesnt answer to the Legislature.

Legislative leaders want their own astute lawyer at their beck and call not to sue the Trump administration, but to advise whats legal and whats not.

Can a President Trump cut off federal funds to California sanctuary cities that shield undocumented immigrants from federal deportation? Can a Republican president and Congress gut Californias landmark environmental protections and climate change programs?

What can California do besides spending an extra $20 billion, a political impossibility to save Obamacare, which covers 6.5 million Californians?

Thats not a trumped up number, De Len says.

Can the U.S. labor department eviscerate De Lens recently passed act to provide a retirement plan for low-income, self-employed people?

Trump is a huge threat to California laws, quite honestly, Rendon says. I think hes a threat to democracy, someone who doesnt care much for checks and balances.

And face it, Becerra, although first-rate, hasnt practiced law in more than a quarter-century.

Moreover, he hasnt even publicly committed to seeking election to a full four-year term in 2018. Hes leaving some wiggle room, presumably to possibly run for governor or the U.S. Senate if Dianne Feinstein retires.

Thats making some legislators nervous. And Becerra is sure to be pressed on it when the Assembly holds his first confirmation hearing Tuesday.

He cant show up for a year and just use the office as a springboard for his own political ambitions, one influential Democratic senator told me, requesting anonymity.

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Eric Holder could be California's MVP, or he could be a bust ...