Mark Teixeira

Who do you think ends up signing Teixeira? I think the Angels and I have my reasons.

 

Did Moddy manage to vote twice?

 

I really don't know, Chris, but I'd like it to be the Angels. One thing I'm tired of is the information crawl across the bottom on ESPN saying that Teixeira is close to a decision. They've been running that for 48 hours. I don't want to see it anymore until they can tell me where he's going.

 

I think CL is dead on the money here.
That shot across the bow from John Henry today about not signing a 10-year deal with anyone changed my mind. Powder's rarely that definitive about anything.

 

The reasons behind my thinking:

- Teixeira was huge for the Angels after being traded for. In 54 games he hit a blistering .358 with an OPS of 1.081. He also hit .379 with a 1.130 OPS in 30 home games for the Angels. He clearly was comfortable hitting for the Angels.

- If the Angels fail to sign Teixeira then that means that they traded Casey Kotchman and prospect Stephen Marek for just 54 games of Teixeira. The Angels have added incentive to make sure they didn't lose Kotchman for just a rental.

- In his career Teixeira has played 19 games at Fenway Park and he has hit an anemic .194 with a lousy .637 OPS in those games. I know that screams out "SMALL SAMPLE SIZE" but you have to think that psychologically Teixeira does not have fond memories of hitting at Fenway like he does at Angels Stadium.

- The Red Sox have made it clear that they will not go to a 10-year commitment for Teixeira. What they have in effect done is tell other teams, "Hey if you want to knock us out of the running - just go the extra two years on the deal." The Red Sox don't normally comment during a negotiation unless they have a reason. Here the reason seems to be that the Red Sox are not as serious about signing Teixeira as is being made out. If the Red Sox were truly serious there would be no comment from anyone until the deal was done.

What this points to in my mind is the Angels getting Mark Teixeira signed to a mega deal that will probably be 8-years in length with 2 option years.

 

As a fan I hope he chooses the Red Sox.

I think it'll be the Angels.

 

I think he ends up in Baltimore. Angelos needs a draw and Teixeira is a local kid made good.

 

Yep. The Angels it is, methinks.

 

That's definitely true, but I've read that the O's aren't upping their initial offer, so Tex would have to take less to sign there.

 

Does it make sense for the Red Sox to even be involved in the bidding if they're not serious when, not too far down the road, they're going to have to work down from Tex's number to sign Youkilis? That's the part I don't get.

 

I hope Yanks, I think Sox.

 

The only thing I think about this is the contract he ends up signing is going to be disproportionally large to the talent he possesses.

He's a very talented player, but not as talented as the contract numbers that are being thrown out there for him.