Who Gets Teixeira?

The Royals offered Torii Hunter five years and $70 million last offseason, only to have the Angels offer five years and $90 million at the last second. If the Royals feel a player's worth it, they will pony up. They shouldn't be mentioned in the same post as the Pirates anymore.

 

The Mets have the contracts of Pedro Martinez, El Duque and Oliver Perez coming off the books, and a club option on Delgado's. I think Minaya will use that coin on Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia.

 

FWIW - A-Rod and Giambi haven't proven to be the keys to a championship either but that hasn't kept the Yankees from opening the vaults for them.

 

Agreed. The Royals probably aren't going to be able to compete if one of the big boys decides to go all out in the bidding, but they are definitely trying. The Pirates gave up trying a long time ago.

 

He's not staying. Boras' ego won't let him. This negotiation will be about Boras - as he thinks it should always be - and Atlanta is not going to pony up the bucks after someone else makes a ridiculous offer.

 

Fixed

 

Exactly. I think the Braves decided years ago that negotiating with Boras wasn't, shall we say, a viable part of their business model.

 

Seattle will be in the bidding, because Bavasi always fulfills his role as the agent's pressure point. The Mariners seem to be second in every signing ... driving up the bidding when they probably were never in the chase. Then again, Bavasi will probably be consulting for some other team in the next FA cycle, so who knows.

I bring no real baseball knowledge to the table, so here's a question for those who do and for those who think Sabathia will get paid in an unprecedented way ... will the Barry Zito Debacle finally scare teams away from making long-term commitments to pitchers? Thanks ... I'll take your comments off the air.

 

Zito and Sabathia are two different types of pitcher. Sabathia is a more of a thrower and Zito more of a finesse pitcher. It will be Sabathia's weight if anything that will scare off suitors. However, he's really it as far as available aces in free agency so he will get between Zito and Santana money. My guess is that he stays with the Indians.

 

Zito had shown signs of decline before he got that big deal with the Giants.

Sabathia had a rough start this season, but he has rebounded nicely. If he finishes 2008 strong, the big money will be there.

 

Don't you guys worry about Zito. He'll be just fine.

 

The Rangers disagree.