Red Sox pull the plug on Teixeira
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Dec 19, 2008 
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After meeting with Scott Boras this evening in Dallas, Red Sox owner John Henry issued this e-mail:
“We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him. After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor.”
That leaves the Angels, Orioles and Nationals. I’ll stick with my prediction of a month ago and say he signs with the Angels.
But … Teixeira is a Boras True Believer. Like A-Rod, he’ll follow the money if that is what he is told to do. So you can’t discount the East Coast teams if they are willing to come up with the scratch.
I really hope this is true.
And Pete….you never take a break!
Pete, no chance of Cash-Man working under the radar and stealing Tex? Like a scene out of the “Godfather” the Yanks introduce their 2 new pitchers while working behind the scenes to sign that big bat…….
So is a mass e-mail the nail in the coffin? Or is this part of the “process”?
i would love a jose contreras type situation all over again, but i dont think its in the cards for the yanks.
the player, the time, the position, it all makes sense, but for some reason the yanks are stating that they all of a sudden have limitations.
we shall see my friends, we shall see.
Prediction -
The Devil Rays tried to steal the thunder from both the Yankees and Sox, and they put in the high bid for Teixeria.
Now is our chance; outbid the Angels and I think we can get him. He won’t want to play for a losing team imo. We only have one chance to catch the Angels sleeping though so let’s move ASAP
only an idiot would think Teixeria would only want to play for the Yanks, and he’s talking to Cashman now…..well, let me be that idiot right now.
mel,
Until they actually retract the offer and say they are done perusing him… they are still in play.
AJ Burnett lives in Maryland, just like Teixeria
Maybe an orchestrated recruiting with Cashman and Burnett tonight?
I won’t believe that the Sox are out of it until Texiera signs with another team.
Embarrassing that Randy Levine is our public speaker.
mel,
when in doubt guess cashman’s favorite word.
I wonder who cuts Randy Levines hair
As CB said, the Yankees are NOT in this bidding. Absolutely no way Henry would concede the player he wants/needs to the Yankees.
It has to be a team like the Nationals or Orioles and it had to be an exorbitant amount of money they were offering… like $40 million more than the Red Sox offer.
CashMoney being the stealth ninja that he is…i think we have a shoot at Teix.
For anyone looking for a break in the Tex sweepstakes…
ESPN video about Bernie Williams. GreenBeret brought it up earlier… good stuff.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broa.....8;n8pe6c=2
Fran
December 19th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I won’t believe that the Sox are out of it until Texiera signs with another team.
————————————————————
A real signing or a Furcal signing?
Levine always looks like he is sun burnt and his hair is hideous.
Time to make the Girardi the public speaker. He speaks well and he has that clean cut, no nonsense look.
Does Damon have Tex’s cell number? From lead off hitter to next Yankee GM?
Johnny is working the job security angle. AJ said in the press conference he told Cash he needs to keep Johnny around for a few more years cause he worked so hard to get him here.
Maybe Boston is dropping out of the bidding so they can go sign Frucal?
Yes Pete,
The Angels want Tex badly and thru an offer out there to blow evryone else out of the water today.. a la CCCashman …
they got worried tex was going to sign with boston tonight.. who do you think leaked to the media about the deal/offer .. it sure was not boston.. maybe scotty b?
but there is more to it than that ..
more news tomorrow, same time, same station, tune in
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so nervous they were gunna get him
carl,
The “gardener” trims it every 2 weeks.
Levine looks like a troll
pat,
I’d have no problem keeping Damon around for a couple more years.
He is still one of the better leadoff hitters out there, a clutch hitter, and is actually pretty good in LF. We have no outfielders on the market next year, so it would be wise to keep him around.
pat
December 19th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Does Damon have Tex’s cell number? From lead off hitter to next Yankee GM?
Johnny is working the job security angle. AJ said in the press conference he told Cash he needs to keep Johnny around for a few more years cause he worked so hard to get him here.
————————————————————
The Yanks sign Damon to a three year extention to be Cashman’s mouthpiece.
“We have no outfielders on the market next year, so it would be wise to keep him around.”
Matt Holliday says hi.
Hey Ed,
Thanks for notifying us of the updated post, like you usually do. That’s proper blog posting etiquette.
mel,
Did you see Felix the Gardener today at the PC?
If not, he looks identical to NY governor David Patterson. Really doesn’t look like a gardener at all.
I would simply note that Pete seems to accept the Henry email at face value and not as some kind of ingenius negotiating ploy.
vin,
you welcome.
This was from the other post regarding this just being a bluff by Henry.
I think that while the Matsuzaka negotiations are comparible, Boras and Matsu(walka) only had one team to deal with. The Sox had absolutlely nothing to lose there. The posting money would have been returned. The pressure was on Boras to try and get the Sox to up their offers but he no other teams to play off of.
Here he has got several teams, one of them being the “Texas” Nationals. So Henry’s bluff doesn’t have the same effect as his plane ride. (The deal for Matsuzaka had to have been completed before the plane landed.)
Why aren’t the Yankees in on Tex?
Ed,
Even if you sign Holliday you still need 2 more spots. Who knows about Jackson. Matsui, Nady, Damon all off the books.
mel
December 19th, 2008 at 12:24 am
carl,
The “gardener” trims it every 2 weeks.
————————————————————
You’d think that being married into the Steinbrenner family that Felix wouldn’t have to moonlight to get spending money.
Don,
No I haven’t seen it yet. Did you guys see the SNL skit of Patterson? There’s a big PC flap about it. People saying it’s not right that they make fun of his disability.
“Even if you sign Holliday you still need 2 more spots. Who knows about Jackson. Matsui, Nady, Damon all off the books.”
Ajax and Gardner says hi for now.
This sounds like BS.
“I would simply note that Pete seems to accept the Henry email at face value and not as some kind of ingenius negotiating ploy.”
Pete also said aliens would land in Central Park before A-Rod was a Yankee in 2008. When Scott Boras is part of the equation, anything is possible.
“Anyone looking for a last minute holiday gift for a baseball fan should check out this.
World Baseball Classic Jeter, Clemens and Damon Authentic Jerseys – Were $234.99 Now $19.98 + Shipping”
would rather have the team Cuba jersey. Cuba = best baseball uniforms, have ever seen. Communist country or not.
This is all about nothing. What happend was Boras said that they had some crazy offer that isnt really out there. The Sox are being smart by saying they are out of it they are making Boras come back to them. In the end Tex will end up in Boston.
“Ajax and Gardner says hi for now.”
Until Gardner hits .250, I’ll take Damon over him.
“YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so nervous they were gunna get him”
Why ? Just look at the big 3 in this rotation, why are you nervous about Tex signing there ?
pat,
I know Damon would resign if anything happens next offseason, but some people fail to know that Damon **could be** resigned.
Was it a legit offer or was Boras pulling his usual “I have a team that will give him A-Rod money for 10 years”?
Could Henry’s public “concession” rub Tex the wrong way a la his draft experience with the Sox?
Personally I think Henry has a bit more credibility with this Tex matter than Hank did when he got hit with the Boras/Arod fiasco.
If anything, it is fun to see the Sox fans sweat this one out.
And Gammons better start double-dosing his blood thinners.
What the hell?
I just turned on ESPN and they were doing a segment on who the best looking QB in the NFL is… and 2 guys were analyzing it.
Amazing how far ESPN is sinking.
so if the angels just signed River back, and they sign Tex.. and Dodgers need pitching and bullpen help.. Does that mean Manny will be a yankee?
Aaron(after Hank, but my dad and I are Yankee fans.)
December 19th, 2008 at 12:41 am
so if the angels just signed River back, and they sign Tex.. and Dodgers need pitching and bullpen help.. Does that mean Manny will be a yankee?
————————————————————
Not necessarily. Of all players, Ramirez will be money first.
I don’t buy it. This is leveraging. Either that or something went horribly at the meeting.
They still need a catcher and last I heard he has the same agent as Texeira. Why burn one of his clients by pulling out so loudly? Its dumb and though Boras isn’t a man driven by emotions (that I know of) This could push him to put your free agent catcher in another uniform.
CC is a fresh, charismatic, hip-hop guy
AJ is a hardcore, heavy metal, nipple rings, eccentric guy
Finally some guys with personality on the team.
“Does that mean Manny will be a yankee?”
For better or worse, no Tex in Boston would most likely kill the Manny in pinstripes movement.
Haven’t heard much about Lowe lately. And haven’t heard ANYTHING about Penny… just saying.
Mr. Fox
December 19th, 2008 at 12:44 am
I don’t buy it. This is leveraging. Either that or something went horribly at the meeting.
They still need a catcher and last I heard he has the same agent as Texeira. Why burn one of his clients by pulling out so loudly? Its dumb and though Boras isn’t a man driven by emotions (that I know of) This could push him to put your free agent catcher in another uniform.
————————————————————
There isn’t another team in baseball that will pay 10 Mil a year for 2 years for Varitek, except Boston.
Didn’t Cash-money tell Boras before plugging any deal to give him a ring?? Maybe Cash topped Boston’s bid.. its a possibility..
i think tex will sign soon, and then we wont hear anything til after new years..
good point gap
I hope Mrs. Sabathia has diamonds as big as CC’s. He’s got to have 4 carats in each ear.
If Teixeira goes to the Nationals, there’s no need to go after Ramirez. The Yanks could finish the rotation and get a lesser, cheaper bat.
This was Boras’ response to Henry’s comments. Hopefully this means that Boston was eliminated….
“The Boston ownership was kind enough to request and travel to meet with Mark Teixeira,” Boras said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “While it was a very positive meeting, Mark was candid and advised he is in the process of making a decision and is now attempting to eliminate teams.”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
Why do the Mets and Yankees have their Hot Stove show on the same day?
pat
December 19th, 2008 at 12:51 am
I hope Mrs. Sabathia has diamonds as big as CC’s. He’s got to have 4 carats in each ear.
————————————————————
He needs bigger diamonds. Them’s some big ol’ ears.
“The Yanks could finish the rotation and get a lesser, cheaper bat.”
GB, as I and others have been preaching..that bat could be Nick Johnson since the Nats will dump him ASAP when they land Teix.
Randy Levine’s gotta be one of the biggest embarrassments in team history. Even Hank’s rants are much higher on the food chain.
i don’t view Levine as the team’s public face. that’s Cashman. Levine’s more of a guy who sticks his face in every possible camera; no one takes him seriously.
Boras is such a con artist, I love it.
Too bad we have to go through this next year with Holliday though.
You think that Joba just texted a big fistpump to CC & AJ after reading that response by Boras?
For better or worse, no Tex in Boston would most likely kill the Manny in pinstripes movement.
————–
Agreed, although I’d argue that Cashman probably had no intention of signing Manny anyways.
He hasn’t preached the “get younger, get more athletic, get better defensively” mantra just to turn around and sign Manny Ramirez.
The “Get Manny” crowd was probably more Hank and some Yankee fans than it ever was Cashman, Girardi, and Hal.
But why in the world would Tex eliminate Boston? It was the other way around.
Boras trying to play nice, obviously. Just like Arm Tellum/Kinzler did with Atlanta.
“Why do the Mets and Yankees have their Hot Stove show on the same day?”
fighting for ratings.
I’m dying to see Hank conduct a press conference while smoking a cigarette.
If Tex actually does wind up with the Nats the Yankees are the enormous winners of the off season.
Not just big – enormous. Outside of signing CC and Tex the only better possible outcome was that he not go to either the sox or angels.
The angels are now a much weaker team and will need to decide if they want to take a risk on Manny.
Boston has not made any significant moves.
The yankees had ground to make up with the Angels, Sox and Rays and they’ve done a lot to get their.
I’m still not going to buy Boston is out until tex signs elsewhere.
But that Boras email to the AP suggested that Tex himself told Henry no.
If Boston was trying to call a bluff then it doesn’t appear that strategy worked at all.
I wonder if the nats bid $220M/10yrs or something like that.
Great news about Tex, let’s hope it’s true.
CC, AJ, and Joba are probably on MLBTR as we speak, refreshing it every 10 seconds and texting eachother the latest updates.
Joba’s updates arrive in under 15 seconds, while CC’s arrive every 5 minutes.
I can’t help but think that LeBron James is involved in this somehow.
The Red Sox offered 8 years, 184 million and got outbid? Uh, what?
Didn’t Boras also say that Damon had a 5 year and a 6 year offer on the table?
This could be more Boras smoke.
Since Boras said tonight that Tex is “eliminating teams” then I would expect Tex to make his decision tomorrow or Saturday at the latest. I doubt he would let that info out and wait another 2 weeks to sign. I also wouldn’t be surprised to wake up tomorrow and see that he signed with Boston. But I really hope not. You never know with Boras. I can’t see him signing with the Orioles or the Nats…awful teams, and it doesn’t seem like the Angels know how to pull off a big deal like this.
Yanks should just offer 3 years, $75 million, you have an hour to decide.
Randy Levine cuts his own hair. He has a Flow-be.
let’s all hope this is true. tex away from the sox is good for the next few years. but in hte post-ped era, any tema that signs him for 10 years will regret it for the last 4 years of that deal
CB
December 19th, 2008 at 12:59 am
If Tex actually does wind up with the Nats the Yankees are the enormous winners of the off season.
Not just big – enormous. Outside of signing CC and Tex the only better possible outcome was that he not go to either the sox or angels.
The angels are now a much weaker team and will need to decide if they want to take a risk on Manny.
Boston has not made any significant moves.
The yankees had ground to make up with the Angels, Sox and Rays and they’ve done a lot to get their.
I’m still not going to buy Boston is out until tex signs elsewhere.
But that Boras email to the AP suggested that Tex himself told Henry no.
If Boston was trying to call a bluff then it doesn’t appear that strategy worked at all.
I wonder if the nats bid $220M/10yrs or something like that.
————————————————————
Sort of makes you wonder what Cashman, Teixeira and Boras discussed a couple of weeks ago. Did they make an offer and told Boras they’d pull the offer if the numbers were leaked and who made the offer? Was Cashman giving Boras the word: “If this gets out, you’ll be sleeping with the fishes.”?
CB
December 19th, 2008 at 12:59 am
If Tex actually does wind up with the Nats the Yankees are the enormous winners of the off season.
Not just big – enormous. Outside of signing CC and Tex the only better possible outcome was that he not go to either the sox or angels.
The angels are now a much weaker team and will need to decide if they want to take a risk on Manny.
Boston has not made any significant moves.
The yankees had ground to make up with the Angels, Sox and Rays and they’ve done a lot to get their.
I’m still not going to buy Boston is out until tex signs elsewhere.
But that Boras email to the AP suggested that Tex himself told Henry no.
If Boston was trying to call a bluff then it doesn’t appear that strategy worked at all.
I wonder if the nats bid $220M/10yrs or something like that.
————————————————————
Sort of makes you wonder what Cashman, Teixeira and Boras discussed a couple of weeks ago. Did they make an offer and told Boras they’d pull the offer if the numbers were leaked and who made the offer? Was Cashman giving Boras the word: “If this gets out, you’ll be sleeping with the fishes.”?
Nothing like late night drama in the baseball world a week before Christmas.
Gets no better…
GreenBeret7
December 19th, 2008 at 12:48 am
I see your point. But then I just don’t see why they would be so eager to squash this rumor. To not hurt their fans feelings because their expectations are getting pumped for nothing? Or what?
I mean we didn’t see Cashman running down the halls of ESPN yelling about his complete disinterest in Texeira after he had that meeting with Boras the other week.
I like baseball
Randy Levine uses a curler (the one that women use) to comb his hair.
“Sort of makes you wonder what Cashman, Teixeira and Boras discussed a couple of weeks ago. ”
GB,
you do have a point there. for all we know, Teixeira was texting Cashman on the updates of the meeting before.
Boston is posturing. I still think he winds up with Sox.
He is the perfect fit for us…
Gold glove first baseman, with power and good OBS, young…and switch-hitter to boot!
Spend the money now…and save in the future.
There’s now a shortage of rope in New England and the bridges are overcrowded with foot traffic, but, the lines are moving fast.
Guys, stop attacking Randy Levine
He was voted America’s sexiest man. He is a chick magnet.
I think the Yankees will sign Teixeira. Signing the big 3 free agents would be a great way to open the New Yankee Stadium.
Yanks still remain poised for one more big signing, gotta wonder who it will be.
“Sort of makes you wonder what Cashman, Teixeira and Boras discussed a couple of weeks ago. ”
I think it’s obvious that -CC- Tex was asking the Yankees what the Red Sox were all about.
I don’t really expect it to be with NYY and I don’t care where Teixeira goes as long as it’s Washington.
“Sort of makes you wonder what Cashman, Teixeira and Boras discussed a couple of weeks ago.”
GB7,
I don’t see that. If Boston is out and it’s due to money it’s a lot of money and I just don’t think the team should or would be willing to lay out another $200-220M deal.
If this is the Nats and boston pulled out with an offer of around $170-180M it must be much more money so it could be north of $200M.
If that’s the case – thank goodness the yankees did not put their eggs in the Tex basket as so many people insisted that they do.
He’s a terrific 1b but he’s just not a truly great player and paying him north of $200M just doesn’t make sense.
Funny how just a couple of weeks ago people were saying the yankees were no longer attractive to free agents and the sox, once they had identified and determined one player was their guy always got him.
Reality got in the way of that one.
Phil
December 19th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Yanks still remain poised for one more big signing, gotta wonder who it will be.
————————————————————
Pettitte will be the last of the three big NYY signings.
“We met with Mr. Teixeira and were very much impressed with him. *After hearing about his other offers, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor.*”
That leaves the Angels, Orioles and Nationals.
Uh oh. Someone better send mental health professionals to aardvark!!!
People are down on Randy?
http://cache.daylife.com/image.....s/610x.jpg
People are getting crazy. The Yanks are not going to sign Teixeira.
If they weren’t in on him when they thought his price tag was $20M – they certainly aren’t going to jump in the mix now that he’s closer to $25M.
They heard all the stories too about him very close to landing with the Red Sox and still chose not to even make him an offer.
Move on and hope he lands in the NL because it sure as hell won’t be with the Yanks.
Buster Onley reported on Michael Kay show that the Sox had signed Tex for 8yrs $23 per. Now John Henry is saying they are out of it like Peter wrote in this post. I hope John Henry isn’t full of it and the Yankees THREW THE BANK at Teixeira to come to the Bronx. At this point I really dont care what they pay him as long as he’s not in Boston for the next decade. I’d LOVE to see him in Pinstripes for the next decade but as long as he’s not a Red Sock I can still root for him. Man, I really hope he’s a Yankee. He’s perfect for the Yankees. PLEASE CA$HMAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. My birthday is Dec. 26. Please give me an early B-day present and sign Tex before x-mas!!!
CB
December 19th, 2008 at 1:18 am
“Sort of makes you wonder what Cashman, Teixeira and Boras discussed a couple of weeks ago.”
GB7,
I don’t see that. If Boston is out and it’s due to money it’s a lot of money and I just don’t think the team should or would be willing to lay out another $200-220M deal.
————————————————————
Oh, I agree that even NYY can’t sign the two they have and another contract like that. Just curious about what the talk was and just talking out loud, mostly. As I said, I don’t care where he goes as long as it’s Washington.
I do hate that Washington’s trying to buy a title, though.
boston is still going to get john henry
john henry just wants to make sure it is at his price. why would mark choose the lowly nationals or orioels over the powerhouse red sox where he can be close to home and win every year?
henery is putting the ball in marks court. mark will be a red sox by saturday
i actually think this is a brilliant move by henery
he knows that boras cannot lose the red sox from the bidding. then all he has left are the celler dwellers and angels who are not meeting his price demands
henery is smartly putting all the pressure on boras to get mark signed with boston otherwise he loses all his leverage
“why would mark choose the lowly nationals or orioels over the powerhouse red sox where he can be close to home and win every year”
why would Arod select Texas, over the Mets??
as SJ44 have mentioned, Texeria is a believer $$$$$$$$$$
aardvark
December 19th, 2008 at 1:24 am
boston is still going to get john henry
————————————————————
I agree. Boston’s going to get Henry, Luccino and Epstein and hang all three from the Liberty Tree for screwing this one up.
The Yankees’ universality appears in so many different forms. A few weeks ago I was at church and the priest quoted a Yogiism in his sermon.
Yesterday I was listening to WEEI and they had some hockey guy on who used to be a coach and now does commentary somewhere in Canada, I believe. His first name is Mike and his last name might have begun with an “M”. Anyway they were talking about the Toronto team, I believe, and he said he thought that the team being really good actually motivated other teams to play well and he compared it to the Yankees and how other teams loved to hate the Yankees and so wanted to do anything they could to beat them and so tried to play at the top of their game whenever they played the Yanks.
Finally, I was out tonight and there was some national syndicated sports broadcast on the radio and the person was taking calls from all over the US. The guy was talking about how with CC and AJ the Yankees really seem like the team to beat and he went on to say how dangerous the lineup is and mentioned Matsui and Damon and Jeter and Arod – and then said that if the Yankees landed Manny the team would have to be considered untouchable!
I love it when there is reference to the Yankees, and there always seems to be.
Hunter’s mood brightened considerably when told of Henry’s e-mail. Earlier Thursday, when told Red Sox officials were meeting Teixeira at his home, Hunter said, “That [stinks]. I definitely want him to come back. He made us complete. I know we were up by 11 games when we got him, but he made us that much better.”
Later in the evening, Hunter, who tried to call Teixeira this week and sent him a text-message Thursday night, felt a lot more confident about the Angels’ chances of retaining Teixeira.
“What the Angels did was spectacular, they gave him an offer that blew everyone away, and it shows how badly they want this guy,” Hunter said. “I’m so happy they did that. I can sleep better at night. We can’t let Tex go. He’s very special on this team.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/.....9013.story
“i actually think this is a brilliant move by henery knows that boras cannot lose the red sox from the bidding”
when Texeria signs with his hometown Washington team, you will see how brilliant it was. And what a smarty, Henry is.
“He hasn’t preached the “get younger, get more athletic, get better defensively” mantra just to turn around and sign Manny Ramirez.
The “Get Manny” crowd was probably more Hank and some Yankee fans than it ever was Cashman, Girardi, and Hal.”
Good points and very true.
But just to play devil’s advocate:
It could be argued that Manny’s offensive talent almost transcends the younger-faster-better defense ideology. The one combo that can spell pitching & defense is pitching & power.
Manny may also make sense as an investment for the Yes network. CC is a great ratings draw but then again that’s only for 20% of the games.
Ultimately it is Hal’s choice. I/m sure they’re going to play a real strong wait & see game from here on in. No need to play the aggressor anymore.
Like I said before though, No Tex in Boston almost definitely means no Manny in The Bronx.
Although, if Manny is still only getting 2 yr offers in a few weeks time, it could be tempting to swoop in and just match or barely beat the best offer.
Nothing like an Ardvark sighting to lighten the mood
So did Beckett receive his ALCS MVP award this year yet?
Who is “Henery”?
Quilvio Imposter
December 19th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Who is “Henery”?
———————————–
He’s her 8th old man.
“Who is “Henery”?
He got married to the widow next door. She’s been married seven times before…
Wow…just wow. If this is true, the Yankees’ pwnage of this offseason is absolutely monumental.
Go Nats Go! I knew they were the dark horse in this all along! Boras told them they’d have to pay extra to get him and I guess they took him seriously.
Unless it’s the Angels. I hope it’s not though, so they can sign Manny and we can sign Dunn. And maybe get Nick the Stick too.
Just think, this baseball weekend could turn out to be almost as good as last – who ever thought that possible?!
Tory Hunter sound like he have ++++ heart
“As I said, I don’t care where he goes as long as it’s Washington.
I do hate that Washington’s trying to buy a title, though.”
I’m not buying it. I still think he’ll end up in Boston, which will completely suck.
Pettitte’s not a “big” signing.
vinny,
dont need to sleep tonight?
offering Tex anymore than 15mil a year is lunacy.. it’s not like he’s on the same level as Arod or even Manny. I hope he ends up with Washington or Baltimore. Lets see how he likes that long term contract in a few years.
“Why ? Just look at the big 3 in this rotation, why are you nervous about Tex signing there ?”
Nice to know that there are others who don’t fall apart every time they think about the Sux. Cripes.
Boras will probably require an opt out as well as top dollar from Washington…maybe even Baltimore too.
Maybe Washington was tired of not being taken seriously as a major player in this sweepstakes, and decided to offer the deal of a century as a result. Let’s hope so!
this opt-out thing is getting really popular nowadays.
If the Angels sign Tex… it puts us in an amazing position to snatch up Manny if we wanted to.
Brandon are we about the only two not breaking a sweat worrying about where Teixeira goes? Let him go to Boston. BD!
Randy Levine = Seth Rogen + 30 years.
“dont need to sleep tonight?”
on the job, brother Ed. At least this is keeping me awake.
Gardner hit a HR, in the season opener? only on PS3.
off topic…but damn i wish brandon roy was on the knicks. 52 points? crazy.
vinny,
what you do? yeah, it was a 2 run homer. the only rbis enough to win the game. ;p;
lol**
2010 outfield
LF – Manny
CF – Damon
RF – Holliday
CB,
You still up? I’ve got a challenging little mental exercise for you.
You know how I feel about Teixeira the player. I can totally comprehend why the Yankees would pass on him. But if I had my choice, I’d take him over Matt Holliday (sp?).
My question for you is, “At what rate can the Yankees sign star position players?” One a year? One every 2 years? Can you look into your crystal ball and map out what “big” moves the Yankees will make over the next 3-5 years? To make it easier, let’s assume the pitching is taken care of.
Good luck and thanks in advance.
sounds like positioning to me… “we’re out… go sign with the orioles.”
“oh you want to sign with a winner? well, here’s our offer.”
“Brandon are we about the only two not breaking a sweat worrying about where Teixeira goes? Let him go to Boston. BD!”
I got my feet rested and drinking some hot cocoa ready to enjoy a day off tomorrow so yeh I guess we are the only 2 not worried where he goes.
“so yeh I guess we are the only 2 not worried where he goes.”
make that 3.
Is the cocoa spiked?
I love drinking spiked Cocoa
Ed:
I work in the nursing field. However, am doing security work, right now.
and off Roy Holladay, no less : )
I hope this is true, but I think it is a ploy. Red Sox will sign him, IMO.
Ed, love that you’re one of the three!
“make that 3″
check it, 4. Tampa concerns me more then Boston.
Talk about being between a rock & a hard place. If you want to give Boston the middle finger, you have to play all the way across the country or stay with a loser.
We’re not all alchys.
Vinny,
that’s awesome. which hospital you work at?
Trisha,
we are the 3, no wait 4 Musketeers.
The Nats could be a darkhorse team if they sign Teixeria.
Milledge
Kernes
Teixeria
Zimmerman
Dukes
Jesus Flores
Guzman
Willie Harris
With a 1-2-3 rotation of Odalis Perez-John Lannen-Tyler Clippard
Saul Rivera/Jack Hanrahan throwing heat in the late innings
Acta is a good manager too… the Nats could be building something special if they get Tex.
Mel,
just curious…what time is it now in Hawaii?
Spiked cocoa?
Amazing the characters that come around in the early morning hours lol
Finally a real snowstorm tomorrow… can’t wait.
“With a 1-2-3 rotation of Odalis Perez-John Lannen-Tyler Clippard”
wrong. Perez is a free agent, Scott Olsen replaced Clippard.
Ed… anxious for the arrival of J-Kidd tomorrow?
Ed,
5 hours…
Clippard is still pitching? Huh. Hard to think of him as part of something special, but I get the point.
Even better
Scott Olsen is a stud, him replacing Perez makes the team that much better
“that’s awesome. which hospital you work at?”
I take assignments out of a nursing office in New Roc. However, this job is with Metro North Railroad.
Nats Still Waiting on Teixeira Decision
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....03798.html
“Ed… anxious for the arrival of J-Kidd tomorrow?”
damn all you stalkers.
lol j.k
nahs, as much as I’m a Kidd fan..I’m not all that anxious. What I’m anxious about is him going up against B-Lo, even though Harris took over Kidd’s spot.
Mel,
5 hours backwards? so its 9 now?
Vinny,
be safe. dude. who knows what kind of crazy people appearing tonight. lol
i say he signs with the angels.
vinny-b, welcome aboard. It’s really nice to enjoy the offseason without stressing out about other teams isn’t it?
Actually we’re getting ready to get walloped by this snowstorm so I had to turn my attention to getting food in the house!
what I don’t get is, why don’t Boston try to find suitors for Lowell first then go after Teixeira? Panic mode attack?
“we are the 3, no wait 4 Musketeers.
”
I am in very good company!
Ed,
Who’s stalking who?
Yes. 9′ish
this is going to be an interesting week and a half
“vinny-b, welcome aboard. It’s really nice to enjoy the offseason without stressing out about other teams isn’t it?”
trisha: thank you : )
with or without Petitte, i know the pitching will be fine. Hopefully we add another bat (cough*Baldelli*cough) between now and July. Basically, all we need.
stay warm.
Trisha,
wanna know something funny?
I was watching this thing on Comedy Central, **this guy drew 2 pictures. a guy with a baseball cap, labelled under sports fan. the other one was with a backward baseball cap, and listed date rape fan.** I giggled so loud, my mom came to my room asking what’s wrong with me.
get the joke?
Brandon Roy 52 pts. FTW
Mel,
I was just joking. too many people knows I’m a Nets fan, so I made a stalker joke out of it.
“Brandon Roy 52 pts. FTW”
holy…. that’s like a 2 man game
Stay warm too vinny! RI has already basically shut down. All of the schools are closed for tomorrow (well Friday), and that was decided before noon Thursday. I guess this is expected to be a biggun. Scheduled to start around noon on Friday and come down really hard.
Whooppee! I’m going to work but am sure we’ll all close down sometime around noon and then go and hunker down.
Think I’ll get some sleep, while visions of CC and AJ dance in my head!!!
Night all.
goodnight, Trisha
“Goodnight, CC”
“Goodnight, AJ”
“Goodnight, JC”
“Goodnight, DJ”
“Goodnight, JD”
Before I go to bed let me rant and dream for a minute. What if the Yanks are the team that over bid everyone for Teixeira and then bring Pettitte back?
Rotation-CC, AJ, Wang, Joba, Pettitte….wow!
Lineup-I’m assuming that IF we got Teixeira, Swisher would move to LF and we’d deal with Damon in CF for one season.
(not in hitting order)
1B-Teixeira
2B-Cano
SS-Jeter
3B-Arod
C-Posada
RF-Nady
CF-Damon
LF-Swisher
DH-Matsui
….wow
As a selfish NY fan, I would LOVE to see Manny go to the Mets to play LF and Teixeira go to the Yankees to play 1B. Fantasy baseball anybody? LOL.
…But seriously, how much better would Teixeira make the Yankees lineup? Man I wish he was a FA a different year than CC. I’m thrilled to have CC but I really wanted Teixeira to be a Yankee for the next decade. Oh well, a guy can hope Brian Ca$hman sent Teixeira a blank check cant he? Good night everybody. GO YANKEES!!!
(oops)
“Goodnight, CMW”
Teixeira on the Nationals would be kinda funny.
Arod took the biggest deal ever 250 million from Texas but no one was close so it wasn’t like he had a choice to go to a contender and get any where near the same money. If the Angels (So Cal and a contender) weren’t in it right now I would jump into if I were the Yankees because he has no other place to play get paid and win. Maybe they should anyway being he’s an East coast guy.
This is the best thing I have heard all ever. Seriously if the sox are out of it you gotta believe that the yanks could swoop in here, although frankly I could handle Tex on the Angels.
The Padres are letting 2007 NL Cy Young winner Jake Peavy slip away simply because the Padres’ owner, John Moores is going through a costly divorce.
The Red Sox dumped Manny because their owner, John W. Henry is going through a costly divorce.
There is no way they were going to pick up Teixeira. Unless, of course, he would provide the ‘home team discount’ that players like Varitek, Wakes and Ortiz provide because they cannot find a home anyplace else.
According to the WashPost link above,
“He plays the position the Nationals must fill. He’s hit at least 30 home runs and knocked in at least 100 RBI for five consecutive seasons. Until Teixeira makes up his mind, the Nationals — like the other involved teams — are making no other moves.
Nationals President Stan Kasten said only that the team was “examining numerous possibilities,” including “alternatives” — though he didn’t reference Teixeira by name. Kasten did not address whether Washington would be willing to bolster its contract offer, perhaps by lengthening it to the 10-year deal Boras initially sought for his client.”
Don’t discount DC area team owners throwing serious money at players (see also, Redskins), but if it is so, then the arrival of the Mets bullpen is very timely. Tex vs Santana – sweet.
Also, I would enjoy the AJ vs Tex match ups, so I also don’t care if the Sox get him. As has been said, Tex is very good, but not …….
” The Red Sox say they got outbid for free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.
Though Boston didn’t talk about which teams offered more for the switch-hitting Teixeira, it wasn’t the Yankees.
“Not us,” GM Brian Cashman told The Post late last night. ”
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12.....144915.htm
“The Red Sox dumped Manny because their owner, John W. Henry is going through a costly divorce.”
And Nascar runs the risk of going the way of the dodo (he holds a substantial interest in Roush racing I believe) and his other businesses are going through a meat grinder. At least this is what I hear.
Tex not on the sucs would be a great development. Tex on the Angels would be even better. Seriously, this guys is a LEMMING of the greatest proportions. WE DO NOT NEED HIM. As is, we are good. Should Matsui or Posada not come around (I believe Posada will) we can trade for a bat. Cash is WAAAAAAY smarter than we are….always keep that in mind.
FIGHT ON!!!!
Get some sleep Pete! Great stuff! Go Nats!!
This is a bluff.
wow, what a development, the nation is going to wake up pissed! their guy gammons told them they had thier guy.
id love to find out what happened. theo and john henry didnt fly down there to keep negotiations going, they thought they had a deal. im wondering what kind of crap boros pulled on them that pissed them off enough to call it off and walk away.
now the nats can swoop in and sign him away to the NL b/c i dont think tex wants to go back to the west coast.
both mlb.com and the boston globe hint that henry may be calling boros’s bluff on what offers he’s gotten. its about time sombody called that liar. of course, boros may go crawling back b/c he had no problem selling his pride for an option year. im really hoping henry’s mad enough at boros that the sox stay out and let tex go to la of anaheim or better, DC!
Like Sabathia, Teixeira has his preference, but you’d think he’d rather play on the West Coast for a winner than the East Coast for a loser with no chance to win anytime soon.
That is unless the Nats outbid the Angels by a wide margin and he kind of has to accept it.
If that’s the case, have fun losing in DC.
well, we have cc reversed now, the angels have to outbid the nats for an east coast guy, only this time both of his home area teams are in on the bidding.
i see the O’s taking another shot, they cant let him go to d.c. and become the face of the nationals in thier market. and remember arod went to texas for top dollar, dont put it past tex to take the nats money.
Moore
December 19th, 2008 at 2:03 am
The Nats could be a darkhorse team if they sign Teixeria.
Milledge
Kernes
Teixeria
Zimmerman
Dukes
Jesus Flores
Guzman
Willie Harris
With a 1-2-3 rotation of Odalis Perez-John Lannen-Tyler Clippard
Saul Rivera/Jack Hanrahan throwing heat in the late innings
Acta is a good manager too… the Nats could be building something special if they get Tex.
—–
Shows how little the Marlins are known. The Nats picked up 2 very good players who will have a big impact on the team this year. Scott Olson Pitcher and Josh Willingham the hammer. If they get Tex and add 1 or 2 more players they will be competitive.
Tex is not as scary as Manny has been, Ortiz may well be in decline, so what the diff.
Would rather have another pitcher, or reasonable bat. With without Tex, the sux are just the sux.
if the sox cant get tex, and of course cant get manny, and have noplace to put dunn, so they are not going to be adding an impact bat through free agency. they might still add, but they will have to give up talent to do so.
youkilis and elf are not repeating last season’s #’s. i dont see huge comebacks for ortiz, whos wrist is still a question mark, nor lowell, who’s hip is.
imo we passed the red sox yesterday and the sox failed to take the lead back last night.
“Teixeira is a Boras True Believer. Like A-Rod, he’ll follow the money if that is what he is told to do.”
Pete, didn’t you also write that free agents virtually always take the biggest contract on the table (I think as an argument for why Sabathia would sign with the Yankees)? Why single out Boras?
Teixeira is 99% likely to take the deal that offers him the most money and years, like pretty much every other FA I can think of except when Pettitte turned down the Yankees’ offer to sign with the Astros. That fact has nothing to do with Boras.
if you compare our offense now to the one that won the WS in 1996, this years team is better. arod is a much better #3 hitter than oneill, matsui much better than tino.
if you add together the HR’s hit by the starting 9 (plus straw), they hit 155HR.
if everyone excpet matsui and posada on next year’s team hits the same # of homers as last year, add in 15 ea. for posada and matsui and next year’s team would hit 156HR.
and our pitching better. i know this team isnt playing against the 1996 competition, but i think our offense going to be just fine as long as we have a strong bench.
1996 yankees 288/360/436
2008 yankees 271/342/427
If Teix really is a Boras true believer who will go to whatever team is offering the most money, then Boston really could be out of it. Clearly, Teix is a more valuable commodity to the LAAA and the Nationals than he is to the RS. The RS’ offense and infield defense are just fine with Teixera, and if they were to land him, they would likely have to eat a good chunk of Mike Lowell’s salary to get him out of town. The RS brain trust is all about setting a value on players and not overpaying. If they’ve drawn the line at 8@22, it’s entirely possible Boras/Teix could have a couple of other teams already above that level.
This is FANTASTIC news for Yankee fans across the world! I think Tex will sign with the Angels which makes the Yankees the only big-market team interested (out of the big 4). This also guarantees that Boston doesn’t have that great player to boost Ortiz’s value.
Halleluihaheiala… or however you spell it!
Well said “Y’s Guy Go Nats”… exactly.
Maybe the Red Sox go out and get Sheets. Maybe they go get Lowe. Trade for Peavy?
I don’t think any of those deals will inhibit us seriously.
Who’s to say the Nationals aren’t offering something like 10/210, with a 3- and 6-year opt out? I’d imagine that would look pretty good to a Boras “true believer.”
“1996 yankees 288/360/436
2008 yankees 271/342/427″
with basically no posada and no matsui.
Russell— that is the correct spelling… in Hawaii
Tex staying with Angels is just fine, but I’m sure the Sawx will try to address SS, CF or C shortcomings.
So now what? If Cameron is out do the Yanks go after Baldelli to share Cf with Gardner/Cabrera or go go get Adam Dunn who significantly improves the offense but weakens the defense?
I look for Pettite to sign before the month is out.
For the 1st time John Henry speaks of the economy. The 1st indicator was when ticket prices at the Green Sardine Can remained the same as last season.
If Boston were to sign Teixiera, they’d be 8 oz. beers for $16.00 and $11.00 hot dogs to meet his salary.
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....tra_bases/
personally im hoping the all-star at every position era is over, i dont think the model works. i know alot of yankees fans think it’s thier birthright to go into the season with a cant be beat team, and i’m not saying this team is a slam-dunk to even make the PS, but i already much prefer the makeup of the 2009 yankees to the 2008 version. we lost alot of offense with abreu, and some by replacing giambi with matsui, but the boost to the pitching of not only cc and aj, but the return of the wanger makes this a better team overalll imo.
and the difference in thier PS chances is immeasurable. lets face it, last season nobody here really thought we had a shot to win the WS even if we had snuck into the playoffs. if this team wins the division, you might see the twins or white sox throw thier ace on the last day of the RS to avoid the yankees in the PS.
“So now what? If Cameron is out do the Yanks go after Baldelli to share Cf with Gardner/Cabrera or go go get Adam Dunn who significantly improves the offense but weakens the defense?”
I personally would go with Adam Dunn and plug Damon in CF. Damon can still track it down with some speed, then you plug Gardner in the late innings and shift Damon to left.
Dunn is a beast.
I’ll believe this only when Teixeira signs elsewhere. I think Henry is trying to call Boras’ bluff. He probably threatened to go to the Yankees or that the Nationals are offering something absurd like $220 million.
I wouldn’t count the Sox out just yet so I’m holding off on my celebration.
Why would anyone hope the Angels sign Tex? The Angels OWN US!
Obviously our wish list of who he signs with is
1. Yankees or Washington. And if neither one of us get him than the order of who would be okay to get him would be Baltimore, Angels and Boston is the last team we want to get him.
if we put damon in cf, then we will need manny to be the cut-off man for damon’s throws to the IF. (manny’s good at it.)
cash is on the verge of improvint the team greatly at pitching and defense, which was thier goal going into the offseason. they are not going to go with any plan that puts damon back in cf, much less one that puts damon in cf and dunn in LF thus creating a worse defense than the yankees had last season. not after putting up a quarter of a billion for the rotation.
word is the yankees baseball ppl havent even talked about manny, the bean-counters are intersted but no way the hire manny over cash’s head right after they resigned cash to make the personell decisions.
vin
December 19th, 2008 at 12:22 am
For anyone looking for a break in the Tex sweepstakes…
ESPN video about Bernie Williams. GreenBeret brought it up earlier… good stuff.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broa.....8;n8pe6c=2
Thanks. Brings a tear.
Frankly, if the Angels don’t sign Tex, they’ll sign Manny. And honestly, no offense to Tex, Manny’s bat scares me a lot worse. I’d much rather they sign Tex
“I do hate that Washington’s trying to buy a title, though.”
Clearly the line of the night. haha
vin/gb7 thanks for that link.
bernie was my all-time favorite player since i first caught him at the now departed heritage park in colonie when the aa yankees were there.
ive seen mantle and mays play but there was a personal attachment to bernie, who was no sure thing even to make the majors. then he just kept getting better and better and better and as it went along you got to know what a great guy he is. then came the rings. there’s no feeling like when you ‘adopt’ a player in the minors and he goes on the the very top of the game, a batting title and 4 WS.
i LOVED seeing the #51 on his guitar!
btw, where do i get my WBC Team Puerto Rico #51 jersey?
“I think Henry is trying to call Boras’ bluff.”
He’s not trying to call Boras’ bluff, he’s doing it. I wouldn’t count them out of it yet either because:
1) Cashman said flat out it was not the Yankees who outbid Boston. Now Cashman is not an open book on these kind of things but he also doesn’t lie about them. He’d offer a terse no comment or simply not take the call at all if they were truly involved. Further, he’s already locked into two very longterm contracts and three would leave him less able to have the flexibility he seeks.
2) All reports I’ve seen on the Halos offer is that it’s $20M below Boston’s.
3) IMO, that leaves the Nationals as the outbidding team. If that’s the case, Teixeira is put in a spot to some degree. He has to measure a chance to win against the almighty buck. Boston’s offer was apparently 8 years at $22M or $23M. Say the Nats go to $25M. Is the extra 10% or so worth years off bottom feeding in the NL East? This is a Nats organization that is not only a very bad team right now, but one with a very poor farm system. It’s not like O’s, where some help will be on the way. Maybe Teixeira doesn’t mind playing for a loser. Aside from his couple months with the Angels, he’s played with bad teams his entire career.
4) All this said, if the reports on the Halos offer are wrong, then he’s an Angel and Boston is out of it. I honestly wonder how married he really is to the east coast, with his home being in Texas.
I think the Yankees would be better off if they signed Pettite, upgraded CF, and added a bat or two to the bench.
Don’t get me wrong, Manny and Dunn are great hitters; however, signing either of them would still leave this team with 2-3 holes.
i believe tex has a home in texas but his family and his wife’s family are all around baltimore/annopolis. i dont see him staying in texas once he signs an 8 yr contract, like cc, he will be moving probably f/t to wherever he goes. if any of the cali teams had come close to the yankees, derrick lowe would have been with aj bunett at the press conference yesterday. and that likely include the perennial loser giants.
tex has offers from both of his ‘hometown’ teams
“personally im hoping the all-star at every position era is over, i dont think the model works.”
There are actually two variations of this model. One is “all-stars in their prime at every position,” the other is “washed-up or overrated all-stars at every position.” Both models are extremely expensive but only one of them works. The Yankees’ infatuation with the latter model has been their downfall since 2001.
The Yankees should obviously attempt to put the best available player at every position. This is indisputable. Because they’re the richest team in baseball, the Yankees have the luxury of overpaying for certain truly exceptional players, like ARod, Rivera, Jeter, and Posada, even though all of them are human beings susceptible to aging, injury, and decline (except Rivera, apparently). I don’t think anyone disagrees with these signings, even though all of these players got contracts based at least partly on their legacies rather than their potential, because all four of these players can be huge contributors.
Signing Teixeira would represent the good version of the “all-star at every position” model. Teixeira is 28, a 150 OPS+ switch hitter, and a legitimate Gold Glover. We sign Teixeira, and we have great hitting and defense at first base for many years to come.
Signing Manny would represent the bad version of the model. Manny is 36 and is best suited to being a DH. We sign Manny and we have a $22 million DH in his late 30s. You have to ask, is that worth the kind of crazy contract that few teams but the Yankees could give, or would we be signing the wrong kind of all-star?
Finally, somebody shows some common sense. When you have an All-star caliber first baseman and one the best clutch hitters in the game on third, why spend $170 million to get a guy who’s maybe just a bit better. Good for the Sox for showing some judgment and self-restraint. It really seemed like the very definition of greed for them to sign Tex and move Youk and Lowell. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
i dont see why anybody at this point is talking about what teixeira would do on the yankees, the yankees arent in on him. they have not bid even though tex has said this will be done within the next few days. and remember cash said he didnt see any chance they would go after both cc and tex.
so its down to the other suitors and of course im pulling for the national league team in this race.
I wonder what was the motivation for Henry to put out that email?
It clearly hurt Boras and Tex bargaining position w/o NY or Boston in the mix. If it’s to temper fan expectation, it could have gone out after he reaches a contract.
Only thing I can think of is a little agent revenge so Boras can’t use the Boston name going forward. It seems like MLB management relationship with agencies is getting increasingly testy, see Arn Talem and Atlanta over Furcal.
IMO, Tex is about as married to the East coast as CC was to the West.
$$$ is what it’s all about. True Boras client indeed.
“It seems like MLB management relationship with agencies is getting increasingly testy, see Arn Talem and Atlanta over Furcal.”
With the economy being what it is, this is a time when an agent really has to earn their commission. Seems like most of (or any of) the agents don’t want to acknowledge that the team owners have lost many millions of dollars. These guys are going to do whatever it takes, apparently more than they usually do, to get their guys paid like it’s 2007.
im betting the sox and boros had a general agreement on dollars/years when the sox brass flew down to texas, then boros whipped out some fake offer that went 9 yrs or over $200M, and henry went ballistic. its one thing to call a guy’s bluff by not raising, its another to annouce that b/c of offers that boros told them he had, they are out.
sounds like the RS brass is PISSED! but like i said above boros would sell his soul for an extra million on a buy out, so he will come grovelling back to the sox if it can get him another dollar. the question is whether the sox have more balls to stick to thier guns then the yankees did last season.
boros cant wait weeks for the sox to get back into it either b/c the market for tex might collapse while he waits, so he may have to go on w/o the sox.
if this is all b/c of a bull&#)% offer he used to try to up the sox again, it may all be blowing up in boros’s face. lets hope so. and like viridiana said above, props to john henry if he’s calling boros’s bluff and he sox have the cajones to stick by thier guns.
I’d love to be able to make a coherent analysis of last night’s Tex Activity, but I can’t. The local news media aren’t any more informed than the posters on this blog.
A few points, though:
(1) I think losing Teixeira would be catastrophic. As I’ve said before, the Red Sox almost went into the playoffs with their 3,5, and 6 hitters sidelined. Ortiz, Lowell and Drew aren’t getting younger – further injuries/decline can be expected, and the middle of the Sox order needs regeneration.
(2) If you parse the statements by Henry and Boras, no bridges are burned. Several headline writers have the Red Sox as “dropping out.” That’s not the case. What the Sox are saying is that the offers that were portrayed to them last night would make them a “non-factor.” Reading between the lines, the Sox are skeptical about the veracity of Boras’ portrayal.
(3) Having said that, I think that this “calling his bluff” was Plan B. I’m sure that they hoped to drive a wedge between Boras and Teixeira, and hoped to woo Tex back to Boston. They didn’t fly to Texas to orchestrate a bluff.
(4) The number I’ve seen on the Sox 2009 payroll is $111M (though they still need a catcher). Peavy would cost prospects, forget Manny, Lowe is Just-A-Guy (JAG). They have money they’d like to spend, but really have no good options. The way things are going, the Yankees will outspend Boston by almost $100M this year.
And a big snow storm on the way. Woe is us!!
Henry mjay feel he weas jerked around and used by Boras… most people do at some point. If he’s fighting back llikes the Braves are, well good. Nothing wrong with teams standing their ground.
Jeremy made great points about the right and wrong way to spend $$$. CC and Tex represent the ideal type of FA to pursue. Manny does not. AJ is sorta in the middle at age 32 but apparently coming into his own without a ton of mileage on his arm.
That thinking is why Dunn and Baldelli, both in their twenties are more interesting to me than Manny or Cameron.
We’ll see how it plays out
I think Henry is ticked he spent all that money flying his private jet to see Tex, and he was turned down.
“IMO, Tex is about as married to the East coast as CC was to the West.
cc may be as married to the west coast as the dodgers are, but if nobody offers you a contract, you cant opt to stay there.
tex has 2 hometown offers.
“Finally, somebody shows some common sense. When you have an All-star caliber first baseman and one the best clutch hitters in the game on third, why spend $170 million to get a guy who’s maybe just a bit better. Good for the Sox for showing some judgment and self-restraint. It really seemed like the very definition of greed for them to sign Tex and move Youk and Lowell. Gotta give credit where credit is due”
Wouldn’t go quite as far as this. They did offer the guy 8 years at $22M-$23M per. That’s a serious offer, but also an overpay. You want to give them credit for sticking to their guns on the number they put his value at, that’s fine, but make no mistake about where they were prepared to go with this.
Ys guy
Boras not Boros.
Brian, It seems that this situation is part of the mating ritual teams have to go through when dealing with Boras. I still suspect that Boston is in on Teixeira. Boras is just trying to squeeze them for more money or years. He did the same thing with Damon when the Yankees signed him a couple of years back…
“the Yankees will outspend Boston by almost $100M this year.”
the sox will end up close to $120M (by thier own choice, the have alot more of the nation’s money, they just arent spending it)
the yankees will be around $190M. its been a while since i took a math class, but i dont think that’s almost $100M difference.
“AJ is sorta in the middle at age 32 but apparently coming into his own without a ton of mileage on his arm.”
I have a bad feeling about AJ. Too old, too frequently injured, uninspiring track record, and coming off a career year (which wasn’t even that impressive when you look beyond his W-L record) – pretty much the archetypal Bad Yankee FA Signing.
“That thinking is why Dunn and Baldelli, both in their twenties are more interesting to me than Manny or Cameron.”
I’ve been advocating a Dunn signing for awhile, although I acknowledge he’s a flawed player in many ways. He just won’t command anywhere near the investment that Manny would.
Baldelli can only be a short-term solution at best because his health is still questionable. I think the Yankees backed off the Cameron deal because they are trying to figure out whether Baldelli is a feasible solution to their CF problem. I would not be surprised if Cameron is our CF when the season starts. The Yankees have no desire to keep Melky and Cameron’s contract is no burden.
If the Yankees sign Pettitte, do they give him the ball on Opening Day, for old time’s sake, or showcase CC in that role?
Would be hard watching Pettitte sitting in the dugout for that game.
Y’s Guy …. what’s $30M among friends?
Seriously, Cashman has said that he’s still perusing free agents. The Yankees still need/want a starting pitcher and a bat (and maybe a CF). That would push them to at least $210M.
“There are actually two variations of this model. One is “all-stars in their prime at every position,” the other is “washed-up or overrated all-stars at every position.”
When you have to sign guys to 10 year deals to acquire their services this may be a distinction without a difference, other than time.
That’s why this isn’t such a clear cut decision. All of the reasons to sign Tex now will be the same reasons not to have him on the roster from ages 35-39. But in order to get him from ages 29-34 you need to sign up for ages 35-39.
A 150 OPS+ first baseman is a terrific player. But that’s not Texeira outside these past two years. He’s a career 134 OPS player and it looks like 150 might be his ceiling.
So as his skills decrement in age and he falls from that peak ceiling he has much, much less room to go than a guy like Alex or Manny.
Those latter years on his contract could be brutal values given the position he plays and the baseline performance at 1b.
Sure the yankees have the resources to get the best players they can at every position.
But the opportunity cost of long term deals makes it close to impossible to optimize the team with the single best player at every position at the same time.
At first I was very high on Tex, but as time goes by I am more and more happy he isn’t a Yank.
Another to remember when looking at his stats, he has played half his games in the HITTER FREINDLY park in Arlington, tx, where I could probably hit .200 with 20 dingers.
i’m not a stats guy, i follow them but i dont live and die by them. can someone please address for me how dunn managed only 100 RBI with 40 HR. it sounds like he’s a champ with the bases empty but something less with men on base.
also u can tell me all about aj’s stats last season, but what my eyes saw was that he dominated the yankees and red sox.
“I think losing Teixeira would be catastrophic.”
No it won’t. I wish it would… But Brian you guys will be fine.
It might be catastrophic to the fanbase which has now been told over and over and over by the media about how the sox are an old, decrepit team that needs Tex or it will perish but it’s not going to hurt the team that badly.
Tex-Youkilis projects to be around 20 runs better than Youkilis-Lowell as long as Lowell’s season doesn’t really fall apart with the injury.
Fix the bull pen and upgrade the starting staff – someone who will give some quality innings to make up for Dice-K’s short outings and nagging injuries to Beckett.
I also don’t buy for a minute that the sox are “out of it.”
This is decision time however and Henry is clearly trying to force Tex into making the decision to take less money or play for a losing team. We’ll see.
But it’s not catastrophic. You have Youkilis and Lowell. The team scored 845 runs – second in the league. And you have Lars Anderson in the minors.
I saw this interesting quote from Theo – think he said it a couple of weeks ago but was quoted today again by Alex Speir
““In baseball, if you convince yourself you need a certain player, you’ve already lost. One player doesn’t have that much impact. It’s about building organizations. It’s not about adding players. ”
http://www.weei.com/For-Red-So.....-B/3523486
Tex is good . .But GEEZZZZ hes no Babe Ruth .. Im kinda glad the Yankees looked over him . .The last thing we need is another high priced hitter choking in the playoffs .
Cashman has been right on this off season .. PITCHING PITCHING PITCHING
vin
December 19th, 2008 at 9:28 am
“It seems like MLB management relationship with agencies is getting increasingly testy, see Arn Talem and Atlanta over Furcal.”
With the economy being what it is, this is a time when an agent really has to earn their commission. Seems like most of (or any of) the agents don’t want to acknowledge that the team owners have lost many millions of dollars. These guys are going to do whatever it takes, apparently more than they usually do, to get their guys paid like it’s 2007.
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The thing is – the Dodgers offer – if anything – was worse than the Braves’ offer. In order for the 4th year to vest, the Dodgers required 600 plate appearances… the Braves only required 150. The $$ was the same. It wasn’t as if the Dodgers vastly outbid for Furcal – they matched $$ only. The Braves’ contract was actually the better one.
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Y’s Guy Go Nats, Sign Tex!!!
December 19th, 2008 at 9:31 am
“IMO, Tex is about as married to the East coast as CC was to the West.
cc may be as married to the west coast as the dodgers are, but if nobody offers you a contract, you cant opt to stay there.
tex has 2 hometown offers.
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The O’s and the Nats… not exactly teams that are even close to contending and are probably close to the two worst teams in baseball. The Dodgers and Angels are at least the contenders and in the Angels’ case – solid WS challengers. The fact that Tex is even considering those teams (and he said no hometown discounts) says a lot about his Borasification.
“When you have to sign guys to 10 year deals to acquire their services this may be a distinction without a difference, other than time.”
That’s certainly true. Any player can reach a point where his contract demands exceed the reasonable value of his expected contribution for the life of that contract. Teixeira may have passed that point already.
Maybe Teixeira represents a unique case – an under-30 player, among the best for his positions, whose contract demands are so steep that he’s a bad bet even for the Yankees. ARod is the closest parallel I can think of, but ARod was also a 1.000 OPS shortstop and just 24 when he signed his $252 million deal.
I guess that’s the difference between Boras and most agents. Boras pushes the envelope on his demands knowing that the great majority of teams will drop out of the bidding based on the confidence that someone will cave and give his client the $252 million contract. It worked for ARod – has it ever not worked?
And I think I see Pete’s point now about how Boras is different because by demanding so many years and dollars, Boars is ensuring that Teixeira has very few teams to choose from. If Teixeira would accept a 7-year, $140 million deal, lots more teams, including the Yankees and Red Sox, would be candidates to sign him, right?
“The fact that Tex is even considering those teams (and he said no hometown discounts) says a lot about his Borasification.”
Players hire Boras because they are looking for huge paydays. It’s the money that matters, not the destination.
CB – thanks for the reassurances and kind words.
I’m climbing down fron the ledge right now.
the only way you could compare the cc/west coast decision to the tex/east coast decision would have been if the giants, a’s or pads had made offers, knowing that none of those teams are likely to contend in the near future. cc may well have opted to go to the giants had the money been put on the table. but in fact nobody out west offered him anything.
tex has a top dollar offer from a non contending hometown team. its a different dynamic than the cc situation
Take it for what its worth coming from George King….
The Red Sox say they got outbid for free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira.
Though Boston didn’t talk about which teams offered more for the switch-hitting Teixeira, it wasn’t the YankeesNew York Yankees .
“Not us,” GM Brian Cashman told The Post late last night.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12.....144915.htm
I hope Boras is blowing smoke like he did with A-Rod’s $350M, and the Sux wised up to it. I hate the Red Sox, but i also hate these greedy players who would rather play for a loser at $200M, instead of a winner at $180M.
It’s ridiculous to watch and whether you come play for the Yankees, go to the Sux, or Washington or Anaheim, you are still a d-bag and an a-hole! Mr. Teixiera.
if he cant go to boston with tex, you know boras would love it if dc puts up the biggest bid and tex goes there. it would add another big dollar team to the list. with tex out he can pit the angels vs the dodgers for manny. boston would have been scottie’s ideal, so dc could get in the manny sweepstakes, but parking tex for mega dollars in DC would be a big plus to boras.
I don’t buy Henry’;s statement. Why put out a statement that “they are out of the bidding” ? To solicit a response of course. Henry is just posturing, knowing that Boras cant lose them to help drive the price. Boras, of course, knows this so it doesn’t really matter.
This isn’t over, for sure, but I really do hope that Boston doesn’t get him. If I were Tex, I’d stay where its nice and warm and play for the better team.
Henry wouldn’t have dropped out of the race if it was the Yankees who made the bid, so it does make sense.
“If the Yankees sign Pettitte, do they give him the ball on Opening Day, for old time’s sake, or showcase CC in that role?”
Looking at the schedule, either the #1 or #5 starter would be scheduled for the opener (assuming no rainouts), and early in the year where the Yanks have few off days, I’d assume they’d give CC the extra day. So, if Pettitte resigns, I think there’s a tremendous chance he pitches the opener.
As for Teixeira, let’s remember, the player still has the final say. Bernie turned down a larger offer from Boston to stay with the Yanks as a Boras client. Why everyone, including Pete, is saying Teixeira is “a true Boras believer” is something I don’t understand. Do you guys know him personally or something? And Pete contradicts himself because there’s no way the Angels will offer more than the Nats. Quite frankly, we’ll only find out Teixeira’s true motivation if he turns down more money from Washington to go to Boston or LA. I still think it’s at least 50/50 he’ll end up in Fenway before its all said and done.
“I hate the Red Sox, but i also hate these greedy players who would rather play for a loser at $200M, instead of a winner at $180M.”
We have no idea whether Teixeira does or does not want to play in Boston.
Since you and I are not millionaires, we can’t really comprehend what it means to choose a $180 million deal over a $200 million deal. We can comprehend that, when given two job offers, one of which offers 10% more pay and more job security than the other, you take the better offer unless there is something seriously wrong with it.
The fact that the Nationals and Orioles are not good teams today is no reason not to sign with them. Teixeira would make them better, and surprises happen. In the last few years we have seen the Rays and Rockies go to the World Series, the Cardinals win the World Series with a 83-78 record, and the Yankees fail to make the playoffs. A lot can change in the 7-10 years Teixeira will get.
Henry is calling Boras’ bluff.
The only other offer, if there even is one, is probably from the lowly Nationals. And naturally, the Sox don’t feel inclined to match it because they want to test Teix/Boras to see if push comes to shove, he actually goes to the Nats. Why go $200 if they don’t have to?
i dont think the the sox are totally out of it, but i also dont think this is just setting up negotiating positions either.
the sox brass did not fly to texas to check on how things were going. the went there to close the deal and likely upon thier arrival boras dropped a bombshell offer which sent the sox home PISSED OFF. henry, fuming on the flight back decides he’s going to call boras’s bluff for once and let him deal with the fallout.
like i keep saying though, boras will sell his soul for an extra option year, so he may well go crawling back to boston saying it was all a mistake or hinting that to sox may not have to match the mystery offer.
It’s fairly clear the Yanks have about 25 million left to spend after arbitration on their eligible players. Here are the options IMO :
Trade Melky for Cameron and sign Petitte. Thats an additional 20-22 million. 3 mil for assorted items, bench guys. 2010 Jackson in CF.
Sign LF Adam Dunn, 2 years at 25 million…plug him into the #5 hole behind A-Rod. Shift Damon to CF, Nady in RF. Hughes is your #4 starter. 2010 OF is Dunn, Jackson, Holliday. We lose 31 mil in contracts (Damon, Matsui, Nady).
Sign Texiera for 25 mil per, move Swisher to LF and Damon to CF. 2010 OF is Swisher, Jackson, Nady.
I personally like option #2.
““If the Yankees sign Pettitte, do they give him the ball on Opening Day, for old time’s sake, or showcase CC in that role?”
Looking at the schedule, either the #1 or #5 starter would be scheduled for the opener (assuming no rainouts), and early in the year where the Yanks have few off days, I’d assume they’d give CC the extra day. So, if Pettitte resigns, I think there’s a tremendous chance he pitches the opener.
joba is the #5 and he would be the guy. but they have to skip joba every time they can so with an off day after the opener in balt, joba will be passed over the first time around, that means with no rainouts, cc starts the opener and the home opener.
I heard this too from a lawyer in Boston who went to Yale with Theo and claims they’re still friends, though why Esptein would make him privy to the following is beyond me.
Supposedly, the Red Sox still like Todd Helton and if the Rockies re-sign Atkins they might want try to rid themselves of Helton by subsidizing part of his contract.
(I also assume Helton would have to have recovered from the injuries that felled him last year.)
And guess who else the Red Sox like? Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu.
Hey, CB, since you’re the defense guru: how poorly does Dunn play RF and 1B, respectively? The D-backs played him at both positions rather than LF.
Don’t ask me where they’d play him.
Nats with Tex could be pretty good club. Zimmerman due for breakout year. Tex-Zimm duo could be among scariest in NL. Pitching should be improved too.
As for Sox, does anyone really believe they’re out of it. These guys are game players — perfect match for Boras. Henry has outsmarted Boras before. Trying to do it agian.
Are the Nationals still owned by MLB, in effect, all owners have a piece of it?
aHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….so relaxed today, no work, good rest, later I see my girl, don’t really care where Tex is going. Just such a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
tom lerner owns the nats, he’s supposed to be loaded.
the nats got all they could from the return of baseball to dc, then opening a new stadium. but attendance was soft at the end of the year, so now the nats have to put up or shut up, compete or die. theres no more newness to a losing franchise, and the stadium in nice but the O’s are in thier market and have a nicer one.
the nats cried that they couldnt compete in montreal, then that they couldnt put up big bucks without a stadium. there are no more excuses now.
“joba is the #5 and he would be the guy. but they have to skip joba every time they can so with an off day after the opener in balt, joba will be passed over the first time around, that means with no rainouts, cc starts the opener and the home opener.”
If you look at the schedule, they can’t skip anyone in April, the most they can do is push someone back 1 day to get CC moved up a day. That’s why I think there’s a good chance Pettitte or Joba starts the opener. There are also very few off day the 1st few months of the season so I’m not quite sure they’ll be skipping Joba at all. They may just be very careful with his pitch count–maybe hold him to 90-95 in April/May.
Lerner is a billionaire he’s going to throw wads of cash his way. Tex is going to have to go $$$ blind not to accept.
Most calming thing I read today even while I woke up w/ a smile.
Though Boston didn’t talk about which teams offered more for the switch-hitting Teixeira, it wasn’t the Yankees.
*“Not us,” GM Brian Cashman told The Post late last night. ”*
Has a great ring to it.
Tex took offense when A-Rod said he wanted out of Texas because he was promised Hicks was committed to spending money and building a contender but then said there was no money to do it once he got there and it was him and 24 kids.
Tex might be the one saying the same thing in a few years if the Nats are his choice.
innings or not, joba will only go 130 innings. a typical #5 who gets skipped where possible would start about 26 games. if joba averages only 6IP/start that means he could go 22 starts (with nothing for the PS)
so no matter how you slice it, he had to be shut down, passed over or put in the BP to keep him under his innings limit.
I believe Pettite signing is virtually a done deal. So that means making the best decisions on a bat and the bench. If they could get Wiggington and Baldelli for less than $ 10 M this would be a good, deep ballclub. Let’s assume they do this and move Melky for an arm.
You would also have tons of flexibility with guys who can handle two or three roles. All that would be left would be a backup middle infielder (Eckstein?).
1B — Swisher, Wigginton
LF — Damon, Nady, Swisher
CF — Gardner, Baldelli
RF — Nady, Baldelli, Swisher
DH — Matsui, all of the above
Seven players for five jobs leaves two very good players on the bench on a daily basis. You also have excellent balance with 3 RH, 3 LH, 1 SW.
Eckstein and Molina are also excellent bench players.
KS,
Surprisingly multiple stats showed dunn to be league average in left field.
His sample sizes in rf and 1b are too small to derive conclusions from. He does not have a good arm however so RF isn’t optimal for him.
Now all that said – dunn is a bad defensive player. Probably not as bad as we think – but still bad. This is a situation imo where the data doesn’t generalize in a valid way. Lf in cincy is miniscule and there just isn’t much space to cover. So his numbers may be accurate but are unlikely to be valid indicators of his true defensive talent.
Not buying this story yet… I will believe it when i see Tex in an Angels or Nats Uni…
I feel the same way AD.
I’m not a fan of the Yanks trying to get another DH (Dunn, Manny, or resigning Giambi/Abreu. Upgrading the lineup at the expense of defense has not paid off in the past 7 years and I don’t think it’s a good idea now. I’m really rather tired of hearing about the Yankees having one of the worst defensive teams in baseball for the past x years. Slow on the bases and slow on the field. Time for them to move in a different direction and I hope they stay away from Dunn/Manny/Giambi types.
Cameron… I’m on the fence with.
[quote]The Red Sox were believed to have offered Teixeira an eight-year deal in the $175-million range, and a source who is familiar with negotiations but is not authorized to speak about them on the record said it was “significantly” better than the Angels’ offer.[/quote]
http://www.latimes.com/sports/.....9148.story
[quote]“After hearing about his other OFFERS, however, it seems clear that we are not going to be a factor.”[/quote]
the only team with an offer possibly larger than the red sox are the nationals. and that’s an offer, not offers
so yeah, he’s just messing with people as i figured. he isn’t randomly e-mailing the ap to disclose information like that for no reason
Love the Sox, always not willing to spend the extra just like Arod. The old publicity spin, greedy players. People bring up for Tex what difference does the extra $10 mill make to him with that much money, flip side to that is what is the extra $10 to the Sox at the end of the day? Are they giving the money back to the fans or soemthing. They played the money game with him when they tried to draft him which turned him off. They have thrown their franchise guys out the door on bad terms when they wanted to Clemens, Nomar, Pedro, Manny, Mo Vaughn, Damon, etc. The list goes on. I will never understand the brainwashed nation. The Sox with the young talent they have have the money to spend if they wanted him and should have landed him now, just like Arod. Can’t wait for the Boston crying if he ends up elsewhere. Just like the Yankees too, when you go to bed with Boras you live with both sides of it.