Red Sox Pass On Tex

[Tbadder]

MLB.com is reporting that the Red Sox are out of the Mark T. sweepstakes, citing a lack of a competitive bid (roughly 22 to 23 million per year). Sounds like the Yankees are up to their same 'ol shenanigans. Boy, oh, boy will this hurt the Crew if he lands in Yankeeville. Geez, now I am depressed.

[LouisEly]

Oh God... no, he can't go to the Yankees. Please Artie, step in and bring him back to Anaheim. Or Washington. Or anyone. But not the Yankees.

[danzig6767]

Oh God... no, he can't go to the Yankees. Please Artie, step in and bring him back to Anaheim. Or Washington. Or anyone. But not the Yankees.

Why would you care if he plays for the Yankees or Red Sox given both are in the AL, much less rather see a great player like him go to Washington where he could end up possibly blocking a Brewers Wild Card berth sometime in the future?

 

I personally don't care much whether the Yankees load up even more, or if one of the other very rich Red Sox/Angels franchises get him so long as Teixeira stays in the AL.

[trwi7]

Why would you care if he plays for the Yankees or Red Sox given both are in the AL, much less rather see a great player like him go to Washington where he could end up possibly blocking a Brewers Wild Card berth sometime in the future?

Because we would get screwed out of a first round pick for Sabathia if Teixeira signs with the Yankees.

[ILuvDaBush]

And imagine if they also sign Sheets. We get their second....and fourth rounders for CC and Sheets. Good times!

[Sheets4theHOF]

Yankees aren't mentioned in the mlb.com article except referring back to the red sox dealings with Boras when Johnny Damon signed with the yankees.

 

Hold off pushing the panic button.

 

Also, Scott Boras is the worst thing that ever happened to baseball.

[JoeHova]

I would think that the high bidder (if this crying from the Red Sox is not just some sort of negotiating ploy) is probably the Nationals. If the Red Sox really made that 8/$184 million offer, what would Washington have to offer to top it considering how much better the Red Sox are than the Nationals (36 more wins last year)? 10 years/$250? More? I can't see signing a guy who isn't a legitimately great player to that kind of contract making much sense, but maybe he'll stay as good as he's been for the past two years for the life of the contract and it will be OK. If he drops back to a 130 OPS+ though, that isn't very special from a 1st baseman. I know his defense is good, but this still seems all kinds of out of whack. OTOH, if Carlos Lee is worth $100 million, I guess Teixiera is worth $200 million.

[Invader3K]

I actually heard that the Nationals (like JoeHova said) are the current high bidder on him. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what they were saying yesterday afternoon on MLB Home Plate. Tex is from that area, so him going to Washington isn't is crazy as it might seem. If they do manage to land him, good for them. Short term it would probably really help them, though long term I would have to think it could have really bad implications for their ability to make other moves.

[endaround]

Anaheim was at 8/$160 weren't they? And the Nationals are rolling in money. DC isn't a small market, baseball just likes to call teams that are tightwads "small market" hence huge cities like Minneapolis-St Paul and Miami get called small market.

[brewtank34]

If it's not Scott Boras, it's someone else. It was bound to happen regardless. Blame the system that allowed Scott Boras to act the way he does. Don't hate the playa., hate the game.

[Invader3K]

I guess I don't quite see what is so special about Teixeira. Yes, he is a very good player...but frankly, it didn't seem like he was ever regarded as a superstar until a couple years ago. It looks like he's going to get a contract almost similar to A-Rod...but he's not A-Rod.

[Ennder]

Gold glove defense, great hitter, young. Not much to dislike. He is easily one of the top 15 players in baseball and when you take age etc into account I'd say top 10. I'd rather pay for Teix than Sabathia that is for sure.

[joepepsi]

I think this is a ploy by the Red Sox to force action. I suspect John Henry met with Boras who told him either the Nats or Orioles made a ridiculous high offer. Henry told him, have fun in last place, and hopped the plane home. If the Yankees or Angels were outbidding them the Red Sox would counter offer. But if the Orioles or Nats sign him, it makes the Red Sox stronger. Instead they can go out and sign Burrell or Dunn at a fraction of the cost.

[brewtank34]

SEASON	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	TEAM	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	G	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	AB	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	R	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	H	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	2B	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	3B	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	HR	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	RBI	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	TB	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	BB	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	SO	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	SB	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	CS	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	OBP	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	SLG	http://mlb.mlb.com/images/trans.gif	AVG
2003		Texas Rangers		146		529		66		137		29		5		26		84		254		44		120		1		2		.331		.480		.259
2004		Texas Rangers		145		545		101		153		34		2		38		112		305		68		117		4		1		.370		.560		.281
2005		Texas Rangers		162		644		112		194		41		3		43		144		370		72		124		4		0		.379		.575		.301
2006		Texas Rangers		162		628		99		177		45		1		33		110		323		89		128		2		0		.371		.514		.282
2007		Atlanta Braves		54		208		38		66		9		1		17		56		128		27		46		0		0		.404		.615		.317
2007		Texas Rangers		78		286		48		85		24		1		13		49		150		45		66		0		0		.397		.524		.297
2008		Los Angeles Angels		54		193		39		69		14		0		13		43		122		32		23		2		0		.449		.632		.358
2008		Atlanta Braves		103		381		63		108		27		0		20		78		195		65		70		0		0		.390		.512		.283

Manny Ramirez's stats over the last 6 years.

2003	Boston Red Sox	154	569	117	185	36	1	37	104	334	97	94	3	1	.427	.587	.325
2004	Boston Red Sox	152	568	108	175	44	0	43	130	348	82	124	2	4	.397	.613	.308
2005	Boston Red Sox	152	554	112	162	30	1	45	144	329	80	119	1	0	.388	.594	.292
2006	Boston Red Sox	130	449	79	144	27	1	35	102	278	100	102	0	1	.439	.619	.321
2007	Boston Red Sox	133	483	84	143	33	1	20	88	238	71	92	0	0	.388	.493	.296
2008	Boston Red Sox	100	365	66	109	22	1	20	68	193	52	86	1	0	.398	.529	.299
2008	Los Angeles Dodgers	53	187	36	74	14	0	17	53	139	35	38	2	0	.489	.743	.396

Pretty comparable....

[WV Brew]

DC isn't a small market

 

Bear in mind that Angleos controls some of the Nats' TV revenue and take a look at their attendance last year. Major transportation problems, bad part of town, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the O's still get involved. It's his home town and the Orioles could do something in a year or two when their main pitching prospects are ready. The Nats are hopeless at the moment and likely to continue as such as long as Bowden is here.

[endaround]

But the Nats have all of Nova. Now I agree Bowden doesn't help but there is no way with the money thats in DC that the Nats should have fielded such a poor team like last year.

[alorrigan]

I don't believe that the Red Sox are no longer going to pursue Mark. What really bothers me about this situation is that it tells me that the Sox had no reason to sign him other than because they can. If they really need him I think they would break the bank for him. It seems like their thinking is Mark is a good player that plays a position we have filled (1B/DH) now and with prospects for the future but we can afford anybody so let's get him. I understand clubs need to be financially responsible but it doesn't really seem fair to teams that really could use him but can't afford him. People are getting upset because of the money spent on players but to me the problem is the talent hording. You look at the moves the Yankees have made so far, they at least have filled holes. If the Red Sox were to sign him (or really just about any player) it would be more to keep him from going anywhere else than because they need him and that really bothers me.

[mtrebs]

And imagine if they also sign Sheets. We get their second....and fourth rounders for CC and Sheets. Good times!

I know this will never happen, but I think it would be kind of cool if a team could only sign a free agent that they have an available draft pick for? For example, the Yankees signed Sabathia and he was a Class-A free agent so that takes away their 2009 first-round draft pick. In this new imaginary system they could not sign any more Class-A free agents this year. They could sign a Class-B free agent and give up their 2009 second-round pick, but they couldn't sign another Class-A free agent until next off-season. This would prevent one team from signing too many big-name free agents and would make teams like the Yankees really think about which player they really want instead of going after all of them. Of course the players' union would never stand for this because it'd probably keep salaries from going up as fast since players would have fewer team choices to go to, but I think it would throw a nice twist into the process plus it would prevent situations like the Brewers might have this year.

[alorrigan]

mtrebs - Your idea is the way it should be. Does anyone know what the wording in the CBA is because if it says that signing an A-level free agent means you give up your first round pick (except for top 15) then if you don't have one you shouldn't be able to sign one.

[RightFieldCoder]

That would cause 1% of the players to not get as much, so the Player's Association will never agree to it.

[Invader3K]

I liked the idea of MLB implementing a "franchise tag" system like the NFL has. Won't happen, but it would solve some issues without introducing a salary cap.

[LouisEly]

And now the Angels have supposedly pulled their 8-year, $160M offer off the table. This is not good. Please, please take the hometown discount and sign with Washington or Baltimore...

[Invader3K]

If he ends up with the Red Sox, and Manny ends up with the Yankees, I am going to go out on a limb and pull out the "bad for baseball" line.

[RU Rah Rah]

If he ends up with the Red Sox, and Manny ends up with the Yankees, I am going to go out on a limb and pull out the "bad for baseball" line.

That would be apocalyptic, in terms of media coverage. It would pretty much blot out everything else in MLB for awhile. I mean, can you fathom the ESPN coverage of Manny becoming a Yankee?

[Tbadder]

If I was the Yankees I'd give Tex 200 million for 8 years and 73 million for 3 for Manny and 50 million for 3 for Benny--damn those free agent signing rules.