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Red Sox covet Teixeira
November 21st, 2008, 7:48 am · 14 Comments · posted by Earl Bloom, staff writer
With the New York Yankees busy trying to land the top starting pitchers in free agency, the Red Sox are making a serious run at first baseman Mark Teixeira, according to both Boston papers.
The strongest competition is expected to come from the Angels, although the Orioles and Nationals are also mentioned as players for the Maryland native’s services.
Yahoo! Sports columnist Jeff Passan lays out the Red Sox situation in the notes portion of his column on another Southern California area free agent, Rafael Furcal. He explains Boston has enough expiring contracts upcoming to ease the hit of landing Teixeira and/or another of its targets, right-hander A.J. Burnett.
Boston has only one player, Daisuke Matsusaka, under contract through 2012. Josh Beckett and Jason Bay can become free agents after 2009; Julio Lugo and Mike Lowell, after 2010; and J.D. Drew, after 2011. The Red Sox hold an option on David Ortiz after 2011.
Kevin Youkilis, the man who can make Teixeira work for the Red Sox by shifting to third base or left or right field, is only in his second year of arbitration, although the Sox want to tie him up long term.
Where Lowell, Bay or Drew would end up if Youkilis is moved is uncertain. Perhaps one of them could bring more pitching in return. Or the Red Sox could use Youk as a five-position (1B, 3B, LF, RF, DH) supersub a la Chone Figgins of a few years ago.
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I think Angels fans need to realize we aren’t going to sign Tex. He was quoted at the end of the season saying that, ” Anaheim is a nice place for my family and I to visit for a few months.” We would all love to get him but I’m not holding my breath
That would be ironic, indeed, if Boston signs Teixeira. The Red Sox drafted him out of high school when Teixeira, with Scott Boras advising, was thought to be headed to Georgia Tech. They took him in the ninth round that year (1998) and offered a $1.5 million bonus and, according to Teixeira in a Baseball America interview, said “take it or leave it.”
Teixeira’s problem with it was that the Red Sox made that offer before the draft and then said they wouldn’t offer more. “Why would I cap myself before the draft?” Teixeira said. “They told everybody I wouldn’t sign, then took a flier in the ninth round. They sort of spoiled it for everybody else. It’s unfair and illegal to a club to say, ‘We may or may not draft you, but if you don’t take $1.5 million we’re not going to draft you.”’
That was 10 years ago under a completely different Red Sox regime and has very little to do with today, but Teixeira wasn’t happy with that organization for a while. Anyway, it would be the latest and perhaps most stinging loss the Angels will have suffered to the Sox.
This is SO upsetting!!!! I was really mad when they traded Kotch for Mark but came to like Mark and now I just read the comment he made about Anaheim being a nice place to visit and that just set me on fire again….. We traded a GREAT player for Mark and he never planned on being an Angel for very long. That sucks….. I still hold out hope for the team that I love though even though things are looking kind of grim at the moment.
To be honest, and it’s hard to say, but the Angels really need to stand back and look at the situation objectively.
1. Are the Halos really committed to Teixeira? They should be. Every other hitter with pop (proven pop, not wood, morales, etc.) are past their prime. Vladdy just underwent knee surgery and is questionable at best for next season, let alone resigning beyond.
2. If Tex doesn’t sign here, he’s going to NYY or Boston. We’ve already seen what Boston is capable of, and the Angels without Teixeira’s bat and glove are significantly weaker. If he ends up in Boston, forget about it. We may continue to win the west for a few years, but we’ll end up losing to them come october.
3. The Angels make a bad habit of falling in love with players who have really bad timing. See: Dallas McPherson, Howie Kendrick, etc. I know I’m being really harsh and unfair, especially to Kendrick with all of his injuries, but who thinks Miguel Cabrera in October would have been a difference maker? I know Kendrick will get there, I still think McPherson will, too, too bad it will be in Florida.
4. if the Halos don’t do it this year, they’ll lose LAckey, and from there everything starts to fall apart. Let’s prove how committed to winning we are, Bring Morales up as a Juan Rivera replacement (or re-sign Juan, if possible) and get some real firepower to go with the beasts in the east.
Angels need to resign him! If the RedSox get a hold of him. We can just crown them the World Series Champions!
i agree with Kim. We traded an awesome player for Teixeira on a gamble for the World Series, and we didnt even get and now they wont come to terms on an agreement….Either way its a loss. It will be a sad day for Angel fans when/if Teixiera signs somewhere else.
If the Redsox ink Teixeira, and its a very strong possibility, given that his family, and friends are on the East Coast, then the Angels, and I hate to say it, must sign Manny. Otherwise, the Halo’s will continue to be the door mats for the Redsox, or any other winner coming out of the East in October.
All that I know is that the Angels need to go after Manny Ramirez. It would be so nice to see him in the playoffs next year against Boston in the bottom of the ninth and doing exactly what he used to do to us. As far as Tex goes, if he doesnt want to be an Angel let him go wherever he wants. MANNY is the answer to all the Angels need to become the team to beat in all of baseball.
As much as I like Tex, greed will carry him and his wife out of California. He is deserving of a great offer, but with the advice of Scotty Borass, he will be greedy, hold out for a few more million so Scotty can have bragging rights and leave Anaheim (Los Angeles). It will be similar to A-Rod’s stint in Texas. Tex has all the talent, the fans love him, and he would have a great career in Southern California but it’s not about that. It’s a business, Tex understands that and Borass will make some team pay so much money that Beer will be $12 a piece and my kids will go to one game a year rather than 3. Thank you agents, owners, and players. Does anyone else think MLB will wind up like our automakers GM, Ford and Chrysler. We can only hope.
His most recent comments are as follows:
“I want to go where I can win and my family is happy,” he said to Andrews. “Whether it’s the East Coast — that’s where I’m from — but I loved playing in Anaheim, too. So we’ll see what happens.”
There’s no telling where he ends up but he knows how great the organization is so that’s his most recent memory. If we offer 8 years, $160m, he might just take it. I can’t see other teams exceeding that offer by much(if at all) so it comes down to preference.
I’d like to see us go after Teixeira AND Manny —- Let’s say that costs $45m/yr. We have $40m of expiring contracts coming off the books and no telling if we can get Vladdy to sign a reasonable contract AFTER this year. Further, sign a cheap #5 starter like Paul Byrd or even give it to Moseley. Those guys would get the same wins as Garland did and for a lot less money. We’d have solid starting pitching and have a ton of prospects too if we actually felt like pulling off a trade for pitching. Imagine the revenue coming into Angel Stadium with Teixeira, Manny and Vladdy in the middle of the lineup in 2009. That would be SICK…….and it’s doable.
I hope the Red Sox sign Teixeira and either Burnett or Sabathia. I am enjoying watching the Angels lose to the Sox time after time, especially this year when they had no business losing to an injury depleted team. The Sox will have a five to ten year dynasty if they just make one or two huge moves. And I, as a native Orange Countian and lifelong Dodger fan who has come to love the Red Sox, will continue to watch the Angels cry when they have the best record in the regular season and gag it away to inferior teams in the playoffs! GO SOX!
If they don’t get Tex they should sign Manny and Furcal. Without these two the Dodgers have nothing!
Red Sox are suposedly ready to offer Tex biggest contract in their history, 10yrs/250m
# AngelsFan Says:
November 21st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
His most recent comments are as follows:
There’s no telling where he ends up but he knows how great the organization is so that’s his most recent memory. If we offer 8 years, $160m, he might just take it. I can’t see other teams exceeding that offer by much(if at all) so it comes down to preference.
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That not going to be enough…
Sox were paying Manny 20/Year (part of for another team). Unless ANgels could do 8 years at 25/year, he’s in Sox uni in 09.